Advice from the Banana King

What’s better than resources? Resourcefulness. Find out how you can turn any situation to your advantage by making the most of what you have. 

Welcome to the no-nonsense newsletter that delivers practical insights and proven tactics to build real wealth and live life on your terms — all in 5 minutes.

If you were forwarded this email, join “the pack” of over 200k wealth-focused wolves right here, for free.

Today’s Briefing👇

• Story: Sam Zemurray: From Ripes to Riches 🍌

• Insight: Being a Generalist Can Help You Succeed ⚔️

• Action: The “Jack-of-All-Trades” Challenge 🥋

THE STORY

Sam Zemurray: From Ripes to Riches 🍌 

Let’s talk about Samuel Zemurray, the baddest banana-slinging motherf**ker to ever walk the earth. Picture this: 14-year-old Sam steps off the boat in America with nothing but the clothes on his back, a dream in his heart, and a set of balls that could put a bull elephant to shame.

Picture Sam, stocking shelves in his uncle's store, broke AF, surrounded by a bunch of limp-dick merchants who wouldn't know an opportunity if it bit them in the ass when he sees it: a banana. Curved. Yellow. Waxy. It's love at first sight, like a romance novel, but with more potassium.

But here’s the thing: Bananas, unlike some other fruit, can ripen early for damn near any reason. They can be squeezed too hard, nicked, or dented, causing them to turn in days rather than weeks. Regardless of what caused these bananas to die on the banks, Sam saw an opportunity in the pile of ripes, something everyone else ignored. But could he make it work?

So, what does Sam do?

• Bought ripe bananas at a discount, sold them quickly before spoilage

• Hired street vendors for direct-to-consumer sales, maximizing profits

• Invested in transportation and distribution network (wagons, trains)

• Secured reliable banana sources through direct grower negotiations

• Efficiently moved large quantities, gaining competitive advantage

• Faced challenges: political landscapes, crop failures, natural disasters

• Fended off larger fruit companies trying to push him out of the market

In just five short years, this immigrant kid with a dream turns a measly $150 into a f**king empire worth over $100,000. Years later, in 1930, he sold Cuyamel to the United Fruit Company for $31.5 million, equivalent to approximately $500 million today (or 2,631,578,947.37 bananas 🍌).

Key takeaway: Resourcefulness beats resources every time. Sam didn't have a pot to piss in when he started, but he had a brain and a set of balls, and that was enough to take him to the top.

INSIGHTS

Being a Generalist Can Help You Succeed ⚔️

Did you know having a diverse set of knowledge makes you more employable? David Epstein's book Range is all about how having a diverse set of experiences and knowledge can help you crush it in life, just like our boy Sam.

Here’s four lessons as to why generalists beat specialists:

• Specialization is overrated: One study of 171 companies found that those with more diverse workforces had 19% higher innovation revenue compared to homogeneous companies.

• Generalists are more adaptable: Researchers found individuals with broader knowledge bases generated 42% more creative solutions compared to those with specialized expertise.

• Analogical thinking is powerful: Research demonstrated that individuals capable of drawing analogies between different domains were 3 times more likely to develop innovative solutions.

• Struggling is part of the learning process: Researchers tracking over 2,000 students found those who struggled and made mistakes demonstrated 18% higher comprehension than those who did not.

In this batshit crazy world where the old rules are being tossed out faster than your ex's underwear, it's the crafty bastards who can think outside the box and find gold in the weirdest places that are gonna rise to the top.

INSIGHT: The more experiences you have, the more likely you are to succeed.

TAKE ACTION

The “Jack-of-All-Trades” Challenge 🥋

Life’s too short to be as one-dimensional as a flat earther’s globe collection. It’s time to sample everything life has to offer. Jesse Itzler explains how:

“If you take one day every other month and do something that you normally wouldn't do, you will add six new adventures this year that you otherwise wouldn't have had.”

That’s 60 wild ass adventures every decade and over 300 in a lifetime. Reply to this email with your Jack-of-All-Trades accomplishment for a custom response from The Wolf!

Memes of the Week 🤣 

Bite-Sized Reads 📚

[Book] David Epstein: "Our work preferences and our life preferences do not stay the same, because we do not stay the same."

[Book] Rich Cohen: "The world is a mere succession of fortunes made and lost, lessons learned and forgotten and learned again."

[Read] Sam Zemurray: “Don’t trust the report.”

Rate Today’s Edition 👇

Review From the Pack 🐺 

Steve Jobs + Pixar was the winner! Thank you for voting.

Publisher: Jordan Belfort

Editors in Chief: Brock Swinson and Davis Richardson

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly for educational purposes and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.