All language subtitles for The call of the Entrepreneur

[Music]

entrepreneurs take
risks they pour money

time and effort and
ventures that may or

may not pay off

they're also
controversial some people

see them as brave
creative pioneers

forging ahead to
make a better future

for others some regard them as

self-serving capitalists
looking to get

rich at our expense who's right

is the entrepreneurs
work accentuate

virtuous or vicious
these are not idle

questions in the
20th century the

destinies of entire
nations depended in

part on how they
viewed the entrepreneur

[Music]

Brad Morgan grew
up in rural Michigan

for as long as he can
remember he wanted

to work for himself
when he was 26 he

leased a small
dairy farm five years

later he managed
to buy the land with a

loan from the bank
our County Extension

agents wonderful
manager Lynn question

first you who is in
business he come

here evaluated the
books looked at our

financial statement
and he looked me

right square in
the eye on he says

you're broke

get out you cannot
possibly make it

and I looked right
back at him and I

says what have we
got to do to get this

right

well at that point
in time the average

rolling herd average
for this county was

like 14 or 15 thousand
thousand off the

count he says
Brad in order for this

thing to float
you've got to be well

over 20,000 pounds
of milk per cow well

at that particular
time there was only

one herd national
economy that had that

kind of production
by the second year we

was the top producing
herd in Osceola

County and by the
third year we was the

sixth highest
producing herd in the

state of Michigan
so out of necessity

you put your butt
in the corner be

surprised what you
can achieve for over

ten years

the Morgans led
the region and milk

production per cow
but then in 1999 a

new problem arose
milk prices plummeted

they were again
in danger of losing

their farm Morgan
began looking around

for an unexploited
resource sometimes

they are the most
common resources that

we walk over that we
ignore that we even

are perhaps repulsed
by that become the

source of wealth
the source of jobs the

source of prosperity

[Music]

we always bought our
feed here so we had

to find a way to
dispose of the menorah

that was costing
me about twenty five

thousand dollars
a year to dispose of

the Minar huh my
father and I was

talking and basically
I says dad I says

I've done some
research on this and I

think we can
compost this menorah I

think we can make
it a marketable

product so we
contacted Michigan State

and they come in
and did some studies

and did all of this
and they told us yes

we could and we
could probably sell it

at $3 a yard $3
a yard the cost of

production is $9
yard it just doesn't

make a whole lot of sense

[Music]

they basically
told me that it was

pretty much
unachievable the value of

the product wouldn't
be there but I was

a little independent
little pigheaded

little stubborn we
decided that there

was a better market out there to

question developing
a new marketplace

for a product that
hasn't even been

developed yet to
me I think people are

pretty narrow-minded
when they draw the

line that quick

the moral aspect of
entrepreneurship is

that it requires
certain moral virtues

if it's going to happen

it requires persistence
it requires the

ability to be patient
another trait I

think that would be
required would be

persistence or what
classically would be

called perseverance
being able to take

another breath and move on

faith enables one
to do this at the

darkest moment to
hold on to hold steady

to go through to
keep going to believe

in your vision enough
and to not fatigue

not to run short how
sad it is you know

for people to go
right to the point and

then lose heart

[Music]

most of the equipment
was already here

and available we
obviously had the

property we had the
raw feedstocks we

had tractor we had
skid steer and we

started composting
we haul in dairy

manure and we
stockpile it on a smut pad

and then come
spring we'll take out a

racetrack straw and
mix it together with

the dairy monoi

it'll actually start
heating in the pile

so I'll start breaking
down for us when

this in the pile
and then after that

we'll take it and
we'll put it into a

window a window
is a long pile that's

about it's six feet
wide by four feet

high a lot of hundred
yards long for the

composting business
I turn the compost

we turn the windows
because the living

organisms in there
need the oxygen we

turn about once
every three days if

every time she turns
that you lose that

much steam off from
that win row that's

moisture leaving the
system now unless

it's replenished
sooner or later that

product just dries
right out that window

right there I mean
it still got plenty

of moisture in there I
mean when you can

ball it throw it up
there and it just

barely breaks up
that's about perfect

for speeding up this
process from what

everybody thought
it would take two

years and we're
doing it in 60 days

[Music]

