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Sean Allen Fenn

@seanallenfenn

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Sean Allen Fenn pfp
Sean Allen Fenn
@seanallenfenn
SelfActualizer $SLFACTZR the memecoin. *exists* https://wow.xyz/0xc17b9726919b5982030c62e0d189ff35bdf1c711 View my @Streamm:  https://streamm.tv/profile/327564
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Sean Allen Fenn
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Tax Evasion Isn’t Good Business Richard Branson Arrested. Methods of Prosperity newsletter no.53 TL;DR Virgin Mail Order faced a crisis with no way to send records or receive payments. Postal workers were on strike. To avoid running out of money in a week, Richard Branson decided to open a physical record shop. He had no experience in running one. He found a location on Oxford Street in London. The building’s owner sold shoes out of the storefront. The owner agreed to provide the upstairs space for free. The arrangement would attract customers for both businesses. Within days, Virgin’s first record store opened. It drew significant foot traffic and built a loyal customer base. By spring 1971, the shop was £15,000 overdrawn. Branson exploited a tax loophole, allowing him to avoid paying export taxes. His plan was to repay debts from the proceeds. It was a criminal plan. He thought he would get away with it. He didn’t.
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Sean Allen Fenn
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Risky? Not Really. Methods of Prosperity newsletter no. 52. Sir Richard Branson. TL;DR Sam Walton avoided flaunting his wealth. This is in sharp contrast with the flamboyant Sir Richard Branson, founder of Virgin. Branson's thrill-seeking persona is one thing. He’s less of a risk-taker than Walton in many respects. Branson, who struggled with dyslexia and math, found success by applying practical strategies. In the 1960s, he launched Student magazine. By 1970, he pivoted to Virgin Mail Order Records. Student magazine wasn’t profitable, but the mail-order business was. Branson focused on Virgin Mail Order as it flourished in 1970. By 1971 their mail-order business was almost ruined. Key Lessons: • Bad students can be great entrepreneurs. • Create something you’re proud of. • You don’t always need investors. • Get paid in advance. • Be resourceful.
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Methods of Prosperity 51 TL;DR In 1966, Sam Walton's small team was generating $10 million yearly from a few stores. But they lacked the expertise for larger operations. To address this, Walton hired Ferold Arend as VP of operations. Walmart needed better inventory and logistics systems. Walton learned about computer technology at an IBM school. This led to the adoption of IBM’s System/360 for daily sales reporting. In 1968, Sam Walton appointed Ron Mayer as VP of Finance and Distribution. Under his guidance, Walmart implemented computerized warehouses. Which made a significant enhancement to distribution and communications. Walmart went public in 1970. The IPO, though modest, paved the way for substantial growth. As of 2025, Walmart Inc. (WMT) has a market capitalization of approximately $843.91 billion. The Walton family’s estimated net worth is $432 billion as of December 2024. Today, they’re the richest family in the world. Sam Walton passed away in 1992.
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Methods of Prosperity 50 TL;DR Sam Walton’s franchiser, Butler Brothers, rejected him. This pain fueled determination to create his own discount retail chain. Sam had no sophisticated systems, processes, or organization. He focused on offering merchandise at the lowest possible prices. Selling a product for next to nothing is a counterintuitive way to make a profit. That tactic only works under the following circumstances. Your product attracts attention and customers buy additional products. Walmart had an unsophisticated buying program and limited back office support. Walmart’s team excelled at promoting products, and developed effective merchandising programs. Sam learned from competitors like Kmart. He incorporated successful strategies into Walmart’s operations. Walmart experienced rapid growth from 1958 to 1970. There remained a need for better inventory and sales tracking. That would support further growth and maintain low expenses.
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Part 49. Sam Walton (continued) TL;DR Sam Walton faced a significant setback. He lost the lease to his successful Ben Franklin store due to not having a renewal clause. His landlord pressured him into selling. Learning from this, he sold his smaller department store. With his wife Helen, he left Newport for Bentonville. There, he innovated retail with a self-service model in his new variety store. Which became the foundation for Walmart. Sam and his brother Bud went all-in on a Ben Franklin franchise. It served as the anchor for a shopping center development in Kansas City. Shopping centers were the next big thing. Sam lost $25 K after backing out of another shopping center deal. A tornado hit the Kansas City shopping center. It was later rebuilt. He expanded his retail empire by reinvesting. He hired talented managers, making them limited partners. Discount retail pioneers inspired Walton. He adapted and integrated these concepts into his strategy. He wanted to partner with his existing franchise...
