The $1,000 Hot Dog and the Genius Behind It
11
Foreword
For centuries, entrepreneurs have taken resources from different sources and have assembled them to create higher value. Great entrepreneurs like Steve Jobs, Henry Ford, and Donald Trump have all understood very clearly how to assemble Money, People, and Deals together. The intellectual value that these men brought to their ventures was so great that they built their businesses by using none of their own money; this is the skill of the entrepreneur and the fastest way to wealth.
Stefan Aarnio has the makings of a great entrepreneur. I met Stefan in July 2012 at a conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I could see that Stefan had achieved a great deal of success in real estate in a short period of time. After speaking with Stefan, I was impressed to hear that he had built his business exclusively with real estate joint ventures and that he, like great entrepreneurs before him, understood how to assemble Money, People, and Deals together for profit. I later learned that my initial impression of Stefan was correct because in November of the same year, Canadian Real Estate Wealth magazine recognized Stefan as 2012’s Joint Venture Partner of the Year!
Having completed over 1,100 real estate deals in my lifetime, I know what it takes to be a successful real estate investor. Success in real estate requires a full understanding of the fundamentals, a winning mind-set and a timely execution of action. Stefan has captured all of the above in Money People Deal, and I am very pleased to be a part of this body of work.
If you are looking to create wealth in real estate, in the fastest way possible, you are in good hands. I wish you the greatest success on your journey!
Raymond Aaron
New York Times
Best-Selling Author
Real Estate Investor
13
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all of my partners for believing in me. This book is your work as much as it is mine. There is no such thing as a truly self-made man; I am a synthesis of my environment and everyone around me. Without you, none of this is possible. A small pebble rolling down a hill will eventually become an avalanche. You are the force that pushed the first pebble down the hill. Your faith has created my success.
15
Introduction—Why
Greed Keeps Most
People from Getting
Wealthy
We all want to be healthy, wealthy, and wise. Unfortunately, everything in life has a price of admission. In some shape or form, we must always pay for the things we want. For our health we must invest our time, focus, and discipline to go the gym and maintain a healthy diet. To be wise, we must invest our time, effort, and energy to study with the wise men and women of the past, present, and future. To be wealthy we must study money, solve problems, and be prepared to share the wealth along the way. Those who fail to pay for success rarely see it.
Money People Deal explores the fastest way to real estate Wealth—joint ventures. Joint ventures are a technique few people truly understand. Of course, many of the largest, most successful corporations use joint ventures every day to earn massive profits while most struggling small investors and entrepreneurs have no knowledge of joint ventures. The truth is that most small entrepreneurs and investors are too greedy and small minded to create wealth through their endeavors. Everything in life has a price of admission, and so do joint ventures. Joint ventures are based on giving, sharing of resources, and creating larger value for everyone involved.
When I form a joint venture, I focus on what I give, not what I get. The more I give away, the richer I get, the happier my investors are to work with me, and the more money I have to invest. The game is simple and easy if you know the rules; the game is impossible if you try to be greedy. The problem with most novice entrepreneurs and investors is that they are conditioned to consume instead of create. We are conditioned to focus on what we are getting, not on what we are giving. Too often we want to own everything entirely by ourselves. So many investors and entrepreneurs are happier to own a single grape than share half of a watermelon.
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To pursue the fastest way to real estate wealth, we must kill the greedy person on the inside and focus on creating greater value for our partners, our families, and ourselves.
Why We Need Entrepreneurs More
than Ever Before
We are facing a crisis in the US today, and although I am a born Canadian and explicitly not an American, I am concerned for America. America was once the greatest country in the world, an industrial juggernaut and the envy of other nations. America had the best of everything—the best jobs, the best houses, the best companies—and the American dream was desired all over the globe. Immigrants from around the world would risk their lives and the lives of their families to move to America and chase the dream of “making it” in the best country in the world. Today, families who move from Mexico to pursue the American dream are moving back to Mexico because America’s dream is over.
The world faces a huge problem while we watch America fall apart. America is supposed to be the poster child of capitalism, a supporter of small and large business, and a place where anyone can make the dream happen. Unfortunately, America is sick because it has more problems than it has entrepreneurs to solve them. Today high schools and universities are churning out record numbers of robotic young people who are programmed to be employees. The sad thing is that these young people have nowhere to go after they step off the conveyor belt of the education system. America does not have enough jobs for these young people, and the trend is becoming global. In China, young men are finishing university decorated with bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees with nowhere to go. These people, both American and Chinese, are educated, conditioned, and programmed to look for jobs—not create jobs.
Times Are Changing
Current