Business Opportunities Weblog

August 3, 2008 by Nicholas | 1 Comment

CBNNews:

The story of the accidental entrepreneur is iconic. It exists in infinite variations, though the theme is consistent: A person of accomplishment is forced from his occupation by a cruel twist of fate.

Rather than wallow in despair, though, he strikes out on his own. Inevitably, after a requisite period of struggle, he achieves success by dint of hard work and ingenuity. Michael Bloomberg may be the preeminent example here, but less grand versions abound.

Suddenly unemployed – and unemployable – the former artisan set up an advisory business that put his experience as an elite cutter to work helping jewelers and investors identify which diamonds in the rough had the most potential. Over time, he grew prosperous and came to view God’s mischief as a blessing.

I was lured away in 1995 by the old Chemical Bank, which, through a series of acquisitions, has grown into the JP Morgan Leviathan. After three months, Chemical fired me. It was a devastating blow. I was fortunate to be picked up by Bankers Trust, where I spent a year as a consultant. After spending some time dazed and confused I realized that what Chemical hired me to do – develop a systematic way of tracking and analyzing commercial loan information – was a good idea with a broad commercial appeal. And, despite my short-lived, ignominious career in banking, I was still equipped to bring it off.

He raised some additional seed capital from our friends, family and business contacts. With this dough in hand and a couple of clients signed on, we officially launched Portfolio Management Data LLC.
The first couple of years were tough. Despite my excellent mentoring, we made our share of rookie mistakes. But we persevered, working 60, 70 hour weeks, visiting every potential customer from here to Seattle and selling our butts off.

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