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Methods of Prosperity 48 TL;DR Sam Walton opened a Ben Franklin variety store franchise in 1945. He engaged in fierce competition with the Sterling store across the street. His main tactic was undercutting prices on items like ladies’ underwear. Sam Walton innovated by buying direct from manufacturers. Thereby saving 25% and passing those savings to customers. Which laid the groundwork for Walmart’s business model. It was against the rules not to buy wholesale from his franchisor. Sam went around them, buying direct from alternative suppliers. His store became one of the top performers in the region. He attracted customers with a popcorn machine. He took out a loan for an ice cream machine, which proved to be profitable. His strategic moves included intercepting a lease for expansion before his competitor could. This led his store to become the largest in Arkansas with annual sales reaching $250,000. After five years of success, his landlord did not renew his lease. Instead, he offered to buy Sam out....
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Methods of Prosperity 47 TL;DR In 1985, Forbes Magazine declared Sam Walton the richest man in America. He was the founder of Walmart. Sam Walton preferred not to live an extravagant lifestyle. He drove an old pickup truck. He wore a Walmart trucker hat. The local barber gave him regular haircuts. Walmart lost half a billion dollars after the stock market crash in 1987. Walton’s response? “It’s only paper.” Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His father, Thomas Gibson Walton, was a natural negotiator and banker who avoided debt. Sam’s mother, Nancy Lee, started a milk business during the Great Depression. Growing up during tough times, Sam learned the value of money early. He contributing to his family’s income. Sam raised rabbits and pigeons, which he sold, as well as magazine subscriptions. Walton graduated with a BA in economics from the University of Missouri. He worked for JC Penney before serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps during World War II....
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Methods of Prosperity 47 TL;DR In 1985, Forbes Magazine declared Sam Walton the richest man in America. He was the founder of Walmart. Sam Walton preferred not to live an extravagant lifestyle. He drove an old pickup truck. He wore a Walmart trucker hat. The local barber gave him regular haircuts. Walmart lost half a billion dollars after the stock market crash in 1987. Walton’s response? “It’s only paper.” Sam Walton was born in 1918 in Kingfisher, Oklahoma. His father, Thomas Gibson Walton, was a natural negotiator and banker who avoided debt. Sam’s mother, Nancy Lee, started a milk business during the Great Depression. Growing up during tough times, Sam learned the value of money early. He contributing to his family’s income. Sam raised rabbits and pigeons, which he sold, as well as magazine subscriptions. Walton graduated with a BA in economics from the University of Missouri. He worked for JC Penney before serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Intelligence Corps during World War II....
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Sean Allen Fenn
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Sean Allen Fenn's personal page for the New Internet, check it out. Thank you @portrait
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When the Great Miami River flooded Dayton Ohio in March 1913, John Patterson wired The New York Times: “Situation here desperate. All people, except on outskirts, imprisoned by water. They have had no food, no drinking water, no light, no heat for two days.” As the floodwaters rose, Patterson converted the National Cash Register factory. It would now mass produce rowboats to reach and rescue the stranded residents. A community leader at his eulogy had this to say: Patterson “turned the force of men that he had trained into making cash registers into making boats, one a minute, and then sent them into the waters to feed the marooned population, and to take out to safety the sick and the aged, turning his great factory into a hospital and a refuge.” Part 46: John Henry Patterson, Founder of National Cash Register.
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⛲️ new year, new investment opportunity. ⓘ This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell securities. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Investing involves risk and may result in partial or total loss. Prospective investors should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses, and should consult with a tax or legal adviser before making any investment decision.
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Part 45: Sergey Brin and Larry Page (conclusion). TL;DR In 1998, Bill Gross launched GoTo. It was a pioneering search site that introduced pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. PPC works by auctioning search results to the highest bidder. Yahoo acquired GoTo and renamed it Overture. Overture wasn’t a top search destination. But it laid the groundwork for the now-standard PPC advertising model. Page and Brin placed Google under Eric Schmidt’s leadership as CEO. Under his leadership, it evolved PPC further with AdWords in 2002. AdWords enhances it by considering both bid prices and clickthrough rates. It also introduced the “quality score” for ad relevance. This innovation propelled Google ahead of Overture. They attracted major partnerships. Which led to Yahoo’s failed attempt to acquire Google for $3 billion. Google’s strategic advancements continued with the acquisition of Android in 2005. Android allowed Google to enter the mobile market. This move challenged Apple’s iPhone and advertising...
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Methods of Prosperity 44. TL;DR They called it “Backrub.” In 1997, the name changed to Google, a misspelling of “googol” — a term representing a 1 followed by 100 zeros. In a 1998 email, Google co-founder Larry Page used the word “googling”. The term gained significant popularity. Pop culture started to reference Google, such as on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” in 2002. Larry Page and Sergey Brin had no formal business plan. They received a $100,000 investment from Andy Bechtolsheim. This led to the official incorporation of Google Inc. Google would become the leading search engine. It surpassed competitors by refusing to settle for mediocrity. Instead, Google focused on innovation. They found a way to monetize with online advertising. They did it without cluttering their search engine with banner ads. To be continued... Happy Hanukkah!
