The Soul of a Billionaire: Is Success Always Good?

Hello and welcome to the podcast. My name is Tavishima Ayede. I'm a former lawyer turned business consultant. And every single day I grab the microphone, I come over here and we solve business problems. So if you're interested in business in general, if you're interested in sales in particular, and if you like hearing my take on how we can solve business issues, then subscribe to this podcast on Spotify, on Apple iTunes, on YouTube, or any player of your choice.

And then if you'd love to connect with me, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140 call. Reach out with your questions, your comments, your queries, or if you want me to clarify anything, I would. Yeah, I wouldn't mind doing that as well. Now today on the podcast, I don't have a topic per SE. Rather, I have a podcast recommendation for you because, well, I have a podcast, so obviously I listen to podcasts as well.

Now there's this podcast that I think is a really, really good one. It's called good Bad Billionaire and it's from BBC. So it's highly produced, it's well researched. So if you're one of these podcast listeners who, you know, like you're listening to my own show and then I say something and I say it was Anna kind, you know, it was maybe in the 80s, maybe in the 90s. And you know, you're, you're tired of the fact that I can't be specific when it comes to dates and times and things like that, then you will love this podcast because in this podcast,

they go real deep. They go real particular. So I don't know if they've done Dangote, for instance, but you know, if they're doing Dangote, they'll actually tell you Dangote was born. So, so, so, so he started On this date, he did this, he did this, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. This is how much he's worth. And so because of this, we think he's a good billionaire or we think he's a bad billionaire. So it's that kind of show really, really entertaining.

It's nice to listen to. It's well produced. I can't remember the name of the host, but the podcast again is Good bad billionaire. It's from BBC again, so nice podcast to listen to. And I'm recommending it strongly for you guys to listen to. Even though it's an Audible podcast, you know, Novex, one of the reasons why I, I'm recommending that you guys listen to this podcast is because one of the things I tried to do on my own podcast is to try and expand our horizons.

You know, get off thinking because on that podcast, you won't just hear of Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk. I'll come to Elon Musk soon. But you hear about all kinds of billionaires, people who made their money in tin, in copper, in mining, in tourism, in what else? Like all kinds of things. So it expands horizons just to see all the different ways that people can make some money, make a living or make a name for themselves.

And then also occasionally African billionaires get featured as well. So it's nice to see how other people on the African continent are getting along. Because for those of us here in Niger, you know, we know what's his name, you know, you know, we know Dangote, we know Uncle Tony, Tony Lumilu Foundation, then who again, Adenuga, you know, so like we know our people. So it's nice to see that, you know, that billionaires coming from different parts of the African continent and just to know their story, know how you know, know how things were on the come up, the different issues that they faced.

So listening to Good Bad Billionaire, you know, really opened up my eyes to the fact that some of the struggles that we face in Nigeria are not uniquely Nigerian problems, but are problems that are faced by different countries on the African continent. So yeah. So that was a good eye opener there. So yeah, listen to the podcast. But however, I'm currently listening to 1 episode about, OK, I can't remember who the episode is about because the episode has not yet started.

But is this thing that they do on the show again, Good Bad Billionaire on the BBC? So they ask people to write in and to talk about the billionaires that they've discussed. So that they answer the question, is this guy a good billionaire or is he a bad billionaire? Oh, by the way, female billionaires are they also make feeling female episodes about female billionaires as well. So let's not with Neocom and Vex and say that, you know, this is part of a male conspiracy or something that we're not talking about female billionaires.

So they talk about them as well. If I had another reason why I say listen to the podcast because you will see female billionaires coming from all walks of life. In fact, the one that shocked me was when I spoke about the Russian billionaire, can't remember what she's. She's into fashion. Yeah, fashion retail. You know, So first of all, I was kind of shocked because I won't lie. When you hear Russian billionaire, typically, what do you think of?

You think of a dude, you think of a guy. So when I mentioned a woman, I say so you know their babes there in Russia, I say OK, no problem. And their own is fashion as like ha. Now how do you become a billionaire from doing fashion? I know some of you females who are listening now you say this guy, you ignorant die and you know yes, I don't have a fashion sense. I don't know anything about the fashion industry. But you know, I've just always thought that you know OK, if you're selling clothes like what's the most that can happen?

