When he was 9 years old, he sold newspapers at a street corner in Los Angeles. In talking with his boss, he learned that the boss planned to take a correspondence accounting course and go into business for himself. All it took to get started was a pencil, his boss told him. "I figured that for a nickel, I could be my own boss," Mr. Leventhal explained, "and I never changed my mind."
Today's required seed money may be a bit smaller more than back then, but you shouldn't take this to mean that you can't arm yourself with a sharp No. 2 and end up getting your name on a building.
[via Hoyt Organization]