More on this book
Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Gene Simmons
During the Italian Renaissance, when Jews were making headway
I was still working at the Puerto Rican Interagency Council offices, and had the run of all the office equipment after hours. So when it was time to assemble our press package, I commandeered the typewriters, manila envelopes, and stamps and put together a big mailing to all the record labels, managers, music magazines, and music professionals whose addresses I could find in the year-end issues of Billboard, Cashbox, and Record World. We made sure that none of the other bands’ names were on the invites that I sent to music industry people. The press release only mentioned Heavy Metal Masters
...more
The field of popular music is populated mostly by unqualified people. They never went to school to learn what they do. In fact, they barely understand what they do, or how they do it. They just do it. I can’t read or write music, but I have written hundreds of songs. I have never had music lessons. I have never had a music teacher show me how to play guitar or bass or keyboards or drums, although I dabble in all of them well enough to be able to write songs and record demos.
In the midst of negotiations, formations, reassignments, and all of the above, KISS
We put order forms inside our albums, so fans could order T-shirts and belt buckles and all sorts of other items directly from us.
Again, always make sure you have the right
My real point here—with this story, and the critic-bashing—is that it’s important to know, if you’re going to be a success, that no one is
I’m an entrepreneur. A successful one. But don’t let that fool you. I’m unqualified to be in any of my ventures. If I was an employer and was handed my résumé, I wouldn’t hire me.
“How to Become a Rock Star” and “How to Build an Iconic image” are not taught in any school.
I cofounded Simmons/Abramson Marketing with my then partner Rich Abramson. We had a grand total of one staff member, and we never had an office and therefore never paid rent. We were the marketing company for the Indy Racing League, as well as the Indianapolis 500. I created the “I Am Indy” marketing campaign and cowrote the Indy anthem of the same title with Bag, an artist who was signed to my Simmons Records label. And I forced the Indy Racing League to stop calling themselves IRL and simply call themselves IndyCar. My campaign lasted for several years, and was copied by the National
...more
I was honored to meet Frank Stronach, a very interesting gentleman who founded the massively successful auto parts company Magna International. Today, I’m proud to say that I’m a partner in the Stronach Group, which owns most of North America’s major horse-racing tracks, including Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park, and Pimlico.
Stronach Group racetracks.
I have done about fifty speaking engagements around the world, under my brand, Gene Simmons Rich & Famous ExposTM. I own the trademark.
There are acting teachers who don’t know how to act, but they will tell you what you’re doing wrong. There are football coaches who will tell you what you’re doing wrong in football, although they may actually never play football. I’m a hybrid.
Take your money and create new jobs. Take your money and invest in starting new ventures, which creates more jobs, and enables capitalism to keep on working on its own, without depending on handouts from the government. Government, as you may well have guessed by now, means well, but it doesn’t really know how to create jobs. And that’s because government is run by politicians, instead of businessmen and women. That should speak for itself.
Dying with the most money will bring you a certain level of satisfaction—but you will forever be denied the full measure of your satisfaction as a successful human being if you do not embark on charitable ventures like this. Your empire of dirt won’t have any reason to stand.
Not handouts. Work. Give a person dignity. Let them feel that they’ve earned the money they got.
What I’m about to tell you is not politically correct. In fact, it may come as a shock to you. But here it is: you don’t need a lot of systemized education to achieve great things and make lots of money. Education is important, and I urge you to get one. But if you can’t afford to go to college or vocational school, it’s important to understand what the word entrepreneur means.
It’s up to you what you do with your free time. Do you goof around and take vacations, or do nothing after work? Do you do nothing on your weekends? Do you go to ball games or bars with your drinking buddies? Get rid of those guys immediately. They won’t help you.
There have been books written about the “10,000-hour rule,” which claims that the key to becoming a success in any field is getting 10,000 hours of experience in what you want to be successful at, or the theory that you need to put in that much time to become any good at something. As it happens, the Beatles spent 10,000 hours playing together in clubs in Germany in the early sixties before starting their recording career, and Bill Gates spent that amount of time programming his high school’s computers in 1968.
Before you undertake this journey, you must have the heart of a lion and your self-esteem must be intact. If your self-esteem isn’t strong, then bluff and act like it’s strong. Grit your teeth and pretend that you have enormous self-confidence. Fake it until you make it.
There were also many lost hours during the workday. A worker had to travel to and from work. Multiply all that travel time and cost by five days a week and fifty weeks a year, and you’ve got a lot of wasted time and money for one employee.
Your job will often automatically deduct a certain amount for your IRA. That’s good, because for the most part, you won’t do it. Mostly, you live in the here and now. Mostly, you spend what you earn. Mostly, you don’t save for a rainy day. Mostly, you think you will never grow old and won’t have a problem being able to support yourself.