along the way Morgan hired Joe

Scrimgeour a
consultant with expertise

in soil biology I've
never paid somebody

so much money to
be such a critic but

the one thing that
Joe brought to the

table is if you're
going to market a

product don't accept
the average you

have to create a
product that is better

than anybody else
can make what Joe

would do is he would
basically come in

and he would test it
he would analyze it

he would scrutinize
it and to the point

or he's almost
offensive and I detect

[Music]

because as I
started watching our

process as we
was learning he was

learning as we
was learning he was

challenging us to do more and

consequently it shows up in the

marketplace

[Music]

we've developed
eight different product

lines and now we're
even growing that in

to probably be ten
or twelve by the end

of the season the
dairy do obviously is

our base product
we've got that kind of

down to a science
the dairy do is

basically calf Penman
or dairy cow any

kind of manure that
we can get out of a

dairy herd or a beef
herd we probably

take this to a level
that nobody else

has probably looked at and we're

probably a little
more meticulous about

it we can make a
very nice compost and

it's it's a lot more
stable than what

most people even
recognize if we're

going to make go
through this much time

and effort this much
energy to make a

product we feel we
have to be the best

on the marketplace

it's interesting
that's the thing is fun

when you can take
the raw product that

had no value and
turn it into a product

that has extreme value in the

marketplace from
large production

agriculture to small production

agriculture to
homeowner to garden golf

courses it's wide open

[Music]

if you want to be
an entrepreneur a

successful entrepreneur
but you must do

is focus on what
other people need want

desire and try to
serve it better or in

a new way with
value added in a way

nobody else has
so in that sense an

entrepreneur must
be other-directed you

must be watching
your fellow human

beings

you know people often describe

capitalists as
very self-centered

ingredient certainly
there are such

beings of course
you don't have to be a

capitalist to be greedy and

self-centered you
can do that in any

economic sphere
but entrepreneur qua

entrepreneur as
entrepreneur has to be

other regarding has
to be looking to see

what are the needs
of the consumer

many in the composting
business accept

government subsidies
to collect farm

waste and turn it into
low-grade compost

Brad Morgan took
a different tack he

worked to create
a line of high quality

compost tailored to
specific farming and

gardening needs that
meant risking more

capital upfront with
in the end it paid

off after 10 years
the Morgans business

is still expanding
he now partners with

other farmers to meet
the growing demand

for his compost

[Music]

our goals when
we first started this

business we felt
if we could sell

$30,000 worth of
product we would be

just tickled pink
our goals for this

year I'll be in well
over a million and

a half that's not
a big company but

there's an opportunity out there

[Music]

