Growing up, I always looked up to my grandfather — Irving Miller — as a family leader and savvy real-estate entrepreneur.
Irving had moved to South Florida at the perfect time to capitalize on the explosion of the 1960s when air conditioning became popularized and people moved to Florida in droves. He also created luck for himself by hustling to work for John D. MacArthur, a hard-driving frugal billionaire.
I eagerly anticipated the long drive to family dinners at my grandparents’ house in Miami Beach. My grandmother would ensure the family was properly fed with a giant turkey, and my grandfather would engage everyone in lively conversation. He had the perfect story or saying for every occasion.
He seemed prescient.
Only later did I realize that Irving had worked incredibly hard and smart for decades in order to gain the experience required to equip himself with the right answers or Irvingisms.
The harder you work, the luckier you get.
You must create your own opportunity. Irving felt strongly that without hard work nothing else would happen. He worked so hard that he had to employ two full-time personal secretaries — one for morning and one for night.
I live by this motto, yet hard work is not enough to unlock success. As Naval Ravikant says, work as hard as you can. Even though who you work with and what you work on are more important than how hard you work.
Putting in the time will make your career bets more viable and give you more swings at-bat, but you also have to be smart about the work itself.
Keep it simple.
Irving had his own Feynman technique. He would ask his secretary to read a document, and then repeat back to him in simple words what it said. If she could not understand it then it was trashed and the document was written from scratch.
He believed that if his intent could be misconstrued, then it would be. He did not run the risk of other people misinterpreting his message.
A deal memo should fit on one page.
Simplify, simplify, simplify. Many people try to overcomplicate matters while missing the point. Instead, boil it down to the main points and remove the clutter.
I like the way he thinks because he agrees with me.
Work with people who have the same value systems you do. You want to surround yourself with people who give you energy and share a similar worldview.
You do not want every day to be a struggle.
A great deal with a bad partner is a bad deal.
Surround yourself with people who raise the bar and make you better. Do not put up with energy-sinks in order to get a slight edge in a business agreement or make a quick buck.
Life is too short to deal with bad people.
Warren Buffet agrees you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence, and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.
There’s only one problem with borrowing money from banks; they like to get paid back.
No such thing as a free lunch. Always know what the exit plan is and do not get greedy.
The same idea applies to early-stage founders who raise massive amounts of venture funding for a fledgling business — know who you’re getting into business with and their incentives.
It is rare to find someone who learns from other people’s mistakes
In the information age, we are surrounded by infinite wisdom. The key is translating other people’s mistakes and learnings into smarter decision making.
If you can figure this out, then you will save yourself years of turmoil.
Irving’s principles were developed through decades of hard work and observation with some of the countries’ best operators. I have seen how they rule the world of business and have helped me make better decisions.
I hope they can help you too.