No Shortage of Work

Our main idea is that there is never a shortage of work, although some times there is not enough money to pay compensation.

If you go too long without working, you will get out of the habit, and your skills will go stale. If you concentrate on finding work, you will find it is all around you. Pick the work that best improves your skills, and soon people will be bidding for your time.

Why I believe there is no shortage of work:

My big break came in the summer of 1972 when I was a student at Rutgers.

My computer class ended, and the computing center removed the system we were using because IBM charged $5,000/month in license fee.

But I was not about to quit learning how to program.

The inventor of the computer language had written a textbook for high school students. I called and asked if I were to round up 10 kids for a summer class, would he give me free copies of his book. They arrived four days later.

A local school teacher told her classes that I’d be offering a free class that the summer. Soon I had my students.

The computing center agreed to waive the $5/hour connect charge if IBM waived their license fee.

When I told IBM that they were the only missing piece, they fell in line with $10,000 in free software.

That is how I learned to program – one chapter ahead of my students.

My new computer skills led to a part-time job as a student, then full-time positions at: American Airlines, Mobil Oil, Chase Manhattan, Morgan Stanley, and C. S. First Boston. That technology is at the core of four corporations and a hedge fund that I’ve founded.

That experience changed my life, yet I neither received nor paid a dime.

That summer I learned:

• The best way to learn something is to commit to teaching it.
• Be generous with others and they will be generous with you.
• It is seldom a matter of money as much as it is a matter of will.

Yet, I learned many more things that I was unaware of.

Until the morning of May 6, 1982…

CONTINUE READING THE STORY  >> and discover what I learned.