Lessons from the ‘Ndrangheta

Growing up in Italy, I encountered many mafia guys One of my best friends was from Calabria, the poorest region in Italy Calabria has 1 million population, however, the local Mafia alone (which is called 'Ndrangheta) makes more money than Coca Cola It's the richest organized crime association in the world, makes 2x the money of all the Mexican cartels combined. How's that possible? I'll briefly breakdown how they achieved their success and how you can use their tactics in your own business career. — 1. They're not "violent", they stay super low-key. Killing someone = police investigating = they make less money 2. Trust is everything. They work exclusively in families. They don't let anyone else in. In Italy you can work for the mafia if you're a foreigner, but you're not IN the mafia. This way you avoid snitching, because you're literally family members. You should be like a Jew. Build your own close circle and do business with people who have proven loyalty (friends, family). Most betrayals happen because you let the wrong people in. 3. They diversify their revenue streams. They don’t rely on one hustle. They make money everywhere. Whether it's drugs, extortions, constructions etc As an entrepreneur, never depend on just one source of income (business, investment, skill): you need options. For example, I run other businesses beside OFM, I invest heavily in crypto, I’m building my own personal brand etc 4. They put themselves in the middle. They control Gioia Tauro's port (80% of drugs in Europe are entering from there). If you control something central or indispensable, you'll never stop making money. They also launder money for other mafias, like Camorra, Cosa Nostra, etc Once you own the “system” (skill, market advantages etc), find ways to let others pay to use or access it. 5. They embrace new opportunities. When smuggling stopped paying and they made enough cash off kidnappings, they moved into cocaine. Don’t get sentimental about yesterday’s success, pivot when you see a new trend or better opportunity. 6. Go legal. They use legal businesses to cover their operations and launder money. They have connections everywhere and switched to a more "white-collar" business model. They actually have legitimate businesses. Even when I was living in Denmark, I was reading the news that a mafia-ran company is building the metro in Copenhagen. You need to be “street smart” enough to not get taken advantage of, but you also need to be “corporate”, consider your agency as a REAL business, like you’re building Google. Pay your taxes, have contracts in place, clear SOPs and systems. This is not a side hustle, OFM can be a good cash flow business if done properly.