Turned $25 and a Pinball Machine into Billions

Travis Sago

May 25 (edited) in General discussion

He wasn't always a billionaire.

Turn the clock back to 1945...

He was a pimple-faced sophomore in high school...

With $25 and ballz of steel, he started his first business...

He bought a used Pinball Game for $20 and put about $5 into repairs.

What he did next was legendary.

He didn't "flip" the Pinball machine for $100.

That would've been good.

Nobody would've shamed him for a 300% return on his money.

But he didn't do that...

What he did was GREAT and one of the reasons he became a billionaire.

What did he do?

He went to a barber shop and made a deal with the barber.

"With your permission, I'd like to place this pinball machine in the corner over there. It will be great entertainment for your patrons. It will turn their wait time into fun. We'll split the money 50/50. You will never have to do anything. I will clean, service and collect the money."

The barber said, "Okay!"

(Why wouldn't he?)

On the first DAY...

He collected $4.

He'd thought he died and gone to heaven.

The first month, he collected over $120, and $60 was his split.

Now...

Not only did he have his investment back...

He had enough money to invest in another Pinball machine and do it again.

And he did...

He had 8 pinball machines placed and cranking in income at one point.

$480 a month...

Every month...

Doesn't seem like a lot in 2024.

But in today's dollars...

That would be $8700 per month.

Now today...

He's a billionaire.

One of the richest men on Earth.

He has said that his pinball business was one of the best businesses he ever ran, and it taught him a lot about prioritizing a business's cash flow.

His name is Warren Buffet.

Now...

I am no Warren Buffet.

But what Warren Buffet did as a kid with Pinball Machines...

I do with intellectual property.

👉I create, buy or get control of intellectual property dirt cheap.

My favorite is marketing IP—stuff that makes stuff sell. But courses, programs, worksheets, templates, ANYTHING useful that gives a result works. (For example, the pinball machine entertained them while they waited to be served.)

👉I fix her up a bit.

👉I place it in someone else's traffic or transaction flow and we split the profits.

It doesn't have to be 50/50 because there is VERY LITTLE physical labor to be done after placement. I don't have to buy ads or worry about traffic because the traffic is ALREADY built in. (Like the barbershop.)

Like Warren's business, it's a great one.

But...

I think it's better because a pinball machine has hundreds of physical moving parts.

Courses and other IPs don't.

Also...

Warren couldn't find enough cheap pinball machines.

That's why he only had 8 in play.

With I.P.

I've only got to create, buy or get control of it ONCE.

Then I can place it in an infinite number of traffic streams.

With each one I place...

My income grows.