Trumpography by Gene Ho

Trumpography by Gene Ho

Author:Gene Ho [Ho, Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781532051395
Publisher: iUniverse
Published: 2018-06-27T04:00:00+00:00


On the contrary: If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.

—Romans 12:19–20

The first one-on-one conversation I held with Donald Trump was in January 2015 on board his private jet. I was excited; I had been a huge fan for years, and I’d read all his books. I took the opportunity to prove my fandom by recalling my favorite mentions in The Art of the Deal. I shared how he had inspired me in business and noted how I’d particularly loved one lesson, as it related to my own experiences.

Trump was a builder. I am a photographer. While these are two vastly different professions, there was one thing we had in common: perspective. In The Art of the Deal, Trump explained how he approached one of his job sites. Immediately he could see the building was off by a couple of degrees.

As a photographer, I pride my photos on having “perfect nineties.” What that means is right angles are right; my subject and the background shouldn’t be (unintentionally) askew. A crooked building is imperfect just as an improperly composed photo is flawed.

Quick to make a joke, he jabbed, “See, I told you. Attention to detail! I suppose now you owe me twenty percent of your earnings.” Trump laughed. There was no shortage of stories from those, like me, who had a personal account to share.

As a billionaire, made in business, Trump has had plenty of individuals who were seeking face-to-face time to pitch their proposals. One such individual showed me a rejection letter he’d received from Trump’s organization. I presume (for posterity’s sake) he sought to have it signed as a memento from the presidential hopeful. The letter he had previously received from Trump’s review board stated something to the effect that while they appreciated the offer, they were not interested. The primary factor at issue was that the proposal was “out of Mr. Trump’s area of expertise.”

I can appreciate that phrase. Business is about the details. It’s about how well you know the trade and how effectively you’ve mastered the details of it. It’s also about being honest when something is out of your strong suit.

A few years ago, I decided I was going to take my entrepreneurial spirit and get into flipping houses. I started small with a little condo. It couldn’t be that hard, I thought. They do it on HGTV. Buy a home, fix it up, and sell it for more that you paid for it. It sounded easy enough. Everything went as I had planned, except for one little detail at closing: 6 percent. While 6 percent doesn’t sound like a lot, if you didn’t factor it from the front, 6 percent is huge.

In a new business venture, with my inexperience and naivety, I didn’t calculate the eventual fee from the real estate company that sold and closed the property. I was so tied up in the minute details that I’d forgotten the big picture.



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