Copper Heist Teaches Erik: Don't Get Greedy

Erik’s first job out of college was as a construction engineer because his major in college was Civil Engineering. He moved to Norfolk and very quickly there was a project where a couple of old buildings were being demolished and some guys decided they were going to extract the copper and make a couple of bucks on the side. So one Saturday they went out and were cutting copper piping out of the crawlspace. The superintendent would drive it out in his pick-up truck to the recycling facility load after load as they were cutting the copper out all day. He was the only person who knew for sure how much money they were making but at the end of the day, he paid the crew $500 each. Erik was young and naive so not only did he think to ask the right questions about the legality of this situation but he’s also sure the superintendent made out with more money than he paid the crew members. A couple of months later, another superintendent was caught taking a spool of copper wire out of a building. He got busted by the police and that’s when Erik realized what a mistake he’d made and how much trouble he could get into. This person got greedy and he got burned, a phrase Erik has carried with him throughout the years and seen play out several times over in business. The lesson learned: don’t be greedy. You may win the battle but you’ll lose the war and have to deal with it later. — Erik J. Olson is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. The Founder & CEO of Array Digital, he is also the host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — Kevin Daisey is an award-winning digital marketer & entrepreneur. He started his first company when he was just 23, and is the Founder & CMO of Array Digital. Kevin is also the co-host of the Journey to $100 Million Flash Briefing and daily podcast, and the co-organizer of the Marketers Anonymous monthly meetups. — For more information on the show, and to check out past episodes, go to journeyto100million.com!