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"China", "tariffs", my business. I spent $1,000,000 over the past 14 years developing a factory in China. I married Chinese. I lived in China for seven years, and live there for three months in the summer. Tried to move the factory in 2021 to the US, impossible. Very bad. Materials stateside were being imported from China. I'm trapped in China with no way out. I'm not crying because our business has eroded. I knew the risks going in. Here is what few know about China, because they have never been immersed. 🧵

I defaulted on a $15,000,000 personally guaranteed credit facility with Sovereign Bank. Time 2009-2022. $1,560,430.24 was the judgment amount to which I agreed. Bank's actual principal loss was $200k; rest was default interest, fees, atty fees. Pile on. Do you have an SBA, bank, home equity, or personal loan? I never expected it to happen to me. Here is what happens to you. 1) Bank sues and eventually wins a court judgment against you. 2) They don't pursue you. It's worse. 3) Bank sells the judgement to a vulture. Mine for est. $200k. 4) Vulture pursues you incessantly, seizing everything worthwhile as the debt grows with mounting interest. My vulture was an asshole supreme. Here is his SOP. This was the worst outcome for me. 1) Hired a receiver who assumed full control over my properties and houses. 2) Sends numerous letters for depositions, information, and more. 3) Ignores you. No negotiation. FU, pay me in full, calls you a "schmo". 4) Auctions off your house and contents, keeps all the proceeds. Won't tell you the proceeds. "Sue me". 5) Assigns an illegal arbitrary rate of interest to the judgement. Claimed I owed him an addition $1mil. No end in sight. 6) Never picks up the phone, can't plead, zero mercy. 7) Wants your inheritance, where are your bank accounts, give me everything now. FU. 8) Does not want it paid off. He wants to keep the clock running forever until you have more assets to take. Endless annuity. 9) Time is his friend, because eventually I will need to pay him quickly like in the case of needing a home loan, and then I have no leverage. He decides any number he wants. It should be illegal. When you cannot pay to defend yourself, you're just prey. You're f-ed. The pressure was so intense I thought about suicide twice as a better option while living in China getting a new startup off the ground, near totally broke. Years went by until I accumulated sufficient funds to settle my outstanding balance. I had to take legal action in Federal court to ensure a proper settlement. However, that didn't deter him. He fabricated a claim that the interest rate was significantly higher than the applied rate of 0.26%. FU, now I thought. I can pay to fight. And I did. I won. I paid the court the $135k balance. He appealed. There goes more atty cash. He is not the smartest. Dragged on another year+. I eventually won a Precedential decision reported Nov '22. That is one way the courts try to control stupidity. I don't PG anything now except a car loan or lease to keep my credit score high. No debt, no loans, no mortgages, nothing. Tomorrow I will tell you what to do if you are in this situation.

For $973, we rented a "$4,500,000" villa overnight in China. Evergrande filed for Chapter 15 this week. We are likely walking from a condo deposit we made a few days ago adding to emergent panic. We invited all of our family for an overnight. Pool, karaoke room, mahjong room, elevator. Easily 10k sqft. No one in this super luxury overgrown gated development. Echo. I drove the parking garage. Zip. Chinese banks are likely sitting on trillions of dollars of delinquent loans. I say this confidently. The worst is brewing here. Monthly villa rent? $11,000 (neg). Nothing makes sense. Owners are hammered.

A friend sold his business for $10,000,000 net back about 10 years ago. Me "What we was going to do to replace your income stream?" There was no great answer. Instead his wife and he lent money to family, bought bad property, bought an expensive waterfront house impressing friends, got divorced, couldn't get lift from any new efforts, crashed. Kids trust drained. It's a common story. Exiting and going broke eventually. Every dollar should have gone into income production. I know people worth $20,000,000+ who are perpetually broke. All assets, no cash flow. Trusts drained. Building a business is one talent. Making money from your cash is an entirely different business

My parents bought this house in 1999 for $1,900,000. They sold it in 2021 for $1,175,000 to a young family. Young people are ripping off old people.

I lived in China for seven years to startup and operate a company. I spent over $1,000,000 building out a factory, training. I needed to avoid IP theft and bad quality. Now others manufacture through us. DM me if you need help.

I decided $2,200 for a telepresence robot was a tiny expense for me to roam around my Shenzhen factory when I’m not there. I call in, auto connect, and drive around. I go up to desks, have a conversation, turn around, go check production, and I can get answers immediately. Game changer. Continuity. It’s super productive.

I spent $250,000 in China and laughed in disbelief. Why do people hate Chinese manufacturing so much? I constructed a new 15k factory floor; US cost would be $1,000,000. Chinese work day and night, like me. Do the math. You can't avoid China. 1) The US has no supply chain like the Chinese. 2) Fractional labor costs. 3) They outwork everyone. 4) They will work for little profit. I build companies through the lens of capitalism. I want the highest volume of high profits. I'm a simple person. If it's made to my spec, I don't care where it's made. I have to create value and get paid for it. 10:30pm in Shenzhen last night I watched sparks fly from men welding. It's why I moved here in 2010. They can almost keep up with me. We now have about 60k sq ft. Saved $2,000,000 in buildouts.

