small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just
one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were seve-
ral large yellow fin tuna. The American complimented the
Mexican on the quality of his fish.
“How long it took you to catch them?” The American
asked.
“Only a little while.” The Mexican replied.
“Why don’t you stay out longer and catch more fish?”
The American then asked.
“I have enough to support my family’s immediate needs.”
The Mexican said.
“But,” The American then asked, “What do you do with
the rest of your time?”
The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little,
play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria,
stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and
play guitar with my amigos, I have a full and busy life,
senor.”
The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could
help you. You should spend more time fishing and with
the proceeds you buy a bigger boat, and with the pro-
ceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats,
eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats.”
“Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would
sell directly to the consumers, eventually opening your
own can factory. You would control the product, proces-
sing and distribution. You would need to leave this small
coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA
and eventually NYC where you will run your expanding
enterprise.”
The Mexican fisherman asked, “But senor, how long will
this all take?”
To which the American replied, “15-20 years.”
“But what then, senor?”
The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part.
When the time is right you would announce an IPO (Ini-
tial Public Offering) and sell your company stock to the
public and become very rich, you would make millions.”
“Millions, senor? Then what?”
The American said slowly, “Then you would retire. Move
to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep
late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with
your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you
could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos…”
Author unknown