and if you think
about the way in which

media portrays business people

inevitably it is the
greedy rapacious

the superficial
literature magazines

even Adam Smith
the great champion of

capitalism was no
fan of the businessman

a university professor
he regarded the

rising class of
tradesmen and Merchants

as self-serving and
greedy even though

Adam Smith
acknowledged the moral

prerequisites of a
successful capitalism

he at the same time
casually denounced

capitalist never
did they assemble

except to conspire
against the public

and you certainly
couldn't depend on

their moral qualities
to deliver your

bread you had to depend on their

self-interest today many of our

religious leaders
depict the business

class in even partial
terms I think the

history of corporate
America is the

history of huge
economic units the

uncontrolled will
pollute our atmosphere

will move factories
from community to

community to maximize
profit even though

it destroys communities
as they leave

unemployed behind
this is what is wrong

in our international
global economy that

the wealth of the
world goes from the

poor to the rich the
rich get richer and

richer and the
poor get poorer and

poorer

when you listen to
your priest or your

Minister talk what
you often hear is

something like this
I'm exaggerating of

course but if you
have money you should

give to the church
and give to other

good causes in
order to to justify it if

you actually made
the money yourself

there's something
faintly dirty about

that a little suspicious
about that as

if you couldn't earn
a fortune without

cheating others
without exploiting

others many people
look at entrepreneurs

and say that
fundamentally they must be

motivated by greed
sure they're a greedy

entrepreneurs but
they're also greedy

lawyers greedy
doctors and greedy trade

unionists Max Weber
had a wonderful line

he said people
who think that the

essence of capitalism
is greed are in

the kindergarden
of economic history

he said greed is universal an

entrepreneur is a
person who sees things

that other people
don't but is also

creative with what
they see someone who

can organize things
and other people

around them so as
to achieve the new

object that is in
mind the entrepreneur

success seems
inevitable after the fact

but the risks of launching a new

enterprise a real
you know a lot of

people don't realize that for

entrepreneurs they
very often more often

than not place their
entire well-being

at risk in order to
produce something

that they don't even
know they have a

market for yet
they have to be so

convinced of their
idea that they will

and how many
entrepreneurs mortgage

their homes in
order to finance the

first beginnings
of their enterprise

that's an admirable
trait four out of

every seven new
enterprises fail and

people lose their
shirts they lose

everything they have

what entrepreneurs
really do is put one

thing at risk behind
something new

something different
where they could

lose it all and do it
over and over and

over again

some entrepreneurs
help share the risk

of new business
ventures while also

providing needed
capital these may be

the most vilified
of all entrepreneurs

the moneylenders

entrepreneurs often
have great ideas

many entrepreneurs
often however don't

have the necessary
capital that they

need to be able to
make an idea into

reality what banks do is provide

entrepreneurs with
the capital that they

need to turn ideas
into reality and to

create Frank haynam
is a successful

merchant banker
who first learned about

business and the
value of hard work from

his father

when that was a
child my brother and

father and I didn't
go hunting and

fishing like a lot
of kids do with their

fathers we would
wake up on Saturday

mornings and we
go to the office with

him and then we'd
go around and look at

real estate he would
have a duplex or

something like we
collect rent and we

would lo the lawns
and do maintenance

work and in between
he would teach us

about business
panel later pursued a

degree in law but
even as a young

attorney if you'da
students of business

it's a particular
bent and way of

looking at things I
practice law for two

years before going
into business and

after about six months
I had figured out

the compensation
structure of the law

firm which was top
secret but I went in

and talked to a
young partner one day

and he said how do
you know all this you

know more about
this than I do so well I

this is a business
it's a law firm but

it's a business
and if I want to be in

this business I need
to understand it I

need to know how
people are compensated

on what what kind
of incentives are

within the law firm
how do we bring in

business that
sort of thing I was

fascinated with the business

[Music]

so many people I know who are

entrepreneurs there's a piece of

engineer within
them there's a piece of

little boy who wants
to know how does

this thing work

he soon put his
talent for business to

work Frank and his brother David

developed models to
analyze and minimize

the risk of making
various loans then

they pooled their
savings of $160,000

for a down payment
to borrow a much

larger sum of money
alone they used to

purchase a bundle
of loans the borrowers

were now Belinda's
their strategy

eventually paid off
and they continue

making highly
leveraged investments

borrowing large sums
of money but they

would then win
to others for such

financial engineering
the company they

found it now manages
over 2.7 billion

dollars the economic
value of such work

may not be obvious

[Music]

