Yay! The FIFA World Cup is coming! The FIFA World Cup is coming!
Yet I still remember Qatar 2022 and one specific soccer game: the semi-final France v Morocco on Dec. 14.
Morocco were the upstarts charging out of the African desert. France, the practiced Ancien Régime. To reach this stage of the competition, Morocco’s Atlas Lions had beaten greats such as Portugal with Ronaldo playing. They knew no fear. They won 2-0. Then, participating in their first World Cup semi-final, Morocco froze. Being over cautious in front of the French goalmouth, the Lions kept passing to each other without striking until the ball was nabbed from them. Meanwhile, the French struck at every opportunity.
Recently, I took an up-and-coming entrepreneur, in his early thirties, for breakfast to introduce him to a twenty-four-year-old, the youngest to qualify as a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), scouting for a job.
Never participate in a threesome at a potential job interview.
Before Kid Alex could speak, I interrupted with what I thought he was looking for.
“Alex has been brought up as an entrepreneur,” I said. “His dad started from nothing. He now has 50 stores. Alex is graduating from a major accounting /auditing firm. In his last six months he worked in mergers and acquisitions. He would be the perfect fit for you. He could analyze the businesses you’re buying and create tax structures for your investors.”
For someone who had done so well until now, Julian, the entrepreneur, was remarkably cautious.
“In business, you’re lucky if 1 in 20 of your deals work out,” Julian said. He then listed the 80-hour workload and the seemingly endless failures he had to overcome before reaching his current status.
“Alex,” he said, “you’re young. Why not apply, to say, the petroleum industry here in Calgary? Work your way up. With a fat, guaranteed pension at the end and all the perks.”
That wasn’t the ambition I had encouraged in Alex.
Before Alex could answer, I butted in again.
“Most CPAs graduate carrying high student loans. Alex is debt-free. He already owns a condo within walking distance of downtown. He owns a second-hand car that’s paid for. He needs very little cash flow to live on. He can easily work part-time for his dad and still have time to search for better opportunities. If you don’t have full-time work for him at the moment, how about letting him analyze the businesses you’re considering? Maybe if he’s working for you project by project, you could give him a small equity in lieu of paying him.”
Julian’s reply was a disappointment to me.
“What happens if Alex works for me for free and does take a very small equity position?” Julian asked. “None of the deals work out. He hasn’t been paid. Wasted two of his prime years for nothing.”
Somehow, I couldn’t convince the entrepreneur.
I tried a final time.
“Every opportunity cannot be labelled solely as a win or a loss,” I said “Each should be looked upon as a steppingstone. What about the people he’ll meet while working for you? He’ll broaden his network of contacts. You never know, perhaps someone along the way may offer him an opportunity of a lifetime.”
I glanced up to confirm I had Julian’s attention.
“Alex,” I said, “can afford to take that risk now. He’s four years ahead of his contemporaries. He’s single and unencumbered. When will he have that chance again? Besides, I’ve seen many who’ve entered as controllers in a corporation, worked 60 hours a week to gain promotion and at 40, they hit a corporate brick wall. Their annual rises decline. Meanwhile, they’re married, have children, a large home and car. They’re totally dependent on their employer to feed them. They can’t move elsewhere; there’s too much competition from younger CPAs for the jobs they’re applying for.”
Silence.
Julian’s arguments led me back to that 2022 semi-final in Qatar. The Moroccans wanted to be so sure of scoring, they delayed every opportunity until they were tackled and the ball poached from them.
I often wondered how differently that score would have been if Morocco had had a Pelé playing for them, shooting at every slight chance.
