Why I'm Betting on People Who Will Kick Ass and Take Names

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It’s easy to be pessimistic on a day like today. Forty years ago on this very day, Richard Nixon put a bullet into George Washington’s face, cancelling the direct convertibility of dollars into gold and once and for all ending any hope of an honest money system.

Over the past four decades, the dollar has fallen 98% against the price of gold. Politicians and central bankers pretend that inflation is not a concern, but the rising cost of living around the world has prompted people to such extremes that they’re willing to light themselves on fire to protest government bungling.

Despite all the economic troubles in the world, though, I’m extraordinarily optimistic for the future. You see, this morning I just concluded our second annual Liberty and Entrepreneurship youth camp – a five day event where my business partners and I put a group of students from all over the world through an intensive, hands-on ‘value creation laboratory.’

We believe that whenever there are problems in the world, there are always opportunities to solve those problems and create value; we took the students through practical exercises in how to spot these opportunities. This included things like developing credible business plans without making the common rookie mistakes that drive most businesses into the ground.

The camp culminated in a series of group presentations about actual business ideas they had come up with… and to be honest with you, every single one of them was impressive. These weren’t silly, amateurish, rinky-dink ideas like operating a summer lemonade stand, but rather creative solutions to large-scale problems that actually have serious potential.

Let me give you a few examples.

One of our students, Philipe from Brazil, came up with a great idea to address a real need in his home country: elderly care. Brazil’s rapidly growing middle class now has the disposable income to provide better in-home care to its elderly parents, and he devised an elegant solution that is just screaming to be deployed. I’m eager to invest.

Another student, Julian from New Zealand, came up with a creative solution to personal security challenges that plague both travelers and worried parents of small children. His idea makes a twist on GPS tracking, and if he takes the necessary steps to build this business, I’m convinced it could be worth $20 million to a big satellite company in a few years.

Another student, Kim from Germany, recognized that the growing appeal of precious metals in the broader consumer market warrants a higher level of quality in portfolio tracking services. His team came up with some extremely clever ideas for a precious metals portfolio app, and given where we are in the commodity’s growth phase, the idea has significant merit.

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