I paid $20.34 for years of restful nights raising babies. No one wants to hear this. "Oh good luck, say bye to sleep." said everyone. A friend recommended Contented Little Baby Book. We sleep trained our kids from about eight weeks old. It's a controversy. Some say it's cruel. Others swear by it, like me. Our house with two kids 15 months apart was quiet at night. Still is. Blackout shades, sleep exact same time daily, exact feeding schedule, wake up same time. Repeat. They are still on a sleep schedule at 6 & 7 years old. Lights out 7pm. Shades up 6am. No alarms, no crank, alert, ready to roll, calm emotions. Weekends the same. When we travel they are messy, emotional, and crazy. This video was me keeping up my youngest from falling asleep. I trained her in one week.

"Dude!!!!!! You know how many emails I send myself weekly? Hurry up with this." (He gets it.)

Lost $3,000,000 in cash and years of time due to this deal. Worst mistake in my real estate career. Functionally obsolete power plant on the Hudson River in Yonkers. Real estate boner-maker property. Drool, go ahead. Imagine the potential. I did, and I brought the famous starchitect Will Alsop from London to NY. (more on him later). This total loss would have been avoided if I had a mentor. (more on that later). Here is everything I did wrong. 1) I optioned the property for $30k/month. 2) I did not know the local challenges in gaining access to the site. 3) I went down the wrong path for environmental never focusing on Brownfields money and available grants. 4) My due diligence was an expensive nightmare, because I did not realize all of the pieces that would go into a development on this site. 5) I did not have the internal resources as the project became more technical. 6) I couldn't spend as much time on the project as the complexities grew. Eventually when the 2008 market melted I couldn't afford to continue to pay and lost the project. I couldn't find a partner (many people looked at it).

Generational wealth is totally misunderstood. My father gifted a $5,000,000 building to my brother and me. His dad bought the land... 80+ years ago. Why so many knives out on gen wealth? Because it's easy to resent another's good family planning that works out. That's a real loser attitude, esp if the same person is hustling to get rich. Generational wealth creators are often: 1) Motivated to take invest and take risks. 2) Innovating, trying ways to succeed. 3) Willing to take less for themselves now. 4) Creative. No one would be motivated in the same way if wealth could not be passed on. There would be no point in trying harder, pushing oneself, or dreaming big. "What's in it for my family?" My brother and I helped my dad on weekends, and we are proud to continue to operate a Kaiser legacy asset. We will be passing it on again.

$460,000 cash, I invested in my mental health. 2005 at 34, I was under extreme pressure. 100's of employees. Multiple companies, deals. Fridays I'd drink by myself. A mortgage later saved me. Pressure on my chest, headaches, I needed a mentor. I'll figure it out. 100 miles outside of NYC I found 100+ acres hugged by un-developable State land. Trashed 1890 frankenhouse I stripped to the barnboard, bought the hillbilly neighbor's house (Here's $50k cash get out - eyes like a cartoon figure "OK!"). The property saved me. The cool, clean air. The apple trees. Trails, hiking, swimming, snowmobiling, quads, garden. I could think again. "Breathe, Erik." Market meltdown 2009, need cash, bad, mortgaged it. Money stretched years, got a new startup going in China. Judgment creditor put it in receivership. I never filed BK, and kept it current. Fought. Can't lose it. It's my golden property. When I moved back to NYC in 2017 I renovated it again. Paid it off, built addition, playground. It's now my family's. Many goals reached in that last sentence. Sanctuary. Drive 2.5-3.5hrs. Heli onto my clear pad, 35 mins from Pier 6.

I had very lonely periods in NYC in my 30's. I could afford to drop $1,000 on dinner or $30,000 clothes shopping. Didn't matter. Have you ever been lonely? It's an awful, groundless feeling, questions your self-worth. Between girls and unavailable "friends" I felt like a rich loser. Alone again. Whiz at making money, being interesting. Not enough to have satisfying friends. Drinking buddies lowest reach. I dated like a young, rich single guy. Dopamine drain. Much social catching-up I needed. I saw Maxim Vengerov at Lincoln Center, on stage, awestruck. Drove past him on 62nd & B'way carrying his violin. No one with him, no recognition off stage in hustling NYC. "I need to figure this out." Those Saturday mornings alone, no plan, no engagement, no life, no meetups. Wrong people filled void. Made it worse. I'm married with two kids now. I miss my kids when they are at school. I miss my wife when she's on the same Zoom in the other room. I appreciate so much the contrast of being in demand now vs those scary, lonely weekends when I was younger.