my daughter spent
time with me this

summer working with
me seeing what I do

so she's watching
me make calls and

speak to people and
read material and we

go to lunch after a
couple of days and

she said to me when
do you make the

money and the fact
is you know first of

all you don't make
the money hopefully

you create well and money is a

representation of
some of the wealth

that is created but
I thought long and

hard about it what
does a capitalist do

a capitalist gathers
lots and lots and

lots of information
because generally

speaking the more
information you have

the less uncertainty
you have about

what's going to
happen so you gather a

lot of information
and you sift through

it and you discern
it and you spend a

lot of time thinking
about it and then

at the end of the
day the capitalist

makes a decision as
to where the capital

that he is a steward
of as to where that

capital should be
employed if he makes

good decisions
then he increases the

wealth that is there
because the capital

gets used like a
tool in an effective

manner if he makes
bad decisions he

won't be making
those decisions for very

long

because the market
will not continue to

put capital in his
stewardship every

small business that
started with alone

is connected to people
like Frank Hannah

if these moneylenders
failed to make

wise investments
they have to charge far

more interest to
stay in business but if

they're skillful they
can lower interest

rates enabling countless
men and women

to launch new enterprises

a farmer could till
a very small plot of

land until he saved
enough money to buy

a tractor or he can
take an act of faith

and hope in the
future that he can

borrow money to
buy a tractor now and

thereby go ahead
and start being much

more productive
today rather than ten

years from now
when he saved enough

money to buy the
first tractor now what

makes that possible
well in past days he

might be able to go
down the road and

borrow money from
another farmer to buy

the tractor but the
fact is that farmer

doesn't have enough
money to lend to him

and even if he goes
to a cooperative the

co-operative is much
more limited in how

much money they
can lend because they

don't have enough
of a universe to draw

from to diversify
the risk what risk

well the farmer who
buys - who borrows

to use the tractor he may not be

successful but it's
worth taking a risk

on him if we can
spread the risk over

thousands and
thousands of people and

that's what happens
here in New York

City whether it is credit cards

mortgages or tractors
on a farm we take

all of these credit
instruments that he

used to buy houses
or tractors and we

pull millions of them
together such that

when someone doesn't pay back

no one bears the
entire brunt of that

and that process
makes the entire

extension of credit
the cost of the

lubrication it drops
it dramatically and

more important it
makes it much more

available for many
many more people and

so the farmer who
in the past it didn't

matter how much
he was willing to pay

for the credit he
could not get it today

he can get it he
can walk into the

dealership and buy a tractor not

everyone sees the
work of bankers and

investors in such
a positive light there

was a famous movie
called Wall Street

with Michael Douglas
and he portrayed a

guy named Gordon Gekko

who acted as if the
whole thing is just

one big slot machine
or one big craps

table it's a zero-sum
game it's not a

question of enough
pal it's a zero-sum

game somebody wins
somebody loses money

itself is lost or made its aplia

transferred from
one perception to

another like magic
and that might be the

most insidious
misinterpretation of a

market that there
is the richest 1

percent of this
country owns half our

country's wealth 5
trillion dollars one

third of that comes
from hard work 2/3

comes from
inheritance interest on

interest accumulating
the widow's the

idiots sons and what
I do stock the real

estate speculation
it's you got 90

percent of the
American public out there

with little or no
net worth I create

nothing I own a
zero-sum game is like

poker we all sit
down at a table and I

only win if someone
else loses that's

not the way a market
works that's not

the way the wealth
of New York City has

been built it didn't
all come from

someone else it was created

I might argue that
there are two key

fundamental principles of all of

financial theory and
analysis one is the

time value of money
and the other is

understanding the benefits of

diversification of
financial risk the

risk sharing
entrepreneur can look

mundane beside
entrepreneurs who invent

new technologies
but the risk shares

have played a
pivotal role in history I

would make the
argument that but for

financial engineering
and financial risk

management

the United States of
America is not what

it is today I'm not
sure it ever gets

discovered as it
got discovered the

thing that allowed
more and more ships

to come to the United States was

insurance when a
ship would set sail

from Europe it was a
very very hazardous

undertaking and
very few people other

than royalty other
than Queen Isabella

in the case of
Columbus could finance it

because of the risk
that the ship and

all of its cargo would
go down was so

great that no one
could afford to bear

that risk on their
own what happened in

England with Lloyds
of London was that

an insurance industry
was set up whereby

the risk of all of
these ships going

down was shared in
a cooperative fashion

through financial engineering

there was somebody
sitting in a back

room

getting paid very well
because they were

analyzing statistic
after statistic

after statistic of
all of the accidents

at sea and making
calculations as to

what those risks
were and then charging

insurance premiums
to the companies that

wanted a sale to the New World

and by spreading
that risk one might

think what is that person in the

backroom of what
benefit are they to the

economy but that analysis that

engineering that
took place helped the

new world be discovered
because all of a

sudden more and
more people taking risk

in Europe could
sail to the new world

without fear of
catastrophic loss

because their risk
was now shared with

everyone else who
was sailing to the new

world and thus that financial

engineering emboldened
people to take

these ventures and
in fact enabled the

new world to be
discovered at a pace

that never would
have happened but for

those people in the
back room managing

risk the great
economic evil is the

belief in a zero-sum
economy that the

good fortune of others
comes at your own

expense because
then of course it

justifies any kind
of violence against

others it fosters
envy rather than

celebrating the
successes of others you

envy them and you
petition to government

to restrict and
suppress the successful

and all around the
world that's led to

the greatest horrors
and catastrophes an

attack on the
successful the middlemen

the entrepreneurs
when we demonize the

entrepreneur the
creative person we

create a perception
at that point what

we do and the
phrase for it is kill the

Golden Goose we see
the golden eggs that

are laid and we
think if we can kill the

Golden Goose we
can get rid of the goose

and get inside to
all the eggs the fact

is when you kill the
Golden Goose you

kill all the golden eggs to

[Music]

