Always chose rich parents

[Deleted]

Always choose wealthy parents


By Steve Benen

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Wed Aug 8, 2012 11:14 AM EDT.







Back in April, Mitt Romney delivered one of his more memorable pieces of advice. Talking to Otterbein University in Ohio, the Republican said President Obama is against "success" -- I still have no idea what that was in reference to -- but Romney prefers to "encourage young people."

"Take a shot, go for it, take a risk, get the education, borrow money if you have to from your parents, start a business," Romney said.

The line was significant because of what it told us about Romney's approach to economic opportunities. If you're a young person who can't afford rising college tuition rates and/or don't have the resources to launch a business venture, the GOP's would-be president has some advice for you: choose wealthy parents.

I mention this because a very similar point came up yesterday at a Romney event in Elk Grove, Illinois, where the candidate was praising "the entrepreneurial spirit."


"I met a guy, you may know him, Jim Liautaud, you know Jim. Jim didn't do so well in high school.

"He graduated number two from the bottom of his class. And he went to his dad and said, 'Look, college isn't in my future. Can I get a loan from you to start a business?' And after a little discussion, his dad agreed to give him a loan. He went out and looked to see whether he could get one of these griddles to make hamburgers and those rollers to make hotdogs and found out they were more expensive than the money he had. The only thing he could make with the money he'd borrowed from his dad was sandwiches. So he set up some tables in a garage and made sandwiches and then he delivered them to the workplace to people who wanted them.

"Now Jimmy John has 1,200 restaurants across this country. That's the kind of entrepreneurial spirit that you see in Americans across the country. You see, these individuals don't look to government, they instead look to themselves and say, 'What can I do to make myself better?'"

It's a perfectly nice story and I'm glad Jim Liautaud has been successful. He had a good idea and produced a good product. More power to him.

But I don't think the story means what Romney thinks it means.

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Liautaud didn't do well in school, but he was able create a profitable business because, according to Romney, his father provided him with financial resources. Liautaud had the individual initiative, the drive, the ingenuity, and the public infrastructure that allowed him to deliver his sandwiches, but he didn't have any money.

His father provided Liautaud with some seed loans and the rest his history. But what about the folks who also have the building blocks for success -- the individual initiative, the drive, the ingenuity, etc. -- but don't have parents with large amounts of disposable income?

In Romney's vision, these people are simply out of luck. Higher education isn't an option -- young people who can't afford to go to their college of their choice should "shop around" for some other institution, because a Romney administration doesn't intend to help with Pell Grants or student loans -- and entrepreneurial opportunities aren't really an option, either -- Romney believes small businesses should depend on parental aid, not governmental aid.

If you don't come from a wealthy family with tens of thousands of disposable income, well, that's a shame -- no small business for you.

To reiterate a point from April, my point isn't to mock Romney for being very wealthy or for having very wealthy parents. For that matter, I wish nothing but success for entrepreneurs who get seed money from Mom and Dad, and go on to create profitable ventures.

Rather, what matters here is that Romney is actively opposed to using public institutions to help level the playing field for everyone else -- and that's a problem voters need to consider.

Speaking of small businesses, the Obama campaign is "assembling an army of small business owners who say that they did engineer their own success -- thanks to the opportunities afforded them by generations of American taxpayers." That seems like a good idea.

[ttt]

:Y: :Y:

The problem I have with people like Romney is that they can't think or imagine a world outside their own bubble. It just doesn't occur to them that someone's relative might not have money to lend them to start a business, for example. They're not bad people, they just can't fathom what things are like for people who don't live like they do. So the whole bootstraps mentality makes sense to them. Well, if you have all these opportunities and aren't taking advantage of them, you deserve to fail. Sure, except many, many people don't *have* those opportunities to take advantage of.

[cookiemdough]

So in that scenario where your parents lend you money can you still say you did it all by yourself?

[decemberwedding07]

LOLOLOL @ "borrow money from your parents." That really is the funniest thing I've ever heard a politician say. What if your big conundrum is handling requests for loans BY your parents?

This reminds me of the time that I gave a (presumably) homeless young woman a few bucks while we were at a stoplight. My little sister (the same genius who thinks that having a past boyfriend who was black gives her the ability to use the n-word) said, "So you'll give money to a stranger, but you won't give money to your own sister?" She had asked me days before to act as a bank by paying off all of her credit cards, giving her just one debt to me, which she generously offered to not pay interest on. ^o) I asked her if she really didn't see a difference in her situation and the woman to whom I just gave maybe enough money for a McDonald's value meal. She said, "It's not my fault she's homeless! Her parents should take care of her, not you! She just needs to go ask her parents for some money." SMDH.

[Deleted]

Does anybody know what Liautaud's parents did for a living? I haven't been able to find that information.

I ask because this line struck me: So he set up some tables in a garage and made sandwiches and then he delivered them to the workplace to people who wanted them.

