📈Failing Upward
There are plenty of quotes about needing to have money to make money.
“You gotta spend money to make money”
“It takes money to make money”
Or my favorite:
Ben Franklin is channeling his inner Yogi Berra here in describing how interest works and why it is important to save and invest money. Now we have covered compound interest way back in the day so if you are new here please take a minute to check it out.
But the upside (get it, it’s our name) is if you invest early enough it takes a shockingly little amount of money to turn into a lot of money.
And to stay completely on brand this made me think of sports. Even more on brand it made me think about football despite the fact that opening day for baseball was this week (The Sox are cheap but we won the opener!).
The Washington Commanders are on track to be sold for a record $6 billion.
Now if you follow the NFL you know that prices are skyrocketing for these franchises as the previous record was set last offseason with the Denver Broncos selling for $4.65 billion. Additionally, if you follow the NFL you likely know that Dan Synder, the owner of the Commanders, is widely regarded as the worst owner in all of professional sports. And that’s a tough contest to win.
And it’s been that way for quite some time.
It might be the horrible product they have placed on the field (1 Playoff win since 2000), the crumbling stadium and dangerous field turf, lying about revenue to other NFL owners, or the sexual assault allegations dating back to 2009.
Now back to finance, despite all this horrific on and off-field shit, Snyder was able to turn an $800 million investment in 1999 into a $6 billion pending sale in 2023. That is what we call failing upwards.
However, I took a look at if he simply put that money into the stock market in 1999 and was shocked to see that $800 million would have turned into over $4 billion!
Just by buying a simple SP 500 index fund! He wouldn’t have even had to crush the souls of millions of DMV area fans!
While this may not have been Russ Hanneman turning $1.2 billion into $1.4 billion over a decade plus, it was highly entertaining to find out.
The Top 10 Most Memorable Russ Hanneman Quotes (Silicon Valley)
What’s the Upside?
This story illustrates the point we are constantly beating the drum on here at the Weekly Upside. The largest factor in building wealth is not what you invest in, but how much and when you invest.
If you are a dumb misogynist with $800 million to invest you have numerous choices which will turn you into a billionaire.
If you are an intelligent and caring reader with any other amount of money to invest you have plenty of options to become a millionaire. The key is starting now.
For Your Weekend
Watch:
Murder Mystery 2 ($1 Netflix)
It is a very dumb, lazily executed “movie” that serves as a paid vacation for Adam Sandler, Jen Aniston, and the crew to Hawaii and Europe. Everyone involved knows what low expectations the audience has and it barely tries to exceed them. And you know what? It’s still pretty fun. It’s a 90 mins, no-prob-if-you’re-also-looking-at-your-phone-because-you-won’t-miss-anything, calorie-free action comedy. In that regard, it excels.
Read
The Forgotten History of MLB’s Pitch Clock by Ben Lindbergh (The Ringer)
MLB instituted a pitch clock this season, along with a number of other changes meant to spark more on-the-field action rather than waiting for someone to hit a home run. Despite the handwringing, turns out baseball has been trying to institute a pitch clock since the 1900s.
Chuckle:
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