The new breed of entrepreneur doesn’t believe in hard work, focus, commitment or sacrifice. The new entrepreneur believes cleverness to be the key that unlocks fame and fortune.

I noticed a mathematical formula when I was young. The truth of that formula was inescapable: Lazy + clever = con man.

Some things never change.

Cleverness. Luck. Connections.
These are the currency of the new entrepreneur.

Lottery ticket buyers hunger to get rich “quick and easy.”  Week after week they lose precious capital and waste valuable time but continue to buy lottery tickets because of the news stories about “winners” like Facebook Kid and the Google Boys.

The new entrepreneur looks at the internet with the eyes of a gambler gazing at Las Vegas.

Las Vegas: a trillion dollar lottery that allows you the illusion of believing your cleverness or “system” is going to give you an edge against the house.

Wall Street: Las Vegas for people who prefer 3-piece suits.

Uh-oh. Did I go too far?

Moments ago – and I swear I’m not making this up – right after I typed that little dig about Wall Street and was contemplating whether or not to actually post this little rant in the rabbit hole, my email app makes the noise that tells me I’ve received a message. I take a look. It was oily, uncanned Spam, PLOP, right there in my inbox. This is a corner of the image that came with it.

That settled it. I’m posting the damn rant.

Roy H. Williams