You know, if you 100 mil money think you can get billions. So where was I? So the the people now the guys I host the show, there's one guy and one girl. So I want man and one woman before somebody will blast me. So they they call in for reviews. So OK, this brunette that we discussed last week, what do you think? Good or bad billionaire? And now we're talking about now people are writing in to talk about Elon Musk and some people are praising the guy.

They say Elon Musk, like Corel guy, solving the world's problems will take us to Mars once again. You know, renewable energy, what else? The battle against fossil fuels, wanting, wanting. And then some people come in and then they're shouting that no, Elon Musk is the devil because, you know, his take on politics and this and this and that and that. The guy is an egomaniac. He's a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And people just, they power up and down.

So, you know, opinions to the left, opinions to the right. Everybody has their own take, whether Elon Musk is a good billionaire or a bad billionaire. One of the reasons why I want you guys to listen to the show is this. Even listening from the beginning, you know that I'm Catholic. And for those of us who are grown up in, in how I put it, for those of us who have had the benefit of a classical education, because I went to Christ the King College in Abuja was run by the Marriage Brothers.

So even though we're small then, because I think I entered when I was, I think I was 9, sorry, not 9. I think I was like 11, but then also some of my classmates that were like 9 or so. So let's say like around that kind, 9/12/13 still, we used to have classes on religious and moral education. We had classes on philosophy, we had classes on civics, We had classes on all kinds of things like correct education. And I'm really glad that I got that kind of education that the average Nigerian citizen now in 20252026 does not receive because we don't teach those things anymore.

We don't teach history. We don't teach history is now elective, literature is an elective, languages are not compulsory philosophy. We won't teach philosophy to, to secondary school children nowadays. Religious and moral education is not, is not required. You know, all these subjects that give one the ability to think critically because nowadays we're focused too much on acquiring information. We keep pumping information into people's heads, you know, data,

data, data, information, information, information. And then we think we're going to create educated individuals. So if you are wondering, Tavishima, you don't come again. Like, where are you going? Relax our land display. Just calm down. Calm down. First. A lot of people who are writing in to say, you know, Mosque is a good billionaire that praising the guy that saying that Elon Musk is the greatest because Elon Musk did this, Elon Musk did that, this thing is good,

therefore he's a good guy. And the people with a shout on the other side are saying Elon Musk is bad, down with that guy because Elon Musk did this, Elon Musk did that. Therefore, you know he's a bad guy because all these activities where the guy they do is bad. But really, is that how I was supposed to judge the character of a person? Is somebody good or bad based on what they do? Let me wind a little bit for you the ancient conception of a good man or a bad man or a good woman or a bad woman because you know,

this one are unisex. So because I'm saying Goodman, bad man doesn't mean bad woman. No day, because it's unisex. So the ancient conception of a good man or a bad man, a good woman or a bad woman is not necessarily what you do, Percy, but rather it is whether you Orient yourself towards the good and whether you try to live a various life. I repeat, if you are trying to Orient yourself towards the good and to live a virtuous life,

then you are good. If you're living a life full of vice and you're orienting yourself towards what is bad, then you are bad. So it's not the actions in themselves, but rather it is where you Orient your life towards. And then of course, the implications of that is that you know the actions will now follow. But because we live in a world where people don't believe in objective good anymore, people just have subjective ideas about whether something is good or whether something is bad based on how they feel.

And that's the reason why today, when they're evaluating the character of someone like Elon Musk or whoever, people are saying he's a good guy, he's a bad guy based on what they feel. Instead of let's look at this thing critically, not what are the higher goods, what are the higher goals, what are the higher ends that this guy is aiming himself towards? Now quite frankly, you know the guy try of course. You know, I tell you guys all the time I'm a greedy bastard.

So I'm looking for that money. So if I enter, you know, most levels as in $500 trillion like or more, forget it. So yeah, that's what I'm looking forward to as well. But to be honest, I know bad when the guy lifestyle, all his wives, he's quarreling with all of his wives, no single one that is his friend, his children self, like which of his children can say is his friend. So yeah, he has all the money in the world. But me on the personal level,

his life, just the one kind. Well, anyway, the reason I want you guys listen to the podcast is #1 listen to Good Bad Billionaire on the BBC so that you get inspired #2 as you're listening to Good Bad Billionaire and they're asking all these questions, is this guy a good billionaire or a bad billionaire? I want you guys in your head as you're listening, be partaking in that discussion. Truly, truly this guy, you know, when did they celebrate or when they when did they roast?

