Mike A. Myers – University of Texas
27 Oct
I had the opportunity to listen to Mike A. Myers, an extremely successful business man and community developer. He has developed many high-end neighborhoods and golf courses all around the nation, especially in Texas, including several by my home in Houston. He owns several banks and has been involved in tons of other investments. He gave a large donation to UT to help construct the Mike A. Myers Track and Soccer Stadium:
He is also on the board of many companies and is very involved with the university.
A Quick Background on him:
-He attended UT and later went to law school here also.
-One summer he moved to Michigan to sell books door-to-door. He said still to this day he has never experienced so much rejection as his door-to-door days. He also said learning how to handle rejection helped him immensely in the business world.
-In his junior year of college he started a mobile catering service which ended up being pretty successful.
-He then opened two restaurants, including one very speculative property inside a military base. Both were wildly successful and he had over 40 employees.
-At a very young age he got several high-up internships in Washington D.C.
-After making loads of money from various investments, he decided to build a 750-acre luxury community in Dallas. He put up much of his own money, totaling about 25% of the total capital. He raised the other 75% and got started with the project. One of the largest oil price spikes in history struck and vastly increased the cost of the project, nearly wiping him out completely. In the end he came out successful.
-He later started a bank which has since expanded to several banks.
Towards the end of his speech he said the following five things were his own rules for success:
- Find a mentor.
- Keep your options open.
- Have as few responsibilities to other people as you can.
- Stay focused.
- Get Lucky.
He was a great speaker and I definitely learned a lot from his talk (especially some very interesting facts about real estate development). At the end of the speech I spoke with him for a while, discussing his developments around my area and joking about Herb Kelleher. I also got a nice picture with him to add to the collection:
Wow, meeting another successful businessman, good job! At first I didn’t know what Mike Myers you were talking about and if it was Michael I would have said that’s nothing to brag about.
How’d you get the chance to talk with him in private?
Dave’s Journey to Financial Freedom
I’m not sure what to be more impressed by:
1.) The sheer quantity of networking you do.
or
2.) The fact that you manage (and have the guts) to get pictures with every big-shot you meet.
Keep it up! I for one find it inspiring and quite entertaining
I think Nev has a few more guts than most people, and he has also learned that if you ask nicely, most people will help you out.
I can just see you saying, “Hey big CEO guy, can I get a pic” :-)
Nev, once again a job well done!
“Bob”
Nev – where you going out after the event to drink Grey Goose again? That shirt looks like a club shirt, not a shirt to network with successful business men.
^^^^ it’s at school dude.
notice the backpack.. the UT mention, etc. etc.
Nev,
I’ve been following your blog for about 6 months now. Just want to say you have an interesting life. Kudos to you, your endevours and your guts to take chances! Keep ‘em comin’!
Sammy
“Great Minds Think Alike!”
http://www.trepnetwork.com
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