few stories better
illustrate the tragic

effects of vilifying
the business class

than the story of
Jimmy line born in

1948 in the
Guangdong province of

southern mainland
China Jimmy Lai was

five when Mount
Satan's Communist

revolution reached
his village the lies

property was
stripped away and their

family life
decimated it was very

confused time for
kids I didn't know

what was going on I
was maybe four well

we were unfortunate
because our friend

me was rich famiiy
so naturally when

you're rich you become
the enemy of the

people

when I knew anything
I knew that the

adults were very
busy either being sent

to labor camp

for instance my
mother only came back

doing weekend
to take heifers after

weekends she had
to go back to labor

camp and at that time
we you know me and

my twin sister and
my my elder sister

only three of us
were still in Canton in

the house so we
were young kids left

with us we had to
cook ourselves you

know and then on
order we just have to

survive strike who
answered as a kid

although you know
luckily we were kids

we know anything
better when Jim Eli was

nine he was given a
job carrying luggage

in a railway station
in Guangzhou when

you live in the
communist country

surrounded by all
the lies you know how

horrible how heritage
the house I were

is

you scare but
outside where we don't

know what to real
real fact is outside

you know where you
live but working in a

rail stations gave
me the privilege to

access people who
come from outside

those guys who come
from outside people

become an
information carrier of the

outside world I can
see people how well

they dress how well
this speed and how

well they treat us
then I was never

trade like this in
China you know

because people
who had to work in a

railway station
carry the bags our

people were marginal
people it was an

experience that was
very educational for

me it changes my
purview of the world

one day was carrying
the baggage for a

guy after he gate you
know gave me some

tips he failed he
threw his pocket and

gave me an above
top ring I had the bar

talking my hand I
turned and I I was so

hungry you know I
turn and I fight and

it was so tasteful it
was it was amazing

so I tell that I asked
him so much this

is Chakri

where you from is a
Hong Kong as a Hong

Kong must be having
because I never

taste anything like
that so that really

that was that trigger
my determination

to go to Hong Kong
and then from that

day on I passed to
my mother to allow me

to escape

well millions of
people in communist

China was starving
Hong Kong was booming

two things that
distinguish Hong Kong

from mainland China
during this period

were its support for
property rights and

the rule of law
Communist China in the

1950s and 60s had a
command-and-control

economy in which entrepreneurial

decisions and visions
and choices were

not preserved or not
respected Hong Kong

on the other hand had a minimal

provision for laws
and justice what some

have called governance
of benign neglect

which created space for the

entrepreneurial
visions of millions of

people the biggest impediment to

economic growth is
when people feel the

threat of confiscation
of their gains

from wealth creating
activity through

either government
or other private

actors and so for
example in the third

world there's a
lack of stability from

both the government
confiscating your

wealth and your
neighbor confiscating

your wealth so that drives you

underground or
drives you in this very

short term horizon
so we get markets in

all throughout the
world but they're

like bazaar markets
you know Street

trading levels
and things like that

rather than
longer-term investment

projects that are
wealth creating when

no one can rely on
the rule of law and

the rights of property
pure logic tells

you not to invest
too much of your time

and energy and
resources into any

property because
you have no assurance

that any fruit ever
comes from that

the wealthiest places
on the planet are

those places
where the productive

