The wooden identity and how to build your dream | Bobby Fry | TEDxUniversityofPittsburgh
## People - Speaker: Author/Speaker (Unnamed) + role + presenting a dossier/talk. - Will Smith + actor/source of quote + provided a quote about not being afraid to die on a treadmill. - Grandmother + relationship to Speaker + located in Greensburg. - Justin + best friend/collaborator + father got sick, co-founder of Bar Marco. - Kevin + collaborator + co-founder of Bar Marco, worked at First Niagara. - Michael + architect/collaborator + helped with the launch of Bar Marco, taller and stronger than others. - Jamila + executive chef + running the all-female kitchen at Bar Marco. - Dr. Drew + private events coordinator + started by washing dishes for free three years ago, now runs a half million dollar private events business. - Mark Vetri + chef + one of the best chefs in the country, who and his team took the speaker's team under their wing. - The Obama Academy in East Liberty at Pittsburgh public high school + setting/program + where the cooking club started. ## Organizations - Wall Street + location/industry + where the speaker worked for three years. - Institutional Investor + publication + ranked the speaker's morning note in the top three when the speaker was 24. - Startup company + location + in Corning, New York, where the speaker spent three years. - First Niagara + bank + where Kevin worked and where the man who offered the Strip District bar worked. - Bar Marco + establishment + restaurant the speaker and collaborators dreamed of opening. - Profitable Food Revolution Pittsburgh cooking club + program + started three years ago, aims to buy a food truck. ## Places - Staten Island + destination + where the speaker pulled his Jetta to be in New York for the first time. - New York City + general location + where the speaker first traveled and later got a "head of steam." - Corning, New York + city + where the speaker went to a startup company. - Greensburg + location + where the speaker returned to after running out of money. - The Strip District + location + where the opportunity for the first bar was found. - JFK + airport + where the group traveled before plans fell through. - The Firehouse Lounge (Emory) + bar location + where the rebuilt bar was established; built in 1860. ## Tools, Tech & Products - Jetta + vehicle + loaded to the back of a U-Haul for the move to Staten Island. - Notebook + tool + the speaker brought to the stage for meticulous notebooking process. - Axe + tool/metaphor + the speaker learned to sharpen this. - Excel + software + used to proactively plan ahead and ensure front and back of house are paid equally. ## Concepts & Definitions - Work ethic + trait + something the speaker was born with, refined through experience. - "Buy the dip" + concept (implied) + related to surviving the collapsing economy in 2007. - "Chop down a tree" + analogy + related to taking the work ethic and working smarter (spending four hours sharpening the axe for six hours of chopping). - "Craft cocktail bar" + type of bar + the first real one in Pittsburgh. - "No gratuiti policy" + policy + the decision not to accept gratuities. ## Numbers & Data - 2.6 + GPA + GPA with which the speaker received a job on Wall Street. - 2007 + year + when the speaker arrived in New York and the economy was collapsing. - 500 + count + number of institutional customers the morning note went out to. - 24 + age + age when the speaker's morning note got ranked in the top three. - $600 + amount of money + the speaker took to the startup company in Corning, New York. - 6 + weeks + duration the speaker lived in the attic in Corning, New York. - 9 + months + period until Justin's father passed away. - $49,000 + amount of money + loan received from Justin's father's Farmhouse. - $455,000 + cost amount + cost of the liquor license. - $44,000 + amount of money + legal fees. - Four + months + free rent period granted by the landlord. - 300,000 + monetary goal + fundraising goal for the food truck. - $10 + wage amount + the kids of the cooking club can earn per hour. - 70% + percentage + of restaurants that fail in their first three years. - 90% + percentage + of restaurants that fail in the first five years. - Five + years + period analyzed for restaurant failure rates. - Half a million + dollar amount + value of the private events business Dr. Drew now runs. - 5% + percentage + minimum profit share required for front and back of house. ## Claims & Theses - I'm not afraid to die on a treadmill... either you're getting off first or I'm going to die. - Will Smith is very inspiring. - My mind couldn't keep up with my mind [sic] when I was in high school. - My mother cooked very wholesome food for me. - I went to college for two reasons: one for golf and then two for economics. - It was really damaging [my golf performance] and started to really bring down what my aspirations are, leading to questioning why I was not getting to the places I wanted to be. - I think you're going to learn the things that you need to learn from Wall Street even if it's not something you want to do for the rest of your life. - I got to see the world through financial markets and I got to learn. - I started to learn to take that work ethic I had and work smarter. - I started to have this really meticulous notebooking process. - I started to work really smart and get really good at planning. - The only one in my 20s [on the trading desk] was dubbed Bobby two cents. - I had to get in at 5:00 a.m. and I had to write our morning note that went out to all 500 of our institutional customers. - It got ranked in the top three in Wall Street when I was 24 by Institutional Investor. - This is a system that's falling apart and it's not doing too much good for the world. - I'm starting to be me now; I'm starting to come out; I'm starting to feel strong. - It's not just about your natural work ethic and how driven you can be and how sharp your acts can be but you're sharpening all those things not necessarily for an opportunity but to shape yourself so that you're ready when the world gives you opportunities. - Most of the time in restaurants the busier you get the less money you make. - Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. - It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. - You're playing small does not serve the world. - There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. - We are all meant to shine as children. - Our presence automatically liberates others. ## Mechanisms & Processes - The cooking process for the food club: started going to the Obama Academy every Tuesday. - The structure for restaurant profitability: paying the front and back of the house on the same level and ensuring they all get at least 5% of profits. - The natural