There is also the idea that the employer has a responsibility to make sure you go on vacation two weeks every year and still get paid full wages, and that if you work overtime, the employer will have to pay you double and sometimes triple time per hour. The employer also has to pay for your health care, and your maternity leave. . .
And remember that before he started, he had no experience in business. He was completely unqualified to start a company. In fact, he barely had any work experience of any kind. But his business model was sound. He did it right. Perhaps instinctively.
responsibility to do well. She opined that if one lives in America, or another free country that gives you both opportunity and free will, that’s all you need, and the rest is up to the individual.
Ayn Rand is controversial, and whether or not you agree with her philosophies, I think it’s safe to say that the less you depend on government and the more self-sufficient you are, the better off you’ll be.
THE ART OF MORE: PRINCIPLE #3 LEARN FROM THE MASTERS
Reckless spending, for example, doesn’t help anyone. Not even millionaires. Live well below your means. I still do. To get even more personal—try to stay “straight,” that is, no drugs, no booze.
If you choose to become a smoker, you are an idiot, and you may lack the discipline and intelligence to be a successful entrepreneur.
We all hear the same stories. Big cities have higher homicide rates. Well, true and untrue. Here’s the real skinny.
Men are the predominant readership of news and financial journals like Bloomberg Businessweek and the Economist. Female readership of these publications is only 27 percent. Men also are the predominant readers of sports publications, which I contend reinforce issues of competition and teamwork.
You should be aware that most of the stuff that’s sold online is bought by women.
To keep with the nautical theme: Be an octopus. Cast a wide net. Spread your risk.
I’ve got some bad news for you: you will fail. But every time you fail, you will learn something. Don’t feel bad when you fail. You’re no different than the most powerful, the most intelligent, and the most entrepreneurial among us. When you buy a car, it comes with five
Oprah Winfrey was fired as a young reporter, and then fired again as a co-anchor of a news show. Oprah Winfrey failed. Walt Disney, in his early years, was fired by the newspaper he worked for. And his first attempt at a cartoon studio went bankrupt. Walt Disney failed. Henry Ford changed the automobile industry by inventing the modern assembly line, but his first car company went bankrupt. And when he formed another car company, he failed again, and was fired from his own company. Henry Ford failed. Donald Trump’s hotel/casino business went bankrupt. And then when he tried again, his company
...more
against you.
worthwhile.
Early on, I learned about spreading the risk, mutual funds, and the Dow Jones Industrials, aka “the Dow.” And penny stocks. And futures. And commodities. You don’t have to learn all of that, but it helps if you do. So let’s simplify. You’re twenty-five to thirty years old. You’ve been able to save $40,000, after tax. I commend you. That means that you’ve already paid your tax. You’ve already paid your bills.
Spreading the risk means exactly that. Some of your investments will go up. Some will go down. Hopefully, the overall number will give you an increase—a profit—above the rate of inflation (that is, larger than the rate at which the dollar is losing value). I’ve done well in the stock market. In fact, it has made me quite a bit of money.
I know—the big bad capitalist actually had an emotional connection to the money game. Strange, isn’t it, since guys like me are always portrayed as the villain? That is because my preoccupation with money comes from somewhere real—it comes from buying my mother a house, making her comfortable. It comes from putting as large a wall as possible between myself, my children, and starvation. Doesn’t sound quite like the evil CEOs you so often hear about, does it?
I would suggest that if you’d taken all
the money that you spent on clothes/shoes/electronics/cars/houses (with after-tax dollars, remember), and invested it instead of spending it, you’d be a lot better off. Remember, once you’ve spent money, you will never see it again. But, if you invest money, you will probably see a profit, and pay tax only on the capital gain, meaning, the profit that you made on the money that you would have spent otherwise. See? You will also have to invest in your individual retirement account (IRA), but your employer can help there. You will also need to have insurance. Health insurance. All sorts of
...more
You will have to educate yourself in areas public schools did not. You will have to be your own taskmaster. This book is the first step. Keep it by your nightstand or by your toilet, wherever you do your reading. Please come back to it to keep reminding yourself what you need to do. This is certainly not all of it. There is more. And there will always be more.
Without core values, and self-determination and self-restraint (no drugs, booze, tobacco, and stay away from people who engage in that stuff), and just plain “street smarts,” you will get nowhere. Fast. I wish you health. I wish you happiness. And, I wish you success in your journey to fulfilling your entrepreneurial goals. This is not the end. This is the beginning of the rest of your life. Now, go get ’em.