"China", "tariffs", my business. I spent $1,000,000 over the past 14 years developing a factory in China. I married Chinese. I lived in China for seven years, and live there for three months in the summer. Tried to move the factory in 2021 to the US, impossible. Very bad. Materials stateside were being imported from China. I'm trapped in China with no way out. I'm not crying because our business has eroded. I knew the risks going in. Here is what few know about China, because they have never been immersed. 🧵

My parents bought this house in 1999 for $1,900,000. They sold it in 2021 for $1,175,000 to a young family. Young people are ripping off old people.

I defaulted on a $15,000,000 personally guaranteed credit facility with Sovereign Bank. Time 2009-2022. $1,560,430.24 was the judgment amount to which I agreed. Bank's actual principal loss was $200k; rest was default interest, fees, atty fees. Pile on. Do you have an SBA, bank, home equity, or personal loan? I never expected it to happen to me. Here is what happens to you. 1) Bank sues and eventually wins a court judgment against you. 2) They don't pursue you. It's worse. 3) Bank sells the judgement to a vulture. Mine for est. $200k. 4) Vulture pursues you incessantly, seizing everything worthwhile as the debt grows with mounting interest. My vulture was an asshole supreme. Here is his SOP. This was the worst outcome for me. 1) Hired a receiver who assumed full control over my properties and houses. 2) Sends numerous letters for depositions, information, and more. 3) Ignores you. No negotiation. FU, pay me in full, calls you a "schmo". 4) Auctions off your house and contents, keeps all the proceeds. Won't tell you the proceeds. "Sue me". 5) Assigns an illegal arbitrary rate of interest to the judgement. Claimed I owed him an addition $1mil. No end in sight. 6) Never picks up the phone, can't plead, zero mercy. 7) Wants your inheritance, where are your bank accounts, give me everything now. FU. 8) Does not want it paid off. He wants to keep the clock running forever until you have more assets to take. Endless annuity. 9) Time is his friend, because eventually I will need to pay him quickly like in the case of needing a home loan, and then I have no leverage. He decides any number he wants. It should be illegal. When you cannot pay to defend yourself, you're just prey. You're f-ed. The pressure was so intense I thought about suicide twice as a better option while living in China getting a new startup off the ground, near totally broke. Years went by until I accumulated sufficient funds to settle my outstanding balance. I had to take legal action in Federal court to ensure a proper settlement. However, that didn't deter him. He fabricated a claim that the interest rate was significantly higher than the applied rate of 0.26%. FU, now I thought. I can pay to fight. And I did. I won. I paid the court the $135k balance. He appealed. There goes more atty cash. He is not the smartest. Dragged on another year+. I eventually won a Precedential decision reported Nov '22. That is one way the courts try to control stupidity. I don't PG anything now except a car loan or lease to keep my credit score high. No debt, no loans, no mortgages, nothing. Tomorrow I will tell you what to do if you are in this situation.

I spent $250,000 in China and laughed in disbelief. Why do people hate Chinese manufacturing so much? I constructed a new 15k factory floor; US cost would be $1,000,000. Chinese work day and night, like me. Do the math. You can't avoid China. 1) The US has no supply chain like the Chinese. 2) Fractional labor costs. 3) They outwork everyone. 4) They will work for little profit. I build companies through the lens of capitalism. I want the highest volume of high profits. I'm a simple person. If it's made to my spec, I don't care where it's made. I have to create value and get paid for it. 10:30pm in Shenzhen last night I watched sparks fly from men welding. It's why I moved here in 2010. They can almost keep up with me. We now have about 60k sq ft. Saved $2,000,000 in buildouts.

I lived in China for seven years to startup and operate a company. I spent over $1,000,000 building out a factory, training. I needed to avoid IP theft and bad quality. Now others manufacture through us. DM me if you need help.

For $973, we rented a "$4,500,000" villa overnight in China. Evergrande filed for Chapter 15 this week. We are likely walking from a condo deposit we made a few days ago adding to emergent panic. We invited all of our family for an overnight. Pool, karaoke room, mahjong room, elevator. Easily 10k sqft. No one in this super luxury overgrown gated development. Echo. I drove the parking garage. Zip. Chinese banks are likely sitting on trillions of dollars of delinquent loans. I say this confidently. The worst is brewing here. Monthly villa rent? $11,000 (neg). Nothing makes sense. Owners are hammered.

I decided $2,200 for a telepresence robot was a tiny expense for me to roam around my Shenzhen factory when I’m not there. I call in, auto connect, and drive around. I go up to desks, have a conversation, turn around, go check production, and I can get answers immediately. Game changer. Continuity. It’s super productive.

