Steven

That's the common denominator that ordinary people can learn from is like endurance and longevity is usually where the big wealth is made.

Yeah. Larry Ellison, who is the founder of Oracle, did an interview in the 1990s. And they asked him about Bill Gates, who was a friend but also rival back then. And Larry Ellison was like, the secret to Bill Gates, yes, he's very smart, but there's a lot of smart people out there. And he was like, no offense, but there's a lot of people smarter than Bill Gates out there.

Yeah. Larry Ellison, who is the founder of Oracle, did an interview in the 1990s. And they asked him about Bill Gates, who was a friend but also rival back then. And Larry Ellison was like, the secret to Bill Gates, yes, he's very smart, but there's a lot of smart people out there. And he was like, no offense, but there's a lot of people smarter than Bill Gates out there.

but nobody has more endurance than Bill Gates. He will outwork you every single time. You cannot, he'll keep it going for as long as he needs to keep it going to beat you. And that's his skill. It's not intelligence, it's endurance.

but nobody has more endurance than Bill Gates. He will outwork you every single time. You cannot, he'll keep it going for as long as he needs to keep it going to beat you. And that's his skill. It's not intelligence, it's endurance.

I think it's two things. It's one, in any endeavor that's going to pay off, it's going to be difficult. There's going to be more roadblocks and speed bumps and collapses than you want. It's absolutely inevitable. The unofficial model at NVIDIA, the giant chip companies, one of the most valuable companies in the world, is we are always 30 days from going out of business. Now, they're not.

I think it's two things. It's one, in any endeavor that's going to pay off, it's going to be difficult. There's going to be more roadblocks and speed bumps and collapses than you want. It's absolutely inevitable. The unofficial model at NVIDIA, the giant chip companies, one of the most valuable companies in the world, is we are always 30 days from going out of business. Now, they're not.

It's one of the most successful companies in the world. But they understand what is true for every business, which is that business is hard. Like every business is a knife fight. Every company that you own or start is going to be very difficult. And you need the perseverance to get through that. That's one element. The other is compound interest. That's what builds wealth.

It's one of the most successful companies in the world. But they understand what is true for every business, which is that business is hard. Like every business is a knife fight. Every company that you own or start is going to be very difficult. And you need the perseverance to get through that. That's one element. The other is compound interest. That's what builds wealth.

What compound interest is and why it is so powerful, like the people who get rich from it are not the people who earn very high returns. It's people who earn good returns for a long period of time. Like all compound interest is, it's returns to the power of time. And if you remember like eighth grade math, that exponent, like time, that's doing all the heavy lifting in there.

What compound interest is and why it is so powerful, like the people who get rich from it are not the people who earn very high returns. It's people who earn good returns for a long period of time. Like all compound interest is, it's returns to the power of time. And if you remember like eighth grade math, that exponent, like time, that's doing all the heavy lifting in there.

And so in investing, if you can be good, merely good, Or if you can just be average for an above average period of time, you do phenomenal. And this is where, this is like the most misunderstood thing about investing. Most investors are like, how do I earn the highest returns? I want to make the best investments, highest returns. And you can do well doing that.

And so in investing, if you can be good, merely good, Or if you can just be average for an above average period of time, you do phenomenal. And this is where, this is like the most misunderstood thing about investing. Most investors are like, how do I earn the highest returns? I want to make the best investments, highest returns. And you can do well doing that.

You're much more likely to do well if you're like, hey, I just want average returns, but I want to be so durable and have so much endurance that I can earn average returns for 40 years. And if I can be average for 40 years, I'm going to end up in the top 1%.

You're much more likely to do well if you're like, hey, I just want average returns, but I want to be so durable and have so much endurance that I can earn average returns for 40 years. And if I can be average for 40 years, I'm going to end up in the top 1%.

if left to its own devices for a long enough period of time what is the like simple way to show them the power of it so take index funds which are just a very simple collection of businesses at a very low fee you can buy one stock but it's a collection of hundreds and hundreds of different businesses you own apple and amazon and coca-cola you own all the companies in the world

if left to its own devices for a long enough period of time what is the like simple way to show them the power of it so take index funds which are just a very simple collection of businesses at a very low fee you can buy one stock but it's a collection of hundreds and hundreds of different businesses you own apple and amazon and coca-cola you own all the companies in the world

And so it's the most boring, bland, average way to invest. If you invest in that in a very simple way and you do that consistently for 20 or 30 years with no skill, with no expertise, where you're not getting stock tips from anyone, it's the most boring way to invest. If you do it consistently for 30 years, you will almost certainly end up in the top 1% of investors.

And so it's the most boring, bland, average way to invest. If you invest in that in a very simple way and you do that consistently for 20 or 30 years with no skill, with no expertise, where you're not getting stock tips from anyone, it's the most boring way to invest. If you do it consistently for 30 years, you will almost certainly end up in the top 1% of investors.

You almost certainly beat literally 95% of Wall Street pros. who were trying to outsmart the market, trying to outwit the market and were unable to keep it going for 30 years. And so this is where if you can just be average for an above average period of time, you'll be amazing.