I am in no way attempting to denigrate his success or implying that he didn't work hard. But I do wonder who the people are who wanted these sandwiches. This is one area where having family connections can help. An 18-year-old man who lives in an area with high unemployment and whose parents work at places like factories and diners may not have the same connections to get that initial customer base. That's not to say success is impossible, but these are things worth talking about.

[decemberwedding07]

Aug 8, 2012 11:44:15 GMT -5 @angryharpy said:

Does anybody know what Liautaud's parents did for a living? I haven't been able to find that information.

I ask because this line struck me: So he set up some tables in a garage and made sandwiches and then he delivered them to the workplace to people who wanted them.

I am in no way attempting to denigrate his success or implying that he didn't work hard. But I do wonder who the people are who wanted these sandwiches. This is one area where having family connections can help. An 18-year-old man who lives in an area with high unemployment and whose parents work at places like factories and diners may not have the same connections to get that initial customer base. That's not to say success is impossible, but these are things worth talking about.

Well, he went to Elgin Academy, and according to Wikipedia, he graduated second to last in his class, so I kind of doubt he was there on some great scholarship. Their fees are, from their website, currently:
LOWER SCHOOL – Deposit $1,300
Kindergarten (Full Days) ..........$13,180 1st – 4th Grade .............................$14,540
MIDDLE SCHOOL – Deposit $1,300
5th – 8th Grade .............................$16,710
UPPER SCHOOL – Deposit $1,300
9th – 12th Grade ...........................$19,230
So, not cheap at all, but I guess something that you wouldn't have to be a 1%er to afford either? Still, you'd have to be doing pretty well.

Oh, and then there's this from wiki:
Liautaud chose the latter and accepted his father's $25,000 loan to start a hot dog business – with Liautaud owning 52% of the business and his father owning 48%.[5] After realizing a hot dog business would cost more than anticipated, Liautaud opened his first sandwich shop.
That was in 1983. According to westegg.com, What cost $25000 in 1983 would cost $53998.66 in 2010. So, yeah, I'd say he didn't do it ALL on his own.

[Deleted]

Yep, I will borrow from my parents, Im sure the $100 or so they could give me will be enough to start a restaurant.

[Deleted]

here's the link maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2012/08/08/13181825-always-choose-wealthy-parents?fb_action_ids=4556965001797&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%7B%224556965001797%22%3A10151134222716329%7D&action_type_map=%7B%224556965001797%22%3A%22og.recommends%22%7D&action_ref_map=[]

[ttt]

www.nndb.com/people/673/000205058/

Liautaud brags that his business was profitable in its first year, and he was able to buy out his father's interest in just three years. His father, Jim Liautaud, made millions as the founder of Capsonic Group, a manufacturer of molded plastic inserts and composites that supplies automakers GM and Ford.

[expatpumpkin]

Aug 8, 2012 11:52:28 GMT -5 ttt said:

www.nndb.com/people/673/000205058/

Liautaud brags that his business was profitable in its first year, and he was able to buy out his father's interest in just three years. His father, Jim Liautaud, made millions as the founder of Capsonic Group, a manufacturer of molded plastic inserts and composites that supplies automakers GM and Ford.

No doubt it was profitable in its first year! If you're selling sandwiches made out of your parents' garage and therefore have basically no overhead (rent, utilities, etc.), I can see how profitability wouldn't be so hard to achieve in the first year.

I wonder who supplied him with the vehicle he used to make his deliveries? Who paid the insurance and upkeep on it? I think we know. Did he even buy the gas?

Yep, just a typical rags to riches story that ANYONE with a little ambition and elbow grease could achieve

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2012 12:26:35 GMT -5 expatpumpkin said:

Aug 8, 2012 11:52:28 GMT -5 ttt said:

www.nndb.com/people/673/000205058/

Liautaud brags that his business was profitable in its first year, and he was able to buy out his father's interest in just three years. His father, Jim Liautaud, made millions as the founder of Capsonic Group, a manufacturer of molded plastic inserts and composites that supplies automakers GM and Ford.

No doubt it was profitable in its first year! If you're selling sandwiches made out of your parents' garage and therefore have basically no overhead (rent, utilities, etc.), I can see how profitability wouldn't be so hard to achieve in the first year.

I wonder who supplied him with the vehicle he used to make his deliveries? Who paid the insurance and upkeep on it? I think we know. Did he even buy the gas?

Yep, just a typical rags to riches story that ANYONE with a little ambition and elbow grease could achieve

Did he have health department inspections?

[sonrisa]

Aug 8, 2012 11:40:48 GMT -5 ttt said:

The problem I have with people like Romney is that they can't think or imagine a world outside their own bubble.

My problem is it goes deeper than that: he is outside Romney's bubble. A prep school kid who doesn't have enough money to start his own sandwich business (and instead borrows money from dad) is of modest means in Romney's world. No trust fund. That is "up by your bootstraps" in the world of people who can sponsor an Olympic horse.