capacity of a person
is increased and

those places are
the places with the

least regulation
and the least taxation

so it seems to me
that's what you want

to do internationally is create

societies where
there is the least

regulation on
human creativity allow

people to do that
within sane boundaries

where people are
not allowed to kill

each other are not
allowed to steal from

each other have
their disputes settled

on the basis of
courts and law but to

minimize the actions
of bureaucrats and

politicians and the
state and maximize

the creativity of businesspeople

I think Adam Smith
summed it up best

when he said that
you could move from

the lowest form
of barbarism to the

highest form of
opulence that all you

need is peace easy
taxes and a tolerable

administration of
justice if we stifle

the initiative and
the creativity of the

entrepreneur to a
certain point they'll

walk away from the
opportunity they'll

move to some other
place that has more

opportunity because
the creative impulse

is still there the
boy jimmy'll I knew

nothing of economic
theory but in the

train station in
Guangzhou he tasted

freedom for the
first time I stopped to

pester my mother
about allowing me to

escape to Hong Kong
when I was 11 half

so it took me a year
to convince her she

always said hey you
know you know that

going to Hong Kong
is like you going to

the moon because I
would never see you

again

you know you wouldn't
you know she 40 I

would never be able
to go back and she

would never go to
Hong Kong to see me

and she were very
reluctant to allow me

to go to Hong Kong
but finally I did and

but when I was trove
in half line knew a

policeman who
helped him get a visa to

the Macao territory
in the southern

coast of China he
made the journey that

night some of the
fishermen there were

part of a smuggling
operation where

freedom and profit met

I was put in the
bottom of the junk and

fishing trunk together
with like maybe

100 maybe 80 I don't
remember you know

we were crammed
together and after a few

hours they allow us
you know when they

see no builder allow
us to have some

fresh air and then
went back to the

bottom and everybody
vomiting because

you know you and
by the afternoon we

arrived in Kowloon
and at that time when

you arrived in Hong
Kong you touch base

you're legalized you know you're

considered legal
I was taken to my

mother's sister
and she paid three

hundred seventy dollars for the

smugglers plaintiff
I know how poor my

mother's sister was
you know she and a

husband was living
in a bed among many

beds in a compound
so they had that the

food coat next to
the bed and all that

you know they're
very poor people their

poverty meant that
Jimmy was sent to

work the same
night he arrived in the

kowloon district
of Hong Kong I was

taken to yours
factory to work as the

object worker and
I was very happy in

the morning you
know I smell a lot of

food that I never
smell you know the

great aroma of food
that and the manager

gave me ten dollars
that's bet there was

a lot of money at
that time and it was I

was very happy
at this I see if I

arrived in heaven
although you know as a

as young kid we
had to wake up like

before 7:00 we
got to whip the floor

finish everything
open the door before 8

o'clock people come
and then we work

until like 10 o'clock
but it was a very

happy time it was
a time that I know I

had a future

[Music]

I'll oh and you
know I know I was

choosing what we
eat and sleep in a

factory because in
the evening in the

packing Department
you just put a few

chairs together and
sleep I remember

every night you
know it was so tired

that my bag is always
aching but every

morning I wake up
is okay you okay why

so noticed that those
who were getting

ahead spoke English
he began working

with an old man

to learn the rudiments
of the language

by the time he left
the factory at age

14 y could read and
converse in English

at 18 he landed
a job as a garment

salesman his work
eventually took him to

New York City

[Music]

