How Michael Bloomberg Works
Summary
Michael Bloomberg's firing at 39 with $10M severance became his greatest advantage—he learned that street smarts and sales skills matter more than pedigree, and that the ability to compartmentalize and sell is the meta-skill that separates successful founders from the rest.
Key Takeaways
- Sales is the foundational meta-skill: Bloomberg spent early career years cold-calling and trading, which most analysts considered undignified. This hands-on selling experience became the competitive advantage that enabled him to build one of the world's most valuable private companies.
- Street smarts and common sense predict success better than raw intelligence. Bloomberg observed at Harvard that 'those who I thought were smart generally did well later in life. Those who I considered dummies did less well. The bullshitters faded away.'
- Never look back after transitions—compartmentalize and move forward. When fired, Bloomberg took his $10M, didn't visit the old firm, and never looked over his shoulder. This mental discipline of moving immediately to the next arena is a founder trait.
- Desperation and ambition drive results more than status. Bloomberg took a low-status sales job at Solomon Brothers earning $9K/year with student debt while Goldman offered $14K. He chose based on desperation and hunger, not prestige—the mindset of a founder.
- Trading mentality teaches discipline and focus. Beyond sales, trading teaches compartmentalization, discipline to focus, and competitive discipline for success—skills that are directly transferable to building a startup and managing multiple competing priorities.
Related topics
Transcript Excerpt
So there I was, 39 years old and essentially hearing, "Here's $10 million and your history." John Gutfrieded, managing partner of Wall Street's hottest firm, told me that my life at Solomon Brothers was finished. "It's time for you to leave," he said. "I was terminated from the only full-time job I'd ever known and from the high pressure life that I loved. This after 15 years of 12-hour days and 6 day weeks, out fired." Most of the 63 partners were asked to stay on as employees of the new company. Not me, though. And a half a dozen other guys were pushed out at that time as well. Was I sad on the drive home? You bet. But as usual, I was much too macho to show it. And I did have $10 million as compensation for my hurt feelings. If they had said, "We had another job for you." I'd have done i…