When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened. – Winston Churchill

I met an aspiring artist this past year and I read a synopsis for a feature film recently that he is working on. I liked the concept a lot but I felt the story needed to be explored quite a bit further; more importantly, I thought the characters had not been developed enough. But that doesn’t really matter at this point. What is important is the person who gave me this story. He had a good way about him, and that is why I was keen to read what he had put down on paper.

I asked him about how he intended to make the film. He told me that the budget was super tight and that they would be utilising all kinds of new technology to keep the costs down.

All of this sounds good, but it is not technology that gets a film made. People make movies, not technology.

We only ever invest in people. You don’t invest in film scripts or business plans. Think about this: a VC firm or a merchant bank sees many business plans in any given month. These ideas on paper are worth nothing. They are just words, and words come by pretty easily to most. Talk is cheap, as the saying goes. What makes these plans potentially worthwhile are the people behind them and the value they bring to the equation.

I remember back when Internet Solutions started off on its trajectory of exponential growth. The first customers that came on board were nervous. Many of them asked us tough questions, such as “You all look like a bunch of kids. How long are you going to be in business for?”

I know they never meant to insult us; they were just concerned, and rightfully so, that they would be investing their time with a bunch of green guys who may go out of business soon because those are the odds. In short, these customers were looking for peace of mind. They weren’t buying into technology; they were buying into people. They took it for granted that we knew what we were doing, but they wanted to know that we were going to be around to look after them long after they signed their contract.

Let’s get back to the film story now. When someone sends you a screenplay, there are a bunch of leading questions you should ask. What experience have you had making films? Do you have a distributor who is committed to releasing the film? What is the budget for the film? How do you intend to recoup your investor’s funds? Do you have any talent that have come on board the project, such as bankable actors? Have you done some market research? Will people be interested in the story you want to tell?

The list of questions goes on and on, and these are all pertinent business points. Yes, they don’t have much to do with the art of filmmaking, but if you are going to ask someone for money for your art, then you should consider the business imperatives that go hand in hand with your proposed venture.

In my experience over the past decade of investing in artists, I have really struggled to truly connect with most dreamers (except for a couple of people) on the fundamentals that underpin a film venture. But when you do get this balance and alignment right, magic happens. We saw this magic with Material, and it still exists at IS. And speaking of IT, in the past few months I have been very privileged to connect with a group of talented and driven programmers who are doing some very cool things in the online space. And I am making an investment here, not in an idea, but in people. I have hooked up with some good souls this year again. Thank God.

Einstein once said that genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration. I have met so many of these “genius” artists and IT wizards over the years and they all go on about how brilliant their ideas are. I do like many of their ideas, but I would love them more if someone was prepared to suffer for their art. I have not found too many people willing to put their money where their mouth is when it comes to their great ideas. And I am not referring to risking everything you got; I am just hinting at someone stepping out of his or her comfort zone.

Einstein said another compelling thing about which I have been thinking a lot this past year: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

If you are trying to make movies in SA then understand that the risks are sky-high. Have you ever tried digging for oil in the Karoo? You could go insane.

Luck certainly has not been on my side when it comes to my adventures in the local screen trade. Perhaps I have just been plain stupid. I read something online once where a guy had said, referring to a survey where successful entrepreneurs spoke about luck: “Everyone has luck, I just did something about it.” What I am trying to say is that trying to do something when the omens are telling you otherwise is just an uphill battle. Call it bad luck or call it just dumb. One thing is for sure, the next time I embark on one of these journeys I won’t do things the way I have done them before. And, most importantly, I will make sure that the place we go digging in does have some evidence of oil.

Yes, luck is something you need to recognise. I have been digging for a long time, and the more I practice the luckier I get. But, I still haven’t got it right yet and I am convinced, more and more, that I have been looking for oil in the wrong place.

What I am saying here is open to a lot of interpretation. Rest assured I am more positive than ever. I just needed some time and perspective to figure out where the oil is. My nose is itching again; I think I finally picked up the scent! Well, I hope I have!

But, this piece here today was not about where to look for oil, but rather about who to go digging with. Of course, the big question still remains. Are you convinced there is oil where you currently want to dig?

A wealthy old gentleman decides to go on a hunting safari in Africa, taking his faithful, elderly Jack Russell named Killer, along for the company.

One day the old Jack Russell starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he’s lost. Wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.

The old Jack Russell thinks, “Oh, oh! I’m in deep doo-doo now!” Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat. Just as the leopard is about to leap, the old Jack Russell exclaims loudly, “Boy, that was one delicious leopard! I wonder if there are any more around here?”

Hearing this, the young leopard halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees. “Whew!”, says the leopard, “That was close! That old Jack Russell nearly had me!”

Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So off he goes, but the old Jack Russell sees him heading after the leopard with great speed, and figures that something must be up.

The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard.

The young leopard is furious at being made a fool of and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine!

Now, the old Jack Russell sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?”, but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old Jack Russell says …

“Where’s that damn monkey? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another leopard!

Moral of this story:

Don’t mess with the old dogs … age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! BS and brilliance only come with age and experience.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. – Thomas Edison

The purpose of life is to have a life of purpose. – George Bernard Shaw

It is with the heart that one sees rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. – Antoine de Saint-Exupery

An economics professor at a local college made the statement that he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class.

That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said, “OK, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test, the grades were averaged and everyone got a B.

The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.

As the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too so they studied little.

The second test average was a D!

No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around, the average was an F.

The scores never increased as bickering, blame and name-calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great but when government takes all the reward away, no one will try or want to succeed.

It could not be any simpler than that.

This short little paragraph that says it all :

“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” – Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. – Albert Einstein

Walt Disney once captured the never-ending nature of purpose when he said “Disneyland will never be complete as long as there is imagination in the world.” It is with this view that we should all approach the work we do. If we keep exploring and brainstorming and challenging each other in an effort to come up with new innovations then our work will never be complete.

Yes, as long as we have imagination we will continue to come up with new ideas, some good, some bad, but we will keep pushing the envelope.

Ideas don’t move mountains, people move mountains. People make it happen.

I learnt in life that you would rather invest in a bad business with good people than in a good business with bad people. You can take the best business plans in the world, or the best software, and give it to a bunch of arrogant and lazy know-it-alls, and nothing will happen, or worse. But you can take an average plan, or even no plan at all, and put a bunch of enthusiastic, humble and hungry people together and magic will happen.

One of the biggest myths in business is that it takes a good idea to start a company. Most great ventures start off with no idea. They are labours of love with a strong sense of purpose. What they all have at their core is good people. This is what the fundamentals are all about. Good people and a lot of imagination. As Einstein once said “Imagination is more important than knowledge”.