Business with Integrity, Bernie Madoff vs. Arkadi Kuhlman

After the scandals at Enron, WorldCom, Tyco and Adelphi Cable, I was hoping business leaders couldn’t stoop any lower. And, I was wrong.

Bernie Madoff has certainly taken the cake. And that cake cost $50 Billion Dollars. That’s a lot of cake! Think of one million. Then times that by one hundred. Then times that by 10. Then times that by fifty! And then by infinity!!!

At what point did he say to himself…..”Wow, this is getting out of control…” Maybe at 10 billion? Sounds like no.

I am not sure how people get to this point? I am guessing that most don’t start out that way. My guess is that Bernie probably started out a hard working guy with principals and integrity. But then something happened. Maybe he left integrity once and got away with it. Nobody noticed. Then he went for a little more, and a little more. Before he knew it, he started feeling comfortable out of integrity and became numb to the things that would make most people feel uncomfortable.

However, instead of dwelling on a scandal, I am going to tout the coolness of one of my new favorite business leaders - Arkadi Kuhlman.

He is the CEO of ING Direct. If you haven’t heard of it, check it out and find out why they are signing up 100,000 customers per month.

Besides being massively cool (he rides a Harley to work), he has founded an online bank with no fees, an awesome interest rate (2.75% on checking currently!), and the best mojo around.

This guy seems like the real thing and I have high hopes for him.

Arkadi recently irked many retailers and credit card companies by taking out an ad campaign urging people NOT to spend their money this season but rather save it. He wants Americans to get back their original old fashion values of saving responsibly. Wow, imagine that…

This guy has so much integrity that he actually turns customers away. If a customer doesn’t have the ING Direct values of financial responsibly, he will get fired. The customer gets fired!

Imagine that…. Having the courage to stand up for your integrity in the face of losing business. I am sure a business is much better off anyway when it can deal with customers that share its values; as long as the values are good!

So Bernie Madoff, shame on you for walking away from integrity and never returning.

Arkadi Kuhlman, hats off for being an example of what business leaders should be. Please don’t change?

For a cool video of Arkadi talking about saving go to:

http://home.ingdirect.com/about/about.asp

Santa Claus, St. Nick and Kris Kringle

Ok, this has nothing to do with being an entrepreneur but I've often wondered why Santa Claus is also called St. Nicholas AND Kris Kringle. I have investigated...

St. Nicholas was a Bishop who lived in the fourth century AD in a place called Myra in Asia Minor (now called Turkey). He was a very rich man because his parents died when he was young and left him a lot of money. He was also a very kind man and had a reputation for helping the poor and giving secret gifts to people who needed it.

The most famous story about St. Nicholas tells how the custom of hanging up stockings to get presents in first started! It goes like this...

There was a poor man who had three daughters. He was so poor, he did not have enough money for a dowry, so his daughters couldn't get married. One night, Nicholas secretly dropped a bag of gold down the chimney and into the house. The bag fell into a stocking that had been hung by the fire to dry! This was repeated later with the second daughter. Finally, determined to discover the person who had given him the money, the father secretly hid by the fire every evening until he caught Nicholas dropping in a bag of gold. Nicholas begged the man to not tell anyone what he had done, because he did not want to bring attention to himself. But soon the news got out and when anyone received a secret gift, it was thought that maybe it was from Nicholas.

Because of his kindness Nicholas was made a Saint. St. Nicholas is not only the saint of children but also of sailors! One story tells of him helping some sailors that were caught in a dreadful storm off the coast of Turkey. The storm was raging around them and all the men were terrified that their ship would sink beneath the giant waves. They prayed to St. Nicholas to help them. Suddenly, he was standing on the deck before them. He ordered the sea to be calm, the storm died away, and they were able to sail their ship safely to port.

St. Nicholas was exiled from Myra and later put in prison during the persecution by the Emperor Diocletian. No one is really knows when he died, but it was on 6th December in either 345 or 352 AD. In 1807, his bones were stolen from Turkey by some Italian merchant sailors. The bones are now kept in the Church named after him in the Italian port of Bari. On St. Nicholas feast day (6th December), the sailors of Bari still carry his statue from the Cathedral out to sea, so that he can bless the waters and so give them safe voyages throughout the year.

How did St. Nicholas Became Santa Claus?

In the 16th Century in Europe, the stories and traditions about St. Nicholas became very unpopular.

But someone had to deliver presents to children at Christmas, so in the U.K., he became 'Father Christmas', a character from old childrens stories; in France, he was then known as 'Père Nöel'; in Germany, the Christ Child or 'Christ Kind. In the early U.S.A. his name was 'Kris Kringle'. Later, Dutch settlers in the USA took the old stories of St. Nicholas with them and Kris Kringle became 'Sinterklass' or as we now say 'Santa Claus'!

Many countries, especially ones in Europe, celebrate St. Nicholas Day on 6th December.

St. Nicholas became popular again in the Victorian era when writers, poets and artists rediscovered the old stories. In the new stories and pictures about him, his Bishops robes soon became the hat and coat that he wears today.

So, there you have it! Now you can sleep at night...

Merry Christmas!

Interview with an Entrepreneur

At The Next Step Magazine, I get to interview some cool people. Here is a recent interview I did with Paychex founder, Tom Golisano that shares some advice for young people thinking about getting into business.

Who: Tom Golisano, founder of Paychex
What he’s done: Golisano founded Paychex, which provides payroll and human resource services to small businesses. He ran for New York state governor, and he owns the Buffalo Sabres hockey team.

Next Step Magazine: Why did you decide to become an entrepreneur?
Tom Golisano: One, I thought I was capable of running my own business. I thought I could do it better than a lot of other people.

Second, I thought it was a much more secure situation than working for a large company. You work for a large company, and you could do a really good job, and your boss could do a lousy job, and you suffer the negatives of that.

Plus, the other thing about having your own business versus working for somebody is you can sell your business or you can pass it on to an heir. You can’t do that with a job. Or if you become physically or mentally disabled, you’re probably better off owning the business than working for somebody. So in many ways, it’s much more of a secure situation.

NSM: What are some traits of successful people?
Golisano: They look for people that have a problem or an issue, and a way to solve it and make money at the same time. That’s what entrepreneurs are: problem solvers.

NSM: What advice would you give to teens looking to pursue a career as an entrepreneur?
Golisano: Get a good foundation academically. Be an accountant. You’ve got to be able to read and understand financial stats. Get a good understanding of the world of sales and marketing. And I hesitate to say this, but sooner or later you’re going to need a lawyer. So find a decent one, one that knows what they’re doing and will charge you reasonable rates.

Most successful entrepreneurs come out of an industry that they’re in, and find a better way to do something within that industry. I think you have a far better chance of being successful if you are in an industry you know something about and have some experience in.

NSM: What are the pros and cons of owning your own business?
Golisano: For the pros, it’s probably the obvious: self-destiny, unlimited earnings, tremendous satisfaction and gratification that comes with doing it successfully.

The cons are you could lose perspective on your family, you work too hard and you run the risk of not being successful. You also run the risk of having a financial disaster, and that’s definitely a negative. It’s a little bit of a high-stakes game. Do I think it’s worth it? If you’ve got a good idea and you’ve got the gumption and the perseverance to make it work, go for it.