This week’s Misfit Entrepreneur is Stephen Flood. Stephen is the founder and CEO of Goldcore, one of the oldest gold and silver dealers in the market today. The firm is responsible for over $1 billion in transactions and manages $300 million in assets for their clients.
Stephen has an incredible story. After graduating college in Ireland, he left for New York with just a few hundred dollars in his pocket and made his way into finance, eventually working with Goldman Sachs as a Trader in Equity Derivatives. After having a lot of success, he followed his entrepreneurial spirit back to Ireland starting Goldcore in 2003. The company has been featured on just about every financial medium there is from CNBC to Bloomberg.
But, what I love most about Stephen is that he’s an entrepreneur at his core and I’ve asked him to come on and share the wisdom he’s learned on his way to becoming a billion dollar CEO as well as his unique take on investing.
www.GoldCore.com
www.GoldintheUSA.com(Free Report on Gold Investing)
Stephen’s father died when he was 11. He learned early on how to take care of himself. And after going to college he knew he needed to follow his instincts and decided to go to New York where he go into finance. He loved his time in New York, but was always fascinated with technology and finance together. This helped in New York, but it also helped in finding creative solutions like he and his team have done at Goldcore.
Everywhere Stephen has gone, he’s been a disruptor and is driven by creating efficiencies.
What made you leave Wall Street to start Goldcore?
- It wasn’t in the plan.
- He had been there 7 years and planned to stay.
- He originally had planned to start his own firm.
- Then 9/11 happened. He was newly married and had an opportunity to exit Goldman and decided to travel the world with his wife.
- He witnessed 9/11 firsthand and was ready to move. After about a year, he found himself back in Ireland and joined an old friend to start Goldcore.
What should people know about investing in gold and silver?
- Put 10% of your money into gold and hope it does not work!
- Gold is a risk off solution.
- It gains or holds when things get rough in the markets.
- It provides stability and financial insurance.
- It calms the mind of the investor so you have the insurance and can take advantage of the opportunity of a down market.
Inflation is at 40-year highs, why hasn’t made very large moves higher?
- At the 14 min mark, Stephen talks about the financial experiment of Quantitive Easing and money printing.
- Stephen talks about the gold price seeing intervention by larger institutions.
- The Cantillon Effect: You can print money and things look good initially, but eventually, it catches up with you and the money loses purchasing power and people start to dump it as they do not believe in it.
- Hard assets will appreciate in value.
At the 18 min mark, Steven and I have a deeper discussion about central banking and about the monetary system in general.
Explain how gold gives personal sovereignty…
- Having gold stored in a private storage facility is the closest thing you can have to personal sovereignty.
- It’s like having your car parked in a garage that is storing it for you.
- It gives you an asset that you can access at any time.
Thoughts on cryptocurrency?
- Blockchain is a revolutionary technology.
- It is huge leap forward.
- Bitcoin is not a really a currency and should not be treated like one.
- Money is power and the central banks will not allow Bitcoin to take that power – they will create their own and replace it.
What are the key elements needed to succeed as an entrepreneur?
- Many entrepreneurs chase the exit and money, but it doesn’t usually happen.
- If you can become the domain expert in your area, your chosen field.
- If you do that, you will do well successfully and monetarily.
- You must become the expert first and then the money will follow.
- You need to be truthful to yourself, your employees, and partners.
- Your team is critical and cannot be taken for granted. Show then a high degree of respect.
- “It is better to find right, than to be right.”
- Never stop learning…nothing is sacred.
Biggest challenges and how did you overcome them?
- When they first started, gold was about $300/oz, and no one really cared about it.
- Then as the financial crisis came in and gold went down.
- At the time, the business was very transactional based and gold buying slowed down and their business slowed down for quite some time – they had an 80% drop in transactions.
- They learned the most on the way down.
- They also found a niche in storage which added stability.
What is the benefit of storing things offsite vs. a safe at home?
- It is a client preference.
- For larger orders, it is easier.
- The benefits are that if you sell it very quickly vs. having it at home where you have to ship it in, etc.
- Storage is also insured by Lloyds of London.
- There is a chain of integrity for storage, so validation is automatic.
- If you take possession, it needs to be re-validated.
www.GoldintheUSA.com for some good basics on gold.
Main principles that you have used in building your business that have really stood out?
- Being honest and truthful.
- Humility is very important.
- Own it and take personal responsibility.
Where do you see the economy going over the next year?
- Big bold call – there is going to be an event that had a major impact on the markets and economy.
- Commercial real estate is a place to watch.
- The FED is in an impossible situation and cannot raise rates meaningfully.
- There is desperation for yield and returns and it is a bubble.
Best Quote: It is better to find right, than to be right. Stephen's
Misfit 3:
- Take personal responsibility and own every outcome.
- Look after your mind, body, and soul.
- Be truthful to yourself and those around you.
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