Why Sam Bankman Fried will be jailed for life?

The 5 levels of business sophistication…or why billionaire Sam Bankman Fried (#SBF) lost everything and will probably spend the rest of his life in jail…

What I am about to share with you is a series of lessons that I learned at a great financial cost to me.

Let’s start here…

Just like anything in life, in business there’s a process of how things unfold.

Just like you can’t “wing” becoming a rocket scientist, you can’t just wing your way to business success.

You’ve heard it before: “First we learned to crawl before we walked, then we learned to walk before we could run.”

I like to summarize it like this:

"LIFE UNFOLDS ON A GRADIENT SCALE."

Now let’s apply it to business…

One of the main reasons businesses fail, and why the crypto exchange FTX collapsed, is because they are run by business owners who lack the right level sophistication to face the challenges of their business.

Levels of business sophistication are like military ranks; you can’t earn a rank until you’ve earned all the ranks below it.

1. The first rank is called Outlier Entrepreneur (OE).

An OE is someone who understands himself well. He’s got a clear understanding of his own embedded talents and strengths and has the emotional fortitude to live life on his own terms. That makes his a total outlier in the world. People like that completely standout!

And these outliers are also devoted entrepreneurs who constantly seek to innovate and find solutions to the problems of the world. That’s how they bring value to their market and get rich!

The vast majority of business owners are NOT OEs…that’s why the vast majority of businesses fail.

I have talked a lot about OEs in previous posts and articles. You can either go back to my old posts or reach out to me for more clarification.

I even have a full video course on the topic of Outlier Entrepreneurs, for those interested.

In short, there are many lower “cadet” ranks below the rank of OE. The Outlier Entrepreneur is like Maslow version of a self-actualized individual, but for the business world.

The vast majority of business owners I have met, are below the rank of Outlier Entrepreneur.

Although many of them see themselves as business experts, most of them are still business cadets.

Statistically, most businesses fail!

That’s why!

The reason the vast majority of businesses fail is because they are owned by these cadet-apprentices who think they can run a business on their own. What they should do is sit alongside an OE for a few years and watch them and learn before they ever attempt to run a business on their own. But too often their egos get the better of them and they start a business before they have earned the rank of OE.

Big mistake!

In fact, the above explanation of OEs, is probably the best way anyone can explain the catastrophic average results in American businesses.

2. The second rank is called Business Leader.

The business leader is someone who has learned to decentralize his operations by successfully delegating most of the work to partners, affiliates and subordinates who help him grow his business.

It’s true that leaders are made and not born. Leadership a trait of personality that can be learned by those who already possess an OE foundational character.

3. The third rank is that of the Business Investor.

The business investor is a merchant who graduated to selling business units instead of selling business products or business services. Their work no longer consists in operating businesses, instead, all their time and efforts are focused on mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

4. The next rank is called International Financier.

These people are the puppeteers behind the world of business. They have diversified their portfolio international to take advantage of arbitrage opportunities between currencies. And they can leverage their affiliations with international financial investors and banking institutions to invest in private equity opportunities months before these opportunities ever trickle down to the retail-investor market. This is a world of elites unavailable to 99.9% of human beings.

5. The top level is the rank of Sovereign Individual.

Most of these people are completely invisible to the rest of the world. Some choose to be visible through their philanthropic efforts, but most of their financial wheelings and dealings take place in the posh private offices of Swiss bankers away from the prying eyes of normal people. Most of their activities don’t even pertain to business any longer. Instead, through their influence, they work to change the world in ways they see fit.

These are the 5 ranks od business sophistication.

Now let’s go back to Sam Bankman Fried…

FTX, the crypto exchange operated by SBF collapsed because Sam had the gall the play a big game, but he lacked the sophistication to win at it. He had the confidence of a young punk, but lacked the expertise of an old wizard.

While many novices overcome such shortcomings by affiliating themselves with people who rank higher than themselves, Sam seemingly only associated with people at his level and below.

So…why am I sharing all this with you?

Because once in a while, rare events present themselves where higher ranks are willing to take lower ranks by the hand and show them how to take part in financial opportunities normally not available to them.

I have recently been presented by such an opportunity.

If you’re a friend of mine, and are an accredited investor or qualified client, please reach out to me and prepare to be blown away.

Otherwise, I simply ask that you heed this advice:

“Do not try to play a bigger financial game that you have earned the ranks for.”

If you do, you do at the risk of being taken advantage of by more sophisticated people and the risk of losing all your money.

No matter where you stand, please understand that ALL these ranks are attainable for those willing to heed lessons and earn the ranks.

The secret is passion and persistence. Just keep on advancing on your chosen path and if life takes a blow at you, you can take a knee and rest for a moment, but make sure to get back on your feet as soon as possible and keep moving forward.

“I’m rooting for you!”

Marco Robert