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Entrepreneurs in Prison

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11–20 of 62 posts

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#11
post #9

At the risk of sounding glib, I don't think that's how most drug dealers in prison began dealing drugs. I could be way off, but the scenario he posits, wherein all hits mates are buying weed and he arbitrages, is probably not how most drug dealers come into operation, and certainly not how I suspect the prison-time crowd got into it.

How do you think they got in to it then? Trying not to sound snarky - I'm genuinely interested in what other route you see people taking into drug dealing.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#12
post #10

First, it's prison. So, y'know, punishment on some level. In addition to rehabilitation. So my gut reaction is that I'd rather see more educational programs going on. Especially since a lot of "entrepreneurship" is really just either scammy behavior or flat-out fantasy (my start-up's the next Facebook!). Especially when the education isn't in place. That said, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. But, as a tax-payer…

I had a friend in prison some years ago. He said the worst thing wan there was nothing to do. Most people slept 12+ hours a day & when they got out they couldn't adjust.

So yeah, I feel any productive activity is a damn good idea.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#13
post #10

First, it's prison. So, y'know, punishment on some level. In addition to rehabilitation. So my gut reaction is that I'd rather see more educational programs going on. Especially since a lot of "entrepreneurship" is really just either scammy behavior or flat-out fantasy (my start-up's the next Facebook!). Especially when the education isn't in place. That said, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. But, as a tax-payer…

I'm pretty sure that in the US, some kind of room and board charge is deducted from any income an inmate makes.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#14
post #10

First, it's prison. So, y'know, punishment on some level. In addition to rehabilitation. So my gut reaction is that I'd rather see more educational programs going on. Especially since a lot of "entrepreneurship" is really just either scammy behavior or flat-out fantasy (my start-up's the next Facebook!). Especially when the education isn't in place. That said, I'm not entirely opposed to the idea. But, as a tax-payer…

I had a friend in prison some years ago. He said the worst thing wan there was nothing to do. Most people slept 12+ hours a day & when they got out they couldn't adjust. So yeah, I feel any productive activity is a damn good idea.

It's very true. By far the worse thing inside is the boredom.

When you see it on TV/movies all you see is the drama. You don't see the endless hours of _absolutely.nothing.to.do_

It's mind numbing. So you try to sleep as much as possible to make the time pass

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#15
post #7

Being a good entrepreneur is more than identifying opportunities for arbitrage and executing on it and rolling profits into the system that can fuel more arbitrage. It's also taking into account the sustainability of the system. Evaluating the legality of the arbitrage is more important than the skill to profit from it.

Are there really many entrepreneurs who take it upon themselves to consider the sustainability of the system, rather than just their own ability to profit from it? Some probably, but it doesn't seem to be the norm in business culture, apart from some talk of "corporate social responsibility" at large companies that I strongly suspect is mainly for PR reasons.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#16
post #7

Being a good entrepreneur is more than identifying opportunities for arbitrage and executing on it and rolling profits into the system that can fuel more arbitrage. It's also taking into account the sustainability of the system. Evaluating the legality of the arbitrage is more important than the skill to profit from it.

Are there really many entrepreneurs who take it upon themselves to consider the sustainability of the system, rather than just their own ability to profit from it? Some probably, but it doesn't seem to be the norm in business culture, apart from some talk of "corporate social responsibility" at large companies that I strongly suspect is mainly for PR reasons.

I think their own ability to profit from it (ie. avoiding jail and violent attacks) was the sustainability to which he was referring.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#17
post #9

At the risk of sounding glib, I don't think that's how most drug dealers in prison began dealing drugs. I could be way off, but the scenario he posits, wherein all hits mates are buying weed and he arbitrages, is probably not how most drug dealers come into operation, and certainly not how I suspect the prison-time crowd got into it.

"How do you think they got in to it then? Trying not to sound snarky - I'm genuinely interested in what other route you see people taking into drug dealing." -, asked HN user djacksonkf in his dead comment.

I think he is Duane Jackson, the author. He seems to be banned for some reason.

Duane, you can create a new account in no time.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#19
post #9

At the risk of sounding glib, I don't think that's how most drug dealers in prison began dealing drugs. I could be way off, but the scenario he posits, wherein all hits mates are buying weed and he arbitrages, is probably not how most drug dealers come into operation, and certainly not how I suspect the prison-time crowd got into it.

It doesn't sound far off to me. My understanding is many start dealing to help support their habit and it grows from there. I don't have firsthand experience but I've had "friends in low places" so to speak. What do you propose as a more logical explanation and what is your theory based on?

Thanks.

Re: Entrepreneurs in Prison

#20
The piece reminds me of something I saw once about an ex con who went straight and put his drug dealing experience on a resume. He wrote it up in business terms that he moved $100k worth of product per year, arranged shipments, scheduling, etc and did it all in secret. I don't recall what kind of work he did after he went straight but my impression is he was pretty successful.
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