hustlebear-judd's comments

I'm looking forward to it!

ha, that's a cool slogan, I like it :)

The old fixed pie fallacy will never die. A free economy grows by what we each contribute to it. Only a centrally controlled economy is a pie sliced up by daddy, literally leading to a fight for table scraps (if they exist).

Well, because my server went down right after I did last time, which was frustrating. The problem has been fixed, so I resubmitted it. Is that ok?

Man, after I saw that Rearden scene I felt SO much better. It is representative of the rest of the movie.

Yup, they pushed to get the release timed for effect ;)

They are great knives. I still use the Super Shears and the knives from my starter set to this day, 13 years later. I was very young then, and didn't have a car, but I pulled in orders for 3 homemaker sets in one of my first weeks.

Cutco makes a good product. But there's no doubt their marketing strategy is a bit deceptive. Telling college students to go through their list of personal contacts and make appointments explaining that you just need to do a presentation for school credit, or that you just get paid to do presentations. I was meeting people who really didn't give a damn about having decent cutlery. I convinced a few that they should spring for the Cutco, and there's nothing wrong with that. I did actually believe the product was great, but if I was honest with myself, I had to admit that unless they really loved cooking, often their money probably better spent on other things.

Cutco was important early experience for me in sales, and I really can't knock the company, its product, or its sales reps. But I was glad to stop making appointments to sell knives.

The full context from the other thread (http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2185100)

dmg8

> The problem with hiring a hustler with a "knack for getting money" is that

> you might be the one he ends up hustling.

hustlebear-judd

> The problem with the word hustle is that it has a few very different connotations.

> Those who go far have moved beyond street hustling.

nedwin

> So true. I have this print framed above my desk at work:

> http://joeyroth.com/charlatan-martyr-hustler/

ooh, very cool. I like it!

Excellent point, that's certainly part of it.

I did the Cutco thing too. I did kind of feel like I was selling people things they don't really need or want, so I got out of it. So I kind of agree with your there.

I moved on over the years to sales involving multi-million dollar transactions, always involving very high pressure negotiations, and that allows a more detailed look at the true value of the salesman (broker).

A salesman isn't someone who tries to sell ice to Eskimos. He needs to be a leader. He needs to understand his field, understand his customer at a deeper level than what the customer is verbalizing, and help lead customers to actually attain their interests.

Think of it this way. A salesmen has a seller, who is offering something of value at a price. He tries to get a buyer to pay that price, by explaining why what the seller is selling is worth the money. He's a broker, bringing people together who legitimately have value to offer each other.

If he gets good at that he can sell his services for a good price, and do well for himself.

You can do your own research on the right smart phone for you, and even the right car; sometimes it is very helpful to have someone who specializes in a product or service help you understand why it's in your interest to purchase it. It is certainly in the product or service creator's interest to pay for such an excellent specialist.

That being said, a lot of salesmen are scum, or useless, or both, and fortunately those guys never really amount to much.

The problem with the word hustle is that it has a few very different connotations.

Those who go far have moved beyond street hustling.

Well, the great thing about money is that (as long as you don't cheat people) it is not only an excellent barometer of accomplishment, it is extraordinarily useful and even fun.

In a macro sense I believe the pursuit of money is very healthy, contrary to some popular beliefs, it actually encourages a society of people each working very hard to contribute.

In a micro sense I believe this pursuit of money is also very healthy, it gears your mind to focus on a standard of what legitimately is or is not worth doing. It is our goals that give us purpose and serve as a powerful way to bring out our power and productivity. I think it is wrong to condemn that.

Sure there's lots of things very much worth pursuing that money can't buy, but that doesn't make money any less worth pursuing.