Martin Priest

Father, friend, thinker, mistake maker and student of the well lived life. I believe the world is a giant treasure hunt and there are lots of ways to be rich.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

@jacobgershman @ProfDBernstein Civil disturbance on college campuses is easy when you have an A- curve. Grade inflation from c curves has turned students into belligerent veal because they have not learned the most important value of an education - intellectual accountability.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

@JohnCornyn Thank you for your service to Texas and the United States, senator. I am sorry that trolls we speak to anyone who has served his country this way.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

I have enough incomplete projects and ideas. I need things done. I’ve stopped reading new how-to books for the year and am starting to pay people to read the ones I like with the instruction: “read this and come up with an execution plan”. I think I’ll be caught up by 2037.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Sometimes I’d like to grab the negotiation experts that cast it as good vs evil and ask “how often is business a hostage situation?”

When I want a deal done, I go for navigation to a common point more than negotiation

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

The point of raising capital is not to grow revenue. It’s to increase profits. I see too many pitches every year that don’t have a concrete path to profits. Those pitches end up in the trash.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Balancing kids and entrepreneurship is something that gets ignored too much. Every single parent out there who runs their own business deserves all the credit in the world.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

The best part of a beautiful day is it can save you from your own emotional mess

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

The source of all my unhappiness in life has been the attempt to persuade an idiot to stop being an idiot.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

The things which take us a year to complete seem to take 364 days to start.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

If it’s work, that means it’s worth it so you don’t need to give up. If it feels like a waste of time, it’s not giving up to quit. It’s valuing your time and giving it back to your family.

I know this sounds like a tautology, but sometimes you just need it to be clarified.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

When you’re raising capital, there are a mountain of excuses. Some are nonsense, some are real. Keeping cool in the face of the excuses decides whether you succeed or not. My favorite excuse: “we have a lot of vacations that week.” Keep going. You’ll make it!

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

My deepest source of regret seems to be what I wanted to do, but never started.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Every idea you read is good if you have wisdom and hard work to execute it. If you are lazy or inconsiderate, it can unleash an avalanche of pain.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Every business is a reflection of its owners’ psychiatric state.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Apparently the lesson of social media is that every inane thought you share builds a following.

If that’s the case, why do we confuse following with credibility or “social proof”?

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

A mentor once told me that money can be cheap, fast or easy and we are lucky if we can pick two out of the three.

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

Investors care about three things before approving an investment:
1. Is it a lot of work to write the check?
2. Can I get a better return else where?
3. Will writing this check make me look foolish?

Every deal of mine didn’t solve all three problems struggled until we fixed it

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

2024 Predictions

The banking sector will continue to be frozen and uninvestable

The fed will cut rates once and immediately regret it because the curve steepens

Private capital will become more by appointment only

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

From my neighborhood association :)

[Martin Priest @TheMartinPriest]

@FinanceDude007 Make up exams are available Thursday afternoon also. Go to the finance department before 3:30 pm