Editor’s note: This article was first published in August 2010; the fortune of 1.6 billion euros “today” and the $5 billion in sports bets Ayre “currently” handles are 2010 figures.
The comments of millionaire Calvin Ayre, who made his money from online casinos, poker and betting, caught my attention. The online gambling magnate offers some guidelines and advice that we can’t ignore when it comes to chasing our business dreams.
Calvin Ayre used to design software for companies that were just getting started online. It didn’t take him long to decide to start a business of his own. In less than three months he built his own website, Bodog.com, in which he invested just €6,800. Today it has given him a fortune of €1.6 billion, not counting properties all over the world.
Calvin Ayre currently handles $5 billion in bets in sports betting alone.
His passions are women and real estate, not as an investment but simply for the pleasure of sleeping one night in Europe and the next in the Bahamas, in homes he owns. He travels in his private jet.
Some of his remarks:
- To succeed, you have to take risks. You may fail in the attempt, but once you come to terms with failure, you become stronger.
- There are people in the world far smarter than me, but they are so afraid of failing that they never try to succeed, so in the end they have failed without even taking a risk.
- Anyone who says money doesn’t buy happiness has never had money.
- The success of my business lies in providing a service and meeting a need that was already there.
- Vice is frowned upon, but people go looking for it and someone has to make money from it, so why shouldn’t it be me rather than someone else?
Without a doubt, I think this is great advice for anyone who is afraid of starting a business. What Calvin is more or less telling you is that if you decide to start a business, the worst that can happen is that you fail in the attempt, but the bigger failure would have been never trying.
Further reading
- How to lose your fear of starting a business
- The advantages of starting a business in times of crisis
- How to start a business with no money
- 5 ways to grow your business
- The entrepreneurial mindset
Featured image: Member57989, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