[ttt]

Aug 8, 2012 12:40:47 GMT -5 sonrisa said:

Aug 8, 2012 11:40:48 GMT -5 ttt said:

The problem I have with people like Romney is that they can't think or imagine a world outside their own bubble.

My problem is it goes deeper than that: he is outside Romney's bubble. A prep school kid who doesn't have enough money to start his own sandwich business (and instead borrows money from dad) is of modest means in Romney's world. No trust fund. That is "up by your bootstraps" in the world of people who can sponsor an Olympic horse.

Good point.

[WOT?*]

Yeah, this is Jim Liautaud's dad. Not exactly poor and struggling, Jim Jr.

Teaching the Power of Positive Leadership

After starting and running five companies before reaching his mid-50s, Jim Liautaud turned to the academic world. He is now teaching chief executives how to be better managers and leaders.

At age 55, "I had an epiphany that I didn't want to use my brain to make money anymore," says Mr. Liautaud, now 72. "I didn't at first know what I wanted to do, except that I wanted to use my business skills to help others."

His early years gave no indication that Mr. Liautaud would end up teaching and doing academic research. Growing up in Chicago, he was kicked out of four schools, he says, because of his frenetic energy.

But that personality served him well as an entrepreneur. While he was in college getting an engineering degree, he founded his first company: He negotiated with Time Life to sell their magazines on campus, and ended up hiring 150 salespeople. Mr. Liautaud went on to build companies that included Capsonic Group Inc., a composite-molding operation, and K40 Electronics Inc., a radar-detector manufacturer—all based on technologies that he invented and patented.

In the wake of his epiphany, Mr. Liautaud sold his stakes in his companies and took a two-year sabbatical to tour the U.S. by motorcycle. He also read dozens of history, psychology and sociology books. By the end of that break, Mr. Liautaud had mapped out his future: He would become an academic. Intrigued by the field of psychology called "emotional intelligence," he hoped to conduct research projects to study the impact that psychology and social interactions have on the success of chief executives.

"I wanted to create a totally different field of research, studying why people do the things they do, and from that, find out how to implement effective change to help them do their jobs better and be happier," says Mr. Liautaud, who lives in Chicago with Gina, his wife of nearly five decades. "CEOs don't often think about the importance of emotional intelligence, but by just changing a few behaviors, business leaders can have a hugely positive impact on others."

He contacted the University of Illinois at Chicago and began working with professors there to get his research ideas off the ground. Since he started his work on campus 15 years ago, he has directed almost a dozen research projects. With Mr. Liautaud's help, the university has also launched a Web site that pairs more than a thousand senior researchers in engineering, medicine and computer science with corporations and venture-capital firms.

Mr. Liautaud recently was named a clinical professor at the university. He has developed a training methodology called PdEI, which helps chief executives implement the principles of positive psychology at work, and has founded (and funded) the university's Liautaud Graduate School of Business. He spends more than 40 hours a week on his second career, traveling and conducting meetings just like he did in his working life, but still finds time for his 15 grandchildren.

He's also recently expanded his emotional-leadership training and research programs to school principals, doctors and psychologists. He's convinced professionals in these sectors can be more productive by bringing more empathy to their work.

"The entrepreneurial mind can never just shut off, so I couldn't just suddenly play golf all day," says Mr. Liautaud, who does all his research work as a volunteer. "I hope other retired CEOs will consider giving their time and expertise to universities, because it's a wonderful way to give back and keep your mind active."

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2012 12:29:45 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Aug 8, 2012 12:26:35 GMT -5 expatpumpkin said:

No doubt it was profitable in its first year! If you're selling sandwiches made out of your parents' garage and therefore have basically no overhead (rent, utilities, etc.), I can see how profitability wouldn't be so hard to achieve in the first year.

I wonder who supplied him with the vehicle he used to make his deliveries? Who paid the insurance and upkeep on it? I think we know. Did he even buy the gas?

Yep, just a typical rags to riches story that ANYONE with a little ambition and elbow grease could achieve

Did he have health department inspections?

Yeah, where I live all food for sale is supposed to be made in a licensed and regularly inspected commercial kitchen. Food made in a private home is not legal.

[ttt]

Aug 8, 2012 15:26:09 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Aug 8, 2012 12:29:45 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Did he have health department inspections?

Yeah, where I live all food for sale is supposed to be made in a licensed and regularly inspected commercial kitchen. Food made in a private home is not legal.

This must have been 30+ years ago so things were probably different then. Another fact overlooked by Romney and the "I did it, so can you!" crowd.

[Deleted]

Aug 8, 2012 15:58:24 GMT -5 ttt said:

Aug 8, 2012 15:26:09 GMT -5 @ameliapond said:

Yeah, where I live all food for sale is supposed to be made in a licensed and regularly inspected commercial kitchen. Food made in a private home is not legal.

This must have been 30+ years ago so things were probably different then. Another fact overlooked by Romney and the "I did it, so can you!" crowd.

or just more proof of Democratic job killing regulation ;D