My annual richest 400 rant

Hi Dien,

You have this fascination with the movie character Gordon Gekko and so do I.

I wouldn't necessarily want my sister to marry the guy, but some of the principles (the legal ones, that is) he stands for and uses can be valuable lessons for of us who are in business.

Your post was of particular interest to me because I am writing a book on Timing the Stock Market. The Forbes 400 examples that you mentioned about the need to take "calculated risks" will likely be incorporated into my sales letter.

But what about our friend Gordon Gekko? Because the entire Gekko thing is about gaining an advantage for making profitable stock market decisions -- and the Forbes 400 examples are not -- do you think this can be effectively used in a sales letter as well ... or do you think most people will be turned off by the illegal tactics Gekko uses to achieve his goals?

Any thoughts?

Robert Campbell


Timing the Real Estate Market

I watch the movie WallStreet almost weekly. I have done so for the last 3 years. There are nuggets there. There are also major learning lessons in the Forbes list. I spot the steady players and read up on em. No Joe Kumars there.

I also started playing with the "gekko" character online by playing with the name a bit. Even giving him his own website.

www.roadtoforbes.com.

Who knows. Maybe there someday.

I LOVE this forum...

Good thread
Jscott Gekko/gecko
The softer side of Gordon Gekko
> Hi Dien,

> You have this fascination with the movie
> character Gordon Gekko and so do I.

> I wouldn't necessarily want my sister to
> marry the guy, but some of the principles
> (the legal ones, that is) he stands for and
> uses can be valuable lessons for of us who
> are in business.

> Your post was of particular interest to me
> because I am writing a book on Timing the
> Stock Market. The Forbes 400 examples that
> you mentioned about the need to take
> "calculated risks" will likely be
> incorporated into my sales letter.

> But what about our friend Gordon Gekko?
> Because the entire Gekko thing is about
> gaining an advantage for making profitable
> stock market decisions -- and the Forbes 400
> examples are not -- do you think this can be
> effectively used in a sales letter as well
> ... or do you think most people will be
> turned off by the illegal tactics Gekko uses
> to achieve his goals?

> Any thoughts?

> Robert Campbell

Hi Robert,

I've been meaning to reply to your post for a while (sorry for the delay)...

> But what about our friend Gordon Gekko?
> Because the entire Gekko thing is about
> gaining an advantage for making profitable
> stock market decisions -- and the Forbes 400
> examples are not -- do you think this can be
> effectively used in a sales letter as well
> ... or do you think most people will be
> turned off by the illegal tactics Gekko uses
> to achieve his goals?

Hmmm... I'd be wary, I think...

I think among financial types, they'd probably see Gecko in a mostly positive light. But I'm not sure if "Joe Public" would see him the same way! He might see Gecko as representing all that is evil about making money and finance!

I don't have a good feel for it... Perhaps it could be a good idea to talk to several people who you feel would fit into your target market. That could help give you an idea of what the average person thinks.

In my case - I'd see it as a positive, because I find Gordon Gecko a fascinating character. However, I'm not sure that most others think the same way!

Not sure if that helps, but anyway... Any excuse to talk about Gordon Gecko is a good discussion to me. ;)

Cheers,

Dien