HARVEY BRODY - Long Lost Article On The King Of The VIRTUAL CORPORATION

I believed I had read everything there is to read on the Internet on the legendary and mysterious Harvey Brody. Someplace in my storage archives, I have his original series of manuals I brought on how to run a very lucrative business by finding certain under performing or abandoned "assets" and re-energize them in the marketplace per his secret sauce method.

I said I "believed" I had read everything there was to read on the internet about Harvey Brody. That is until a few days ago when I discovered I was wrong. A very interesting story on Harvey managed to escape all of my searches for years until recently. I will get back to this later.

I did what 97% of the buyers of Harvey's system didn't, wouldn't or couldn't do...I actually pulled out the Yellow Pages like Harvey said to do and cold called manufacturers looking for abandoned injection molds per Harvey's criteria. The trick was to inquire casually without giving hint that what they consider "junk" may hold lots and lots of value so you can buy at "junk" prices.

I was scared to death making the calls. but I made them, taking long pauses between calls to recover from my nervousness. There were no emails I could hide behind and send. I either made phone calls or put together a direct mail letter and send it to a list of likely suspect local manufacturers in Philadelphia and neighboring counties. Calling was faster and lots cheaper, so I called. I finally booked an appointment to see the manager of a company in Philadelphia.

Once there, all decked out in my caramel brown height of fashion 100% genuine polyester suit, I met the lady manager. She took me to a row in their warehouse where they stored their no longer used injection molds. She directed my attention to injection molds for some of the ugliest lamps made of sandstone my eyes had ever been forced to witness. No wonder she was willing to let me "take them off of her hands" for whatever money she thought I was sucker enough to buy them for. No Thank You! So I thanked her for showing me what she had and made my exit back home in my not air conditioned 1960 Ford Galaxy (given to me by my Uncle and Aunt in 1973) and prayed the radiator would not overheat on the 28 mile trip back home in a neighboring county.

I allowed this non starter experience to influence and generalize my overall feelings about this approach and never made another attempt to find a winning asset that I could work with per Harvey's road map to financial success. I was in my real early twenties with less than great confidence and self esteem. So it didn't take a hell of a lot to discourage me back then.

Although things worked out eventually career wise, I sometimes wonder "what could have been" if I had continued undaunted to capture an asset and implement Harvey's unique, VIRTUAL CORPORATION model. If I dug up his manuals that were published before faxing, email, personal computers, scanning, Skype phone/video and the internet were born, I wonder how useful they would be now because while his model may still be useful in terms of the leverage it offers in concept and sparking out of the box thinking, the process outlined in the manuals are now hopelessly obsolete technologically.

If there is a competently updated version of his model in part or whole for 21st Century implementation, no telling how much I and others will be willing to pay for it if we were convinced it was the real deal and not a bogus shiny object pretending to be a true and workable update of Harvey's virtual corporation model. I imagine it is now much easier and less costly locating appropriate "assets" and getting them under licence or to buy outright. As well as easier to identify appropriate distribution channels or joint venture with someone who has inroads in a distribution set up domestically and perhaps global. Getting a deal signed I imagine a matter of negotiation, not being greedy, ensuring everyone concerned are happy with their piece of the deal and performance responsibilities.

A while back, there was buzz about Harvey updating his model. By my estimation, he is in his early eighties. Having much more sand at the bottom than the top of his hour glass and maybe burdened with some of the health challenges that comes with being in one's early eighties, I do not hold much hope he will finally offer an update of his model. Regrettable because I am sure since its publication many decades ago, he has expanded his model to more lucrative possibilities.

Back to my earlier comment that I discovered I had not in fact read all there was to read about Harvey Brody online. As if coming out of hiding from my many searches for all things Harvey Brody over the years, I came across a feature article on him and his virtual corporation model that appeared in a prestigious newspaper almost a generation ago.

In the article, a professor from a top 25 US university business school says:

"He's the kind of person we should have been studying 30 years ago."

Almost a generation later, his quote could have been made yesterday and be as valid. Read how much income Harvey hints he grosses with only three employees...keeping in mind how long ago he was banking his amount of pre tax income. Then imagine how much his gross would be in 2015 dollars. One hell of a powerful business model sadly lost to us. And for me a great opportunity in hand and lost because I gave up before really getting started.

Here is a link to the 827 word article: http://tinyurl.com/mrcwfao

Enjoy.

Spyglass
P.S. Gordon, thanks so much for your help with my blind spot getting this thread set up.