003: FRANK HANNA - How To Be Wealthier Than Warren Buffett & Happier Than Some Billionaires

003:  FRANK HANNA


BACKGROUND


Serial Entrepreneur – taken one of his company’s public, been
involved in private equity for 25 years and worked with leaders
as diverse as the president and the pope.

Featured in PBS Documentary The Call of the Entrepreneur.

Served on the boards for numerous think tanks and nonprofits.

Involved in founding 8 new Catholic educational institutions.

Founder of the Solidarity Association that guards the Hanna
Papyrus, which is the oldest copy of the Gospel of Luke and the
Lord’s Prayer in the world.

Author of 2 books…What Your Money Means and A Graduate’s
Guide to Life



BUSINESS JOURNEY


Be patient, but be ready. He had the idea for his first
business in 1982, but the opportunity for it to happen didn’t
present itself until 1989.  He was ready when the
opportunity did arise and was able to do business with Cargill
the largest private company in the world at the time.

Relationships – don’t look at others as a potential way to
make money or improve your business. Look at others as a
relationship that needs to be fostered because relationships are
a key component of our true wealth.

Don’t worry about always selling others on your idea. Foster
relationships and be enthusiastic about what you are doing. 
If someone doesn’t want to invest, then it’s ok.  Maybe
that’s not what they are there to do.  That relationship
will serve another purpose down the road.

How did Frank grow his initial idea into a $1.5 billion
portfolio of nonperforming loans?

From the beginning he was always thinking about how he could
scale the business.

Established a beachhead and well positioned as a first mover.
When US government gave stamp of approval for banks to sell off
these types of loans, the market expanded rapidly and his company
was already positioned to take advantage of the opportunity.

So why did Frank sell a successful business to a private
equity company?

Within a few years competition with very deep pockets
increased significantly.

Better chance of success partnering with a larger company
than trying to go it alone.

The decision paid off. He was able to take some money off the
table and retain 20% ownership to participate in future success.

One of the keys to his success was finding larger companies
to partner with. e. Cargill and Goldman Sachs

Project integrity by practicing it on a daily basis.
Developing it as a habit.

Only way to improve intellectually, emotionally and
physically is to work out. There are ways to work out for each of
these areas of our lives.  Most people focus on the
physical, but need to work on intellectual and emotional as
well.  Building habits of virtue is the best way to
accomplish this.

Frank’s Tip For You – Best way for a small business to
accelerate growth is to find a way to hitch yourself to a larger
business. Bill Gates did this in the early days with IBM. 
What do the larger business look for in a smaller business before
they will partner with you?  Transparency and
Integrity.  Listen for more details on how to build
credibility with larger businesses.



 


FAITH JOURNEY


As Christians, hopefully there are a number of pivot points
in our life when we intentionally decide to live out our faith.
Frank has several, but he shares the one time that had the
biggest impact on him to intentionally live his Catholic
faith.  Minute 13

Typically if he could work hard enough and want something bad
enough, he was able to get it…except for this one thing that was
totally out of his control.

This was a bad thing, but the older he has gotten the more he
has realized the many good things and blessings he has received
that are out of his control as well.

What is Frank’s daily challenge to himself? Every day he asks
himself, ‘has everyone I have encountered left me better or
worse?’  At the end of every day he does an examination of
conscience to see how he did.

How does Frank balance a successful business career, his
family and his faith?

He doesn’t believe balance is the right approach. It is about
establishing priorities.

What are his priorities? God, wife, children, parents, other
family members, work.

Once the priorities are set, keeping them in order is the
bigger challenge.

How does he monitor this? Not with hours and hours of prayer,
but with 3 checkpoints throughout the day including daily
Mass.  While daily Mass isn’t a requirement for Catholics,
prayer is.  If we aren’t taking time to talk to God, then we
can’t be putting Him first.



INSIGHTS ON ACHIEVING REAL SUCCESS


Money is a gift from God. We should be deliberate about how
we use it.  If not, then we can jeapordize our soul and that
of those we love.

What is the essence of wealth?

Almost everyone wants to be successful. Most people want to
be wealthy, but think money is the only measure of wealth.

Frank knows several Billionaires personally. What is the one
thing that the happy Billionaires have in common?  It’s the
same thing that all of the unhappy Billionaires don’t have. 
It’s a happy marriage.  While this isn’t THE KEY to
happiness, it is an essential part.

Who is truly wealthy? Someone filled with well being. 
Typically someone that has a good relationship with God and is
happily married. 

2 Main Elements of Wealth – Human relationships and hope for
the future

How can you be wealthier than Warren Buffett? 29 minute mark

Keys to being wealthy? Engage in hopeful activity.  What
is one of the most hopeful things you can do in this world? 
Minute 32

We are happiest when we are fully human. What do we need to
be fully human?  Full of Virtue.

Misconception about Competition – It is not always a good
thing. We can become more like an  animal or more like a
man, depending on how we choose to compete.



KEY TAKEAWAYS


Realization that faith is a gift. We have to practice our
faith daily.  As Christians Christ warns us that we will be
persecuted for our faith.  If we view our faith as a burden
or set of rules we must follow, it is going to be difficult to
stick with when persecution comes our way.



RESOURCES MENTIONED


What Your Money Means and How to Use it Well – Frank Hanna


A Graduate’s Guide to Life – Frank Hanna


Strangers in a Strange Land – Archbishop Charles Chaput


Hopeful analysis of the culture we live in