Is it truly a good billionaire or a bad billionaire? And then be asking yourself, what does it mean to be good or what does it mean to be bad? Reconcile that thing with yourself now, because those of us who are listening to these kinds of podcasts and those of us who are trying to build businesses, you know, there's a place where we are heading. And you know, God willing, a number of us, you know, we will, we will get there when that time comes if we've done the critical work to think about all these things truly, What does it mean to be good?

What does it mean to be bad? Then when we're in a situation and we don't hammer like correct money, It's not just a matter of whether people are celebrating us because we're good or bad or we're bad. We ma we self, we should be able to. You can't really beat your chest because I'll be proud, but at least you'll be able to look in what I yourself and say, well, I tried. I tried to fight the good fight the best I could.

And God willing, I've tried to Orient myself towards the good, like I gave him my best shot. So listen to good bad billionaire, be inspired, Think about what's good, think about what's bad. And let's look forward to a time when we will all be bonus, when we'll all be filthy rich. And let us think, how are we going to Orient our lives towards the good, towards the bad? How are we going to exercise our power? How are we going to exercise our influence?

Let's think about it. Anyway, sorry for going philosophical on you guys today, because after all, this is a business podcast. It's just that. Anyway, let me stop here. It's already 15 minutes. So thank you very much for listening to the podcast. I'll catch you all some other time. Remember, if you'd love to connect, you can call, send me a text message or a WhatsApp message on 08064662140. Thank you very much for your time and attention.

We are one more thing. I have a new training coming up on how to grow your business in three easy steps. And that's because lots of you, you have several business ideas, 3456 business ideas. You're juggling everything. You're not making a single couple. You're feeling tired, you're feeling frustrated, you don't know where, you don't know what to do next. That is what this training is about. Come, let's sit down, let's discuss what are the different business ideas that you have.

Let us pick the right one. Because honestly speaking, you need to start with one and grow it to be something sustainable. Let the thing be making sense first, then it is the money that he's making from business one that will allow you to relax and you can start focusing on business 2, on business 3. In fact, the very person that we're talking about, Elon Musk. So Elon Musk is doing all kinds of things all over the place,

but he didn't start all over the place. He started one business. When that one stand sold, it took the money, moved into another business. When that one was standing, sold it, entered another one, then took profits, entered another. See that's the way maybe because I'll see finish you think OK, all this establishing my saying, you know is not true. OK, no problem. Look at the guys you love and respect. They did not do serial intrapreneur start for businesses at the same time,

everybody starts with one. When I one is standing there, don't move to another. When I one is standing, don't move to another. And that's the point of this training. Let us pick one idea. Let's be serious and pick one. Then we'll validate this idea. Is there any market demand? Is there a demand for this idea, for this product, for this service? Do people even like this thing? Because if you start a product, you think it's a good idea, We start a service, you think it's a good idea, but there's no demand for this thing.

Nigerians don't like this thing. Maybe it's only Ghanaians that like it. Now, what are you doing here while continuing in Ghana or move over to another idea that Nigerians like. Then after that, we're going to come up with a selling process so that we can have good, good, good, good, good recurrent revenue. Because believe me, I've been in that situation. In fact, to confess, I still go through it from time to time where you have plenty of money one day and then the next month or the next two months, quiet,

no cash again anyway. So if you're one of these people who is struggling, you have 456 different ideas. You don't know how to start the business, Reach out. Let's help you get started. So you'll be jogging too many things, being frustrated, and then counting your coins. Now, even if you're not interested in the business, you know, you just want to say what's up. You just want to say hello, it's not a problem. You can do that.

Phone number is the same 08064662140. Now for those of you who get shocked, you know when I answer the phone, let me let you know ahead of time. Yes, it's actually me, but there's some people who still freak out when I answer the phone. It is me. I'm going to answer the phone for now, but best believe when I'm a big boy like Elon Musk, Forget it, I won't give you my phone number. Then I'll give this number to. This would be this.

This would be the phone number for the call center in my office. Anyway, I'll catch you guys some other time.