The G Manifesto

Guest Manifesto: Why It Pays to Be A First Mover

As an international G, I’ve seen many places and met many people. Surprisingly though, I have never met anyone who has out-Gamed me. Sure, I’ve met people who are smarter than me or wealthier than me. And coincidentally, all of them have the same rap about being creative or innovative.

On a side note, I’ve never met anyone better looking than me.

But my point is, to truly be successful; you have to be a First Mover. Make other people follow you. At first, some might be hesitant or reluctant but with enough influence and persistence, everyone comes around.

Just this past week, while an old friend of mine was in New York, I had the opportunity to discuss this specific topic. My friend always had a knack for technology and made suitcases full of skrilla by simply pulling numbers out of thin air. When we were younger, he had done very well with the pin codes of analog cell phones and most recently his favorite past time is driving by a BestBuy and extracting credit card numbers via unsecured wi-fi connections. Apparently, being innovative with technology inherently gives you a Side Hustle. More than half of his revenue and profit derives from consulting companies on how to prevent exactly what he does.

Anyway, while in town on a “consulting” job, he was staying at the Mandarin and so we decided to break bread at Asiate (I recommend the cote de boeuf with roasted rib-eye and smoked potato). I arrived 15 minutes early suited down in a Paul Stuart soft brown Nailhead number (side vents & ticket pocket, of course), a solid crème colored Stefano Ricci shirt, dark brown Hermes tie and matching pocket silk. Needless to say, my bankroll could be listed in the Mitchell Report.

Surprisingly, my friend was already at the bar, casually dressed in a Loro Piana dark gray Vicuña sweater over a burgundy colored woven shirt and black Zanella pants. He was nonchalantly sipping on a 21 year old Balvenie Scotch Portwood while concurrently conversing with a 21 year old English Hardbody. But that’s neither NYMEX nor pyrex.

Over dinner he schooled me on the enormous profit potential in other countries that don’t have a fully operational internet because of their vulnerabilities and parallel desire for protection and security. I schooled him on the capital being thrown towards these emerging markets. It seemed that our future endeavors were going to become intertwined.

I told him about my Side Hustles and how I’ve been investing in developing nations for some time. Besides swapping US paper for Japanese Yen, I went on to say that like our street hustling counterparts, my dealings are mostly in BRICs.

As a cautious friend and G, I could see the uneasy feeling rushing over him…

It took a minute before he realized I was referring to Brazil, Russia, India, and China… Not the traditional raw.

Now That’s Certified

To Health & Wealth

~ Grad

Lupe Fiasco – Paris, Tokyo

2Pac – If My Homie Calls