Generational wealth is totally misunderstood. My father gifted a $5,000,000 building to my brother and me. His dad bought the land... 80+ years ago. Why so many knives out on gen wealth? Because it's easy to resent another's good family planning that works out. That's a real loser attitude, esp if the same person is hustling to get rich. Generational wealth creators are often: 1) Motivated to take invest and take risks. 2) Innovating, trying ways to succeed. 3) Willing to take less for themselves now. 4) Creative. No one would be motivated in the same way if wealth could not be passed on. There would be no point in trying harder, pushing oneself, or dreaming big. "What's in it for my family?" My brother and I helped my dad on weekends, and we are proud to continue to operate a Kaiser legacy asset. We will be passing it on again.

"Dude!!!!!! You know how many emails I send myself weekly? Hurry up with this." (He gets it.)

A friend sold his business for $10,000,000 net back about 10 years ago. Me "What we was going to do to replace your income stream?" There was no great answer. Instead his wife and he lent money to family, bought bad property, bought an expensive waterfront house impressing friends, got divorced, couldn't get lift from any new efforts, crashed. Kids trust drained. It's a common story. Exiting and going broke eventually. Every dollar should have gone into income production. I know people worth $20,000,000+ who are perpetually broke. All assets, no cash flow. Trusts drained. Building a business is one talent. Making money from your cash is an entirely different business

99.8% of Chinese men are unfit. A broad statement, but my observation. Yes, gyms and exercise opportunities exist. But unlike other countries at war with public health (US for instance) China has a love of their ancient, delicious food culture. The rate of T2 diabetes in China and the US are virtually identical at about 10% of the population. The introduction of western food into Asia starting in the 1980's forced the change of Asian gut microbiomes. Yes. William Heinecke told me that the early days of his Pizza Hut empire in Thailand were difficult, because the local population couldn't digest the cheese. No one saw this coming. Desserts in China are 50% as sweet as the US. But mostly everything is fried in peanut oil. Rice or noodles eaten with every meal is a common short chain carbohydrate. Health is often a personal responsibility, and although Chinese men do not lack resources, they are missing a cultural inspiration. A Schwarzenegger, if you will. This is a huge opportunity for fitness entrepreneurs.

Lost $3,000,000 in cash and years of time due to this deal. Worst mistake in my real estate career. Functionally obsolete power plant on the Hudson River in Yonkers. Real estate boner-maker property. Drool, go ahead. Imagine the potential. I did, and I brought the famous starchitect Will Alsop from London to NY. (more on him later). This total loss would have been avoided if I had a mentor. (more on that later). Here is everything I did wrong. 1) I optioned the property for $30k/month. 2) I did not know the local challenges in gaining access to the site. 3) I went down the wrong path for environmental never focusing on Brownfields money and available grants. 4) My due diligence was an expensive nightmare, because I did not realize all of the pieces that would go into a development on this site. 5) I did not have the internal resources as the project became more technical. 6) I couldn't spend as much time on the project as the complexities grew. Eventually when the 2008 market melted I couldn't afford to continue to pay and lost the project. I couldn't find a partner (many people looked at it).

I paid $20.34 for years of restful nights raising babies. No one wants to hear this. "Oh good luck, say bye to sleep." said everyone. A friend recommended Contented Little Baby Book. We sleep trained our kids from about eight weeks old. It's a controversy. Some say it's cruel. Others swear by it, like me. Our house with two kids 15 months apart was quiet at night. Still is. Blackout shades, sleep exact same time daily, exact feeding schedule, wake up same time. Repeat. They are still on a sleep schedule at 6 & 7 years old. Lights out 7pm. Shades up 6am. No alarms, no crank, alert, ready to roll, calm emotions. Weekends the same. When we travel they are messy, emotional, and crazy. This video was me keeping up my youngest from falling asleep. I trained her in one week.

$460,000 cash, I invested in my mental health. 2005 at 34, I was under extreme pressure. 100's of employees. Multiple companies, deals. Fridays I'd drink by myself. A mortgage later saved me. Pressure on my chest, headaches, I needed a mentor. I'll figure it out. 100 miles outside of NYC I found 100+ acres hugged by un-developable State land. Trashed 1890 frankenhouse I stripped to the barnboard, bought the hillbilly neighbor's house (Here's $50k cash get out - eyes like a cartoon figure "OK!"). The property saved me. The cool, clean air. The apple trees. Trails, hiking, swimming, snowmobiling, quads, garden. I could think again. "Breathe, Erik." Market meltdown 2009, need cash, bad, mortgaged it. Money stretched years, got a new startup going in China. Judgment creditor put it in receivership. I never filed BK, and kept it current. Fought. Can't lose it. It's my golden property. When I moved back to NYC in 2017 I renovated it again. Paid it off, built addition, playground. It's now my family's. Many goals reached in that last sentence. Sanctuary. Drive 2.5-3.5hrs. Heli onto my clear pad, 35 mins from Pier 6.