it was something
very funny you know I

land in New York
and I was it was almost

like you know what
I what I saw in movie

fake buildings you
know because it was

it was a wonderful
time you know it was

very constructive

I learned almost
everything I learned to

build the foundation
of my life from

there yeah well I had
a mentor who's her

was a very good
salesman that I met an

actress stayed with
him and his wife so

one day he told me
as a little Jimmy I

taught you everything
you had to learn

as a salesman if you
owned the boat go

further in their
life you got to be

educated you got to have an

international pursuit
I'm gonna take you

to one of my friends
house for dinner

tonight

it was 1967 it was a
Tuesday night I was

invited to a retire
Jewish lawyers house

for dinner after
dinner because doing

dinner

I was speaking
rubbish so when I left he

took a book from the
bookshelf and gave

it to me and say that universe

read this it's good
for you Doc's name

is called to road to serve

by venture Hyatt

that book changed
my life Austrian

economist Friedrich
Hayek had ridden the

Road to Serfdom
near the close of World

War two he argued that the same

collectivist impulse
that drove National

Socialism in Germany
and communism in

the Soviet Union also threatened

democracies like
Great Britain he warned

that freedom could
not long survive the

state's attempt
to centrally plan its

economy I had
predicted that if a

democracy followed
such a path to the

end it would
inevitably destroy itself

you read between
the lines of his

passion for freedom
is like almost like

religious you know
this is fantastic

nervousness so
uplifting for me for

Hayek the state
not just individuals

could violate the rule of law he

maintained that
government efforts to

dictate economic
equality did not extend

the rule of law but
destroyed it Hayek

compared the rule
of law to a state

providing road signs but without

commanding people
which road to take

only if the state
accepts its limited

role can real freedom
prosper the books

passion a case for
freedom lit a fire in

the young salesman
on his return to Hong

Kong Jimmy Lai landed
a job as a manager

in a garment factory
eventually earned a

large bonus and then
used the money to

begin trading in
the stock market

I got a bonus of 7,000
Hong Kong it was

not enough to start
a business I so I

said okay look
let's try my luck and

speculate in the
stock market if I'm

lucky I make some
money and then I start

my own business
and then before I did it

I bought a lot of
books about you know

stock market books
to know how to

speculate

fly proved himself in his stooge

investor and quickly
built a nest egg

with his profits and
a wealthy partner

he soon had the
capital to think big

I've really like to
create things I got

a rich friend of mine
who's my partner

whose father can
sign up personal

guarantee to get
some money from the

bank so that that
works out and that's

how I build the
factory and then I went

into the retaining business from

manufacturing he
moved into retail in

1981 he founded a clothing chain

Giordano which he
named after an Italian

restaurant in the
United States the

company quickly
expanded from Hong Kong

into mainland China
within a decade

Giordano had over
200 stores and was

worth hundreds of
millions of dollars

lai had made it
in one of the most

competitive clothing
markets on the

planet his success
might have marked the

beginning of a long
final phase of his

career the ongoing
management of an

established enterprise

but then came the
pro-democracy protests

in Tiananmen Square

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

[Music]

[Applause]

when I first noticed
what happened in

tanaami I was very moved

I always tried to
run away from China

since the time that
I've escaped from it

anything China
represents is something

that I want to
forget I want to be

keeping as long a
distance from it as

possible at least
emotionally it's

something becoming
very disgusting for

me

[Music]

actually I didn't
do anything about

China until Tiananmen
Square happened

all of a sudden is
like my mother was

coring in the
darkness of the line

and my heart opened up

it's like going back
to the warm of your

mother

I was very excited
I wanted to get him

off

so get money and
give teachers I do a

lot of things I have
been s in my shop

you know ask them
something to resign

and then Windows
10 M Square Heroes

t-shirt and sold
it at a very cheap

price

I was I was doing
a lot of things I got

involved and I was
very excited and and

that's why I went into the media

business shortly
after the Tiananmen

Square massacre
Bly launched a monthly

magazine next and
quickly established

its independent
credentials I asked

myself you know I
make enough money if I

just go on making
money it doesn't mean

anything to me
but if I go into the

media business that I deliver

information which
is choice and choice

is freedom you
know I was thrilled by

the idea that you
know I can be part of

the institution
that is delivering

freedom to a
society like China of

course that which
was a misconception I

for China after the June the 2/4

massacre will be
over open up to the

world and to freedom
for its people he

hasn't yet but not
that you know we

don't we don't have
to persist we have

to persist the Hong
Kong media avoided

criticizing the
Chinese Communist

leadership but I
refused to play it safe

even going so
far as to criticize

Premier Li Peng
for his role in the

Tiananmen Square
massacre it was a

fateful decision I
wrote a letter open

letter the leap hang
and says some harsh

things about him we
had shops in China

and we were threatened
that you know you

we you know the
you if I still own the

company dangled
close to empty shops in

China so that one
day I was in Paris in

the morning 6:30 I
received a call from

the dent see I will
say that look Jimmy

you gotta sell your
share in the company

the greatest potential
is in China and

if we you know
outdoors crows there

we finish we're toast
just go ahead sell

it

[Music]

a year after the
Chinese government

forced him out of Kiev Don Oh

jimmy'll I've launched
a newspaper Apple

Daily undeterred
by the attack on his

interests lie
pushed his writers to

practice a blend of consumer and

muckraking journalism

despite some costly
setbacks decade

later expanded into
Taiwan Apple and

next are now among
the leaders of the

crowded Hong Kong
and Taiwanese media

markets

[Music]