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Methods of Prosperity 43 TL;DR In the early nineties, finding useful information on the internet was challenging. This was due to the rudimentary nature of search engines. They often functioned more like directories. Both Yahoo! Search and LookSmart launched in 1995. In 1996, two guys from Berkeley, California, founded Ask Jeeves. This search engine was innovative at the time. Users asked “Jeeves” questions rather than searching with keywords. They launched it in 1997, but Ask Jeeves had limitations. The breakthrough came from Larry Page, a PhD student at Stanford University. He developed the PageRank algorithm. It ranked web pages based on the quantity and quality of backlinks. This laid down the groundwork for what would become Google. Larry Page collaborated with a fellow PhD student whom he met at Stanford. His name is Sergey Brin. They called their project “Backrub.” Which aimed to map the web’s link structure. Backrub soon outgrew Stanford’s network resources. This problem led them to ...
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Methods of Prosperity 42: Jensen Huang. The year is 1993. Location? Denny’s restaurant in San Jose, California, on Berryessa Road. Denny’s at 2484 Berryessa Rd offers breakfast all day. This Denny’s is famous for something else, and it’s not the Super Bird sandwich. This Denny’s has a famous corner booth. Sitting at a corner booth we find Jensen Huang. With him is Chris Malachowsky and Curtis Priem, meeting to discuss their project. “Creating a chip that would enable realistic 3D graphics on personal computers”. This Denny’s was the birthplace of a company ahead of its time.
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Methods of Prosperity 41: Mark Zuckerberg TL;DR Peter Theil would consider Facebook a natural monopoly. It’s become THE social networking platform. Most people connect with family and friends on Facebook. Features including the “Like” button solidified its early dominance in the market. Facebook introduced the Like button in 2007. Which simplified user interactions and promoted content based on engagement. As a second–order consequence, sensational or divisive content is often prioritized. Facebook introduced the Open Graph in 2010. Which further integrated web content into Facebook. This enhanced the presentation of shared content. False information became an issue. During the 2016 U.S. Presidential election, the spread of misinformation became problematic. Fabricated stories and Russia-backed content aimed to influence the election. Distorted information reached millions of Americans. Cambridge Analytica had something to do with it. They used millions of unauthorized profiles to influence voter ...
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Methods of Prosperity 40: Mark Zuckerberg (cont.) TL;DR A series of disputes and lawsuits make up the legal and business history of Facebook. It starts with the Winklevoss twins and Divya Narendra suing Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. They accused him of stealing their ConnectU idea to create Facebook. Zuckerberg faced another lawsuit from co-founder Eduardo Saverin over share dilution. Saverin received $5 billion in shares. Facebook’s rapid growth attracted major investments. This included a $240 million stake from Microsoft in 2007, valuing the company at $15 billion. Zuckerberg achieved billionaire status by 2008. Facebook acquired Instagram in 2012 for around $1 billion. Zuckerberg attempted to buy Snapchat in 2013. Facebook’s rise also led to concerns over its role in spreading disinformation. This was particularly evident in the political unrest in Southeast Asia in 2015. Facebook’s business model evolved into surveillance-driven advertising. Facebook’s influence expanded. Peter Thiel was an early ...
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407 units. 1984. Tampa Florida. ⓘ This is not an offer, solicitation of an offer, to buy or sell securities. Past performance is not an indication of future results. Investing involves risk and may result in partial or total loss. Prospective investors should carefully consider investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses, and should consult with a tax or legal adviser before making any investment decision.
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Methods of Prosperity 39 TL;DR Mark Zuckerberg was a child prodigy. He learned to code and ship useful software. This included CourseMatch, which helped students choose their classes. That predated Facemash, the hot-or-not game. He co-founded Facebook at Harvard University in 2004. Eduardo Saverin contributed significant financial support. Facebook grew in popularity. This motivated Zuckerberg and co-founder Dustin Moskovitz to move operations to Silicon Valley. Sean Parker, co-founding Napster, played a crucial role in Facebook’s early development. He became its first president and helping secure essential investments. This included a pivotal $500,001 angel investment from Peter Thiel. As Facebook evolved, tensions arose between Zuckerberg and Saverin. Zuckerberg arranged the dilution of Saverin’s shares. This restructuring removed Saverin from the company. Facebook began turning into a major social media platform. This transition enabled further investments and set the stage for its global ...
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