One of my closest friends constantly says, "money isn't funny." What she means is that money is extremely important to her. I know that in this blog I try to offer non-cliche or standards of thinking but I will break from that today. For money is funny, in that it really is overvalued by people.
I grew up well-off. I was never want for money, on seldom occassions my parents would say no if I wanted something but it was never unfairly done. Unlike most rich kids, however, I never really wanted extravagent things. Whereas my siblings craved fine things, I always had a notion to buy what I needed, things that serve a purpose, nothing more, nothing less. Now that I work for myself and haven't asked my parents for a dime in years, I realized I didn't have to change much of my lifestyle. Many kids growing up always dreamed of being rich and famous. What I would always say is, "I want to make enough money so that I don't have to worry about money." Which I have achieved.
Now for why this came up. Someone I know has alienated almost all his friends and family because he was an entrepreneur and convinced them that his ideas for this business or that business would work. When raising money, it is natural to go to friends and family first, so I see nothing wrong with it. His ideas didn't pan out the way he'd hope and he couldn't give them the return of investment that they would like. So, his friends and family got really mad at him and alienated him. It never made any sense to me...you made a risky investment, as all investments into start up companies are. The risky investment didn't pay off, it happens, but that is the nature of the beast. If any investment was a sure thing, I'd give all I had into it. I'm not sure where the anger comes in. If you can't handle losses, don't invest, especially in something as risky as start ups. Now, it can be said, "Well it's easy for you to say because you didn't give him any money."
To answer that, I tried it. One of my friends had a very risky idea. I saw nothing wrong with it except for her best friend, who probably has more disposable income than I make in a year, refused to invest in her idea. I calculated how much money I could risk so that if I lost it, I wouldn't be too hurt, and set that aside. I gave her a little bit to see how she did....it paid off pretty well, so I gave her the rest. This seems like a classic scam, and in the back of my mind I saw it as such. It relied on trust, something I don't do. As soon as she received the rest of it, suddenly her performance took a turn for the worst. I now have no faith that I will see my money returned. It follows all the classic tales of a scam, but the odd thing is, I don't feel any sense of anger. I knew it was a risky investment, the details of the loss are irrelevant....if she scammed, me, she scammed me, if not, and she really failed in her idea, then that's fine too. The result is the same, I will not see the money again. She didn't steal the money, I gave it to her.
I guess what I was really paying for wasn't a gamble to see if I could make some money, but it was paying to see if I had a loyal friend. If the answer was yes, then that's worth more than any amount of money could ever be. If the answer is no, that is also information more valuable than the money I lent. Either way, it doesn't affect my opinion of her, nor does it affect the friendship on my end. After all, ending a friendship over money, is grossly overvaluing money. Friendships should never end over something as insignificant as money; after all, money is funny.
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