The most important thing in life is the people we have around us.
So many business owners have guided me to where I am today, and they’ve made my journey possible and this book a reality. Even if, at times, I had to break open the doors to reach them, I feel blessed to have met them. I owe this book to their wisdom and their guidance.
Whether consciously or unconsciously, they all taught me time management secrets from a higher level. Their habits and ways of doing business are worth their weight in gold, and I’m honored to have gathered it all in this book to share with fellow business owners and like-minded entrepreneurs.
I won’t name all the people who have contributed in my life, as that may well span the length of another book, but let me mention a handful of those who had the most profound impact.
Thank you, Jacques Deumont, for calling me each time you had a new idea, perspective, or insight, and for teaching me how to think fast. If we had more people with your brainpower, it’s possible that computers and calculators would become redundant.
Thank you, Didier Jug, for opening my eyes when I was just a dreamer. I needed your down-to-earth way of thinking. With more people like you, we business owners would never waste our time on anything useless.
Thank you, Tony Calvacca, for teaching me everything about the complex world of Mergers & Acquisitions while upholding integrity every minute of every day. With more people like you, this industry would be a model of virtue.
Thank you, Anthony Citrolo, for guiding me through the intricacies of the financial world and being somebody I can count on whenever I had a question. If there were more people like you, finance would be unrivaled in its entertainment!
Thank you, Jack Cohn, for making me realize the treasure I was sitting on and how lucky I was to have such an excellent team I could count on. If every business owner had the opportunity to meet you, we’d all have 8-figure businesses.
Thank you, Louis Brague, for showing me—and insisting– that people are the most important thing to devote my time to. Your life principles go way beyond business. With more business owners like you, employees would live a life of fulfillment!
Thank you, Kevin Kelly, for believing in me and encouraging me to write this book. With more people like you, there’d be fewer talkers and more doers.
Thank you, Stephen Welker, for your infectious, cheerful disposition, for opening up your doors, and for answering my requests. With more people like you, the business investment world would be overflowing with rectitude and principles.
Thank you, Benjamin Gerut, for constantly teaching me your perspective on time management. With more people like you, well … I wouldn’t have wasted so much time in finding you!
Thank you, Ziad Abdelnour, for your fantastic insights and demonstrating your no-holds-barred approach to life each time we meet. With more people like you, Wall Street wouldn’t be such a dark place—nor would it be as politically correct!
Thank you, Jean-Marie Croué, for your guidance and your patience. It was a privilege to watch your mind at work. With more people like you, more young people would embark on an entrepreneur’s career with the right tools in hand.
Thank you, Stewart Strauss, for allowing me the opportunity to work closely with you. If there were more people like you, more people would be suffering the pain of discipline instead of suffering the pain of regret.
Thank you, Jeff Ellis, for teaching me about partnerships, JVs, and integrity. With more people like you, there would be no competition: all small business owners would collaborate to build a better world.
Thank you, Fabrice Grinda, for your generosity and for the precious insights you’ve shared with me. With more people like you, the average human IQ would exceed 200.
Thank you, Michael Lee, for your availability and unwavering belief in my competencies. With more people like you, we would have a shortage in staff, because everyone would be an entrepreneur.
Thank you, Jimmy Morose, for making me realize from an early age that we are not doomed to be the product of our environment. With more people like you … well, the whole world just needs more people like you.
Thank you, Patrick Benchetrit, for always sharing your way of thinking with me and for your continuous joie de vivre. With more people like you … wait, there can only be ONE Patrick Benchetrit.
As Benjamin Franklin once astutely said: “If you would not be forgotten as soon as you’re dead and rotten, either do things worth the writing, or write things worth reading.”
These people aforementioned have made the former theirs, while I took care of the latter.