SANJAY SAYS

Share This Article With Anybody Who Owes You Money

People don’t get mad because you don’t pay them back, they get mad because…

Sanjay Singhal
Pragmatic Wisdom
Published in
5 min readApr 13, 2024

--

Photo of author on a cordless phone in front of his Cornell MBA diploma
Sorry I can’t pay you back, I can’t even afford an iPhone — photo by author, yes, in 2024

It was 1992; I was graduating from Cornell with an MBA, and I needed money for my first entrepreneurial venture — a home video delivery service. Fortunately, the halls of the Ivy League are laden with potential investors (aka, children of wealthy parents).

When I tracked him down, Earl Sunderland III was wearing tight black leather pants with a large gold belt. Hardly the image of a wealthy British scion, but perhaps exactly the image of someone who has so much money he doesn’t give a damn. I hadn’t really talked to Earl in a year and a half at Cornell.

“Hey, Earl, nice, um, pants! Can I borrow $70,000?” wasn’t going to fly, but I did go up and say, “Hey, you’ve probably heard I’m starting a business?”

He replied in an accent that I had been assured was very upper-class Brit, “Mmm?”

I dove into this clear expression of interest. “So, uh, would you like to invest?”

“Send me a business plan, old chap, and we’ll see.”

I gave him my business plan, asking for $70,000. A few days later, he handed it back to me, saying, “Sorry, old chap, I can’t…

--

--

Pragmatic Wisdom
Pragmatic Wisdom

Published in Pragmatic Wisdom

Simple lessons for our complicated modern times, drawn from philosophy, religion, and common sense

Sanjay Singhal
Sanjay Singhal

Written by Sanjay Singhal

I write about how to manage your career and life by telling stories about how I've botched my own career and life.

Responses (16)