Money is not wealth, production of something of value is - how Spain lost its empire despite gold and silver horde

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

This example is about Spain which discovered hordes of silver, and silver flowing into their country contributing to 400% inflation.  Money flowed from Spain to say France where goods were cheaper.  Spaniards became populated by Hidalgos, who had plenty of money but did not work.  They had plenty of silver coming from Peru and Mexico  This wrong belief led to the demise of Spanish empire.

Many think and even in our family that money in the bank is wealth.  It is just a medium of exchange to produce more goods and services.   Not an end in itself

Jack Ma's experience with rejection; how it made him a billionaire.

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

Rejection brings out the best in us.   It is a lesson

*THE “REJECTED ROOM PRINCIPLE”

How Jack Ma Turned a Humiliating Moment Into a Billion-Dollar Mindset**

Before Jack Ma became one of the richest entrepreneurs in the world,

he experienced something that would have crushed most people.

He applied for job after job.

Rejected.

He tried to join the police force.

Rejected.

He applied to KFC when it opened in his city.

Twenty-three people interviewed.

Twenty-four applied.

Twenty-three were accepted.

Jack Ma was the only one rejected.

But the moment that shaped him most happened inside a tiny classroom.

Jack Ma applied to Harvard ten times.

All ten times they rejected him.

By the tenth letter, the admissions office didn’t even send a long explanation.

They simply wrote:

“You are not suitable.”

Most people would have quit.

Jack Ma did the opposite.

He printed every rejection letter, pinned them on his wall, and said:

“These are reminders to build a world where people like me do not get left behind.”

That mindset became the foundation of Alibaba.

Years later, when investors laughed at his idea for an online Chinese marketplace, he remembered the classroom that pushed him out…

and decided to build a digital room big enough for everyone.

Alibaba became one of the largest companies on earth.

Taobao became the biggest e-commerce platform in Asia.

Millions of entrepreneurs got their start on his platforms because one man refused to let rejection define him.

THE BUSINESS LESSON

Most people fear rejection.

Great entrepreneurs use it as direction.

Jack Ma realized something simple:

Rejection is information.

Rejection is positioning.

Rejection is redirection.

The world saying “no” does not mean you are wrong.

It means you are building something the world does not understand yet.

This is why Jack Ma teaches his teams:

• Your value is not defined by acceptance

• Your vision is not validated by approval

• Your future cannot be decided by someone who does not see it

Alibaba did not grow because everyone believed in Jack Ma.

It grew because he believed despite everyone else.

THE NERDY TAKEAWAY

The “Rejected Room Principle” teaches this:

Rejection is not a closed door.

It is a sign pointing you toward the room you were born to build.

Jack Ma did not get invited into Harvard’s room.

So he built a digital marketplace where millions could thrive.

Sometimes the rooms that reject you are the ones you were never meant to sit in.

You were meant to build your own.

The reinterpretation of parable of talents

Every generation needs a revolution - an entrepreneurial revolution

One of our tasks on earth is to invest, to make the world grow   One of the greatest sin is being indolent.   We should work harder.

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HE “FIVE TALENTS PRINCIPLE”:

How a 2,000-Year-Old Lesson Reveals the #1 Rule of Growth in Business

In Matthew 25, Jesus told a story that might be the most important business lesson ever recorded.

A master was leaving on a long journey.

Before he left, he entrusted three of his servants with resources.

One received five talents of silver.

Another received two talents.

The last received one talent.

A talent was not a coin.

It was a lifetime’s worth of wages…a massive investment.

The master expected them to do something with it.

The servant with five talents went immediately to work.

He invested.

He traded.

He multiplied.

He turned five into ten.

The servant with two did the same.

He doubled what he had.

But the servant with one talent?

He dug a hole and buried it in the ground.

No action.

No risk.

No effort.

No return.