cycle of building: work ethic $\rightarrow$ mastering the system/planning $\rightarrow$ things falling apart $\rightarrow$ realizing opportunities come $\rightarrow$ renewed work ethic in building things. ## Timeline & Events - High school period + event + speaker was incredibly overweight. - Graduation day from college + event + speaker got a job on Wall Street. - 2007 + year + speaker arrived in New York when the economy was collapsing. - Three years + duration + time spent on Wall Street before leaving. - Three years + duration + time spent in the startup company in Corning, New York. - Six weeks + duration + time lived in the attic in Corning, New York. - Three years + duration + period before the restaurant concept began being built. - Last two months + duration + time spent in the startup company in Corning, New York (excluding the last six weeks of that period). - Nine months + duration + period between the start of planning and Justin's father's passing. - Five months + duration + time spent planning for the first Bar Marco. - Three years + duration + period where the cooking club started. - Three years + duration + period that resulted in the realization that the team was the next link to learn. ## Examples & Cases - The treadmill analogy: one person must get off first, or the speaker dies (Will Smith quote). - High school experience: speaker was incredibly overweight and his body couldn't keep up with his mind. - The golf course incident: speaker was outworking everyone on his championship golf team, who were "whooping my tail." - Wall Street morning note: A note written and refined over time that went out to 500 institutional customers. - The collapse of the first Bar Marco deal: plans fell through after Michael boarded a plane from New York. - The discovery of the Strip District opportunity: a man saw the group distraught and suggested a bar for rent in the Strip District. - The building of Bar Marco: involving a $49,000 loan, $455,000 for the liquor license, $44,000 in legal fees, and the landlord providing four months of free rent. - The cooking club effort: started by going to the Obama Academy every Tuesday to teach kids. - The private events business: started when Dr. Drew, who was washing dishes, now runs a half million dollar operation. ## Trade-offs & Alternatives - Trading life vs. Treadmill exhaustion: Either you get off first, or I die. - Wall Street employment: It was never an aspiration, but the belief in Mr B and his family suggested he'd learn necessary things regardless. - Leaving Wall Street: The choice to leave despite having skills and opportunities for "building and creating something" outside of finance. - Using energy: Putting more energy into pretending to be good at something than it takes to actually be great at something. - Financial support: The option of going into the initial Bar Marco plan versus the unforeseen opportunity in the Strip District. - Compensation structure: Accepting an inefficient pay model versus establishing a system where the front and back of the house are paid equally. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - Concerning fitness: My mind couldn't keep up with my body when I was in high school. - Regarding Wall Street: The advice given by Mr B was that the speaker would learn what was needed, even if it wasn't desired for a lifetime career. - Regarding team building: The warning that in years three to five, people put energy into *pretending* to be good at something rather than achieving greatness. - Regarding cost structure: Counterintuitive point that in restaurants, the busier you get, the less money you make. - Regarding the ideal condition: The process is "not all roses along the way." ## Methodology - Initial work phase: Establishing work ethic. - Second work phase: Sharpening the axe (learning to work smarter) via meticulous notebooking and planning. - Third work phase: System building, exemplified by the morning note process. - Fourth work phase: Realization and adaptation, demonstrated by pivoting from a failure in New York to the opportunity in the Strip District. ## References Cited - Tavis Smiley Show: Source of the Will Smith quote. - Confucius: Quote cited: "It's as fatal as to go beyond as it is to fall short." - Abraham Lincoln: Quote cited: "if you're going to give me six hours to chop down a tree I'm going to spend four hours sharpening the axe." - Marcus Aurelius: Concept/Philosophy (implied, though not explicitly cited): The contrast between light and darkness fear. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The goal is to shape oneself so that you're ready when the world gives you opportunities. - The speaker encourages others to remember that it is not all roses along the way. - Recommendation to use the work ethic + sharpen the axe + build a team + build a strategy that wins. - Final advice: "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate; our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." - Final instruction: "We are all meant to shine as children." ## Implications & Consequences - If one is not mindful of failure: Opportunities can fall into one's lap. - If the restaurant team follows the strategy: They avoid the trap of getting fatigued between years three and five. - If the principle of shared profit is adopted: Everyone is incentivized to work together. - If one plays small: It does not serve the world. ## Open Questions - How to continue to affect the environment after the current projects? ## Verbatim Moments - "If you and I get on a treadmill either you're getting off first or I'm going to die." - "It's as fatal as to go beyond as it is to fall short." - "boy I don't know how you do it but you always fall in crap and smell like roses." - "I think you're going to learn the things that you need to learn from Wall Street even if it's not something you want to do for the rest of your life." - "if you're going to give me six hours to chop down a tree I'm going to spend four hours sharpening the axe." - "it's all the boring stuff it's all the times when you think man I'm never going to become anything I'm never going to impact the world any good way" - "we got to spend a lot of time with them through that process and we really kind of took the opportunities now that the world was showing us" - "it's not just about your natural work ethic and how driven you can be and then how sharp your acts can be but you're sharpening all those things not necessarily for an opportunity but to shape yourself so that you're ready when the world gives you opportunities" - "the only problem left was how we were going to to the airport" - "we got a $49,000 loan from Justin's father's Farmhouse" - "if you haven't heard it you need to" - "our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure"