Originally Posted by KRL

I started really young. I was the kid on the block that had the lemonade stand that actually made money, the paper route that was bigger than any other kids on the block, the one who was first one to the neighbors houses to shovel snow out of their driveways.

I used to fill my backpack with candy and gum in school. I'd buy it wholesale and do a hefty markup.

Ran the football pools in high school and did really well with that.

I always was good at saving money as a kid.

My family had money from the clothing mfg. industry, but I wanted to strike out on my own, didn't want to be under anyone's thumb and control, and left from Philly to LA when I turned 20.

I had $2,000 in my pocket and that was all.

I've always been fortunate and lucky. Had just a few bad years where it seemed every deal I got into went south and I went really low and fucked up my credit and all that kind of stuff and had to rebuild everything all over again.

My biggest hits in my 20's and 30's were from the clothing industry and the 900 pay-per-call business. We had the Jordache line for California when that changed the jeans industry. I was in the right place at the right time. Caught the first waves on the 900 biz and created some monster sized programs that did millions of calls. I don't know the exact number but its somewhere in the 40 to 50 Million range of paid calls.

I blew a lot living really well, and could have had much more today had I been more prudent in the early days and also not diversified into businesses outside my expertise.