During the late 90's at Harvard, my time was split between three places: the Ukrainian language lab, the computer lab desperately and unsuccessfully trying to get my SC friends to subscribe to Eudora so we could talk online in a thing called email and the law school listening to the unlimited scholarship of Randall Kennedy.  I only wanted to leave, start a career, build a nice house and drive a Lexus.  In short order that mission was accomplished so I didn't dream big enough.  Maybe if I wasn't so Denzel looking, my success would have been a little better:)
 
We are all gleefully engaged with Facebook at this point as we should be.  It's a nostalgically wonderful way to reconnect with old friends while gaining new ones - sheer brilliance.  Have you ever wondered where it all started?  Try the same campus I was wandering around on trying to figure which way to go.  Mark Zuckerburg is the founder of Facebook and the youngest self-made billionaire of all time.  Because of his inability to "get the digits" as they say, he hacked into the facebook (Harvard's name and face database for its students) to get the pictures of all the students and created an online view of them.  He figured out which classes had more females so he could enroll in them and increase his ability to "get a girlfriend".  Later, he put the girls faces next to each other to see who was the prettiest or who looked like a farm animal.  He called it facemash.com.  He then sent his experiment which he documented in a chat room while having a few too many beers around to a few friends and inadvertently left the computer on.  Two hours and 22,000 visits later the Harvard U computer network was frozen solid.  The professors couldn't even check their email - people were hooked like a fish on curved bait.  Long story short Zuckerburg almost got kicked out of school doing something he loved.  In the process he became the ultimate Accidental Billionaire.  It was also there that he experienced a Slide 68 moment meaning enough with what you want me to do when I can and most importantly, will be doing my own thing?
   
At that point he knew he was onto something but he didn't have enough money.  So he approached his friend, now co-founder Eduardo Severin who was also very overlooked by the women, but was a meteorological genius who'd made $300K in a summer trading oil futures.  It didn't hurt that he turned down a seven figure salary from Microsoft while in high school and his dad was rich.  But still they were young jocks and needed the help of another young whiz kid from right here in Chantilly, VA, Sean Parker who had made a name for himself creating Naptser and Plaxo.  Unfortunately, none of them are friends today but they are all rich I hear.
 
There are few lessons we can learn from this. 
People made fortunes doing what they love to do and are good at.  A New Jersey school teacher was laughed at for creating an underwater boat that was later called the submarine, of which the US Government saw no useful purpose for.  If Formula 409 makers gave up after 408 attempts, we'd have dirty counter tops and if Mr. Honda would have given up after 99 attempts, my joyriding in the exotic NSX-T would have to occur in a Ford.  If there is something you love to do and you think you can make some money at it keep pressing on as there is an unclear, yet very present danger in giving up to soon.  With mega wealth money comes mega awareness as money only makes people more of who they already are.
 
Want to See Your Story in My Book?
A Slide 68 moment comes when you have reached your wits end, when it's either your sanity or someone else's destination for you.  It can happen with work, relationships, degree pursuits or even what the family plans are for you.  When you've had enough, you've had enough and you take action.  Slide 68 is not just a book, it's a movement. Because so many of you have voiced your enthusiasm for this project, especially with work, I'm going to share the spotlight and add a few of your stories in the book as it closes out in the near future.  So for a chance to see your name and story in print on Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and all that cool worldwide stuff, amongst the other star studded business people in the book, shoot me an email description or just find me where every one else is - on Facebook.