The One Business Book You Probably Haven't Read

Early in my career, I’d read every business book or book summary I could get my hands on. And I attribute that period of obsessive knowledge and information gathering to my early successes.

Admittedly, it’s been many years since I’ve sat down and read a business book—that’s until I noticed Suits to Nuts, a self-published autobiography written by Bernard Navasky in 1991, on my shelf at home. The “suits” refers to Bernie’s career as a suit manufacturer, and the “nuts” refers to the Bernie I knew—my grandfather (a.k.a Gramps), who was nuts! Now you know where "it" comes from.

Genealogy and family history are pretty significant hobbies of mine, so I decided to sit down and read his book. (check out our project https://genealogy.cjh.org/ if you have an interest in genealogy)

Growing up, my family certainly heard many discussions about customers and business. My mom and dad ran a men’s clothing store in State College, PA, while my dad’s brothers all operated various types of clothing stores throughout Central PA. Even my name has a retail background—I was named after their father, Simon Ziff, who opened the original Ziff’s Department Store in Philipsburg, PA.

My Uncle Eddie Navasky and his father Bernie—the book’s author—were suit and top coat manufacturers. One of their many companies was called Falcone, and most of them catered to an African-American clientele seeking a very high-style product. (You should’ve seen my bar mitzvah suit, which had a great shine to it.)

So, back to Bernie’s book. He was originally very active in business with his father in New York City. That itself is difficult for me to fathom, as I was only in a big city a handful of times before graduating college. He mentions close relationships with grandfathers of people I know today, like Jonathan Tisch and Michael Modell. He fled New York in his early 30s to head to the country with my grandmother and two young children after he had a fight with the unions about manufacturing practices.

Bernie was innovative and an entrepreneur. In each chapter, he sets up a new company and issues stock to different partners for these ventures. I find it hard enough to keep a handle on one business, so I wasn’t surprised when he found himself in a hospital unable to deal with the stress and anxiety of all of his business. However, I was surprised to learn that he’d also once owned two apartment buildings in Miami.

But that isn’t even where the NUTS part comes in. Gramps used to touch my nose when I had a headache, trying to vibrate the pain out of me with his natural healing abilities. In fact, the book discusses how he had helped many sick people. I am pretty open minded about various things, but I can’t say I’m convinced about that part of his story.

I give Gramps a lot of credit for writing the book, even though it was terrible. Nuts or not, it’s his DNA—and the DNA of my other three grandparents and my parents Phil and Elaine—that make up the basket of attributes I have today, both the good and the bad. (Interesting side note on DNA: If you were told that your maternal grandfather’s lack of hair means you’d have no hair, it’s a myth. I have unlimited funds for this bet if someone wants to take it.)

I did get a shout-out from Gramps in his book: “Simon graduated from Penn State and took a job with an insurance company in Springfield, MA. He spent a year there before moving to New York to go for his Master's Degree at NYU and would up as a broker's assistant with a large real estate firm (the predecessor firm of Ackman-Ziff). He is optimistic that one day he will make some huge deals that will earn him big money. He is aggressive and will find his mark."

I wish I could thank Gramps for taking the time to write down his life. The book reminded me how much my grandchildren might enjoy hearing my stories one day. Fortunately, I have notebooks covering details of my daily activities for the past 30 years. Perhaps they’ll even read about their nutty great-grandfather’s self-published book right here on LinkedIn. Hopefully it won’t be viewed as the story of the pot calling the kettle black.

Creative thinking is just one part of what makes the Ackman-Ziff team the nation’s undisputed thought leader in real estate capital advisory. We continue to look for talented professionals to join our growing platform.

Please see my previous posts Why I Get High Every Day, Let it Grow, The Walk, The Deep-V and What's in a Name.