a media magnate
a merchant banker a

compost farmer
each of fascinating

bundle of strengths
and weaknesses of

motives and talents
they encounters

other entrepreneurs
create wealth every

day fundamentally
transforming our world

and yet even
economists who prized the

market economy can
overlook the role of

the entrepreneur
when we think about

contemporary
economics we have this

vision of the world
as being somehow

mathematically
orientated and that's

something that we
get from people like

Newton who were
looking for these laws

that governed the
universe in a very

strict unmoving
way economists are

constantly creating
economic models that

consists of lots
of simultaneously

computed equations that simulate

economic activity
they tend to eclipse

the entrepreneur

you can't determine
beforehand what the

entrepreneur is
going to do what he's

going to create
if you open up an

economics textbooks
you're not going to

find some supply
demand chart with an e

variable for the
entrepreneur you can

only see what the
entrepreneur does

after the fact part
of the problem is

that the defenders
of capitalism have

always exalted free
markets rather than

free men or free
inventors or free

creators capitalism begins with

enterprise it doesn't
begin with market

it begins only when
people look around

see what needs to
be done or could be

done and then have the

stick-to-itiveness
and the creativity to

make it work find a
way to make it work

over over all obstacles

the entrepreneurs
we remember are the

great inventors since
we can easily see

how their inventions
produce new wealth

but most entrepreneurs
create new wealth

in another less tangible way by

orchestrating the
creativity of others

[Music]

and orchestra
you see all of these

different individual
people engaged in

some kind of activity
the violinists the

cellist the oboe
player the person on

the drums or percussion

all of them left to
their own devices

would create cacophony but the

impresario oversees all of this

understands the
various aspects may not

be able to play
the violin as well as

the first violinist
may not be able to

play the percussion
but has an overall

vision of where this
thing needs to go

and precedes an
harmonious action to

hold back the one
and bring in the other

and then bring them
together to produce

the harmony that
we know as beautiful

music

people think of
entrepreneurship as

essentially an individualistic

enterprise

you know the
impresario the conductor

can't conduct a
symphony without the

orchestra and the
entrepreneur as

entrepreneur cannot
produce the kind of

wealth is needed
without the talent but

many people many
of whom he will never

meet many of whose
languages he cannot

speak

you

entrepreneur is
the creative force in

economics the
entrepreneur is the person

who comes and
looks at a desert or a

jungle or a wilderness
and sees a garden

yeah you know
seize a opportunity to

create new value
unlearn risk without

knowing the isn't
risk-taking list is

actuary fashion
into hope you're just

dashing into the
future and hoping that

is going to be better
when I look at the

business successes
that we have had it I

look and I see
failure after failure

because you can't
predict the future

perfectly and then
when the checkbook

doesn't balance and
there isn't enough

money to go around
and I mean you're

constantly fighting
the financial

battles that we
was fighting it puts a

lot of stress on the
family on the other

hand I look back
today and I wouldn't

rewrite that book
for no love nor money

the successful
entrepreneur is the one

who stays hopeful
and stays flexible and

stays adaptable
are we successful

yeah but I don't
sure it all revolves

around money I
successfully measured

when I'm Lana long on

I have visions of a
grandchild or a two

or three actually
being involved in

something that I
built if you have a

vision go for it if
any one of these

kids come up with
an idea or a project

I'll support him 100%
but if you can do

it do it and do it
well you could really

think of the first
farmers is the first

entrepreneurs

it was farmers after
all and farms that

made the first
cities possible and it

was those cities
that made the great

civilizations possible
and it was those

civilizations that
made things like

worldwide Commerce
and science and

technology and
music and philosophy

possible

without the entrepreneur
economies are

barren they're dead

prominent moral
and religious leaders

point to capitalists
who have cheated

employees deceived consumers and

poisoned the
environment and conclude

that business is
inherently selfish

others argue that
while no entrepreneur

is immune to corruption the

entrepreneurial
impulse Springs from

something good
even divine within us

[Music]

I'm not saying by
this that a person who

is a successful entrepreneur is

necessarily doing
the will of God or is

intentionally doing
the little God but

I'm saying that
there's something there

embedded in the
very action that speaks

to us of the creation
I think that most

entrepreneurs are
motivated by the sheer

excitement of creating
something that's

needed the sense
of they out in some

respects participating
in God's original

creative act when we
think about God the

very first thing we
know about God was

that he created something

it's money involved sure money's

involved that's
part of our business

world and part of
the physical world we

inhabit but that's
not what in the end

motivates and
calls to doctrine or

what calls to be
entrepreneur is this

creative energy
this inspirational

impulse this desire
to make something

where nothing at this

[Music]

when God fashions
man from the dust of

the earth and
breathed into him the

breath of life and
speaks those first

words of vocation to
the human family he

in effect is inviting
the human family

to be co-creators
with him not Coe in

the sense of equal
but qohen the sense

of cooperating
working with him in the

continuation of
the creation of the

world what an awesome
location matters