Founder’s Mission

Like all of you entrepreneurs and capitalists out there, I’ve been in the trenches. I’m a business owner, investor, blogger and proud entrepreneur, and I understand what it’s like to be who you are and do what you do. So this site is for you and me… the risk takers, advocates of the free market, the investors, the dreamers, the innovators, the work-from-home moms, and the entrepreneurs who keep our economy moving by inventing the next must-have creation. You may not realize it right now, but what you are doing inspires others to achieve greatness and mastermind their own creations.

Up until my son was born, I never felt the need to encourage entrepreneurialism or promote the free-market system which enabled me to achieve great things. I now realize how selfish that was. I just wish it hadn’t taken nearly a week-long stint at the Children’s Hospital to realize this fact.

My Change of Focus

Two days after my son was born, my wife and I had to call 911 because his face was turning blue from lack of oxygen.

After getting Logan to the hospital, a team of doctors crowded around him and hooked him up to oxygen, an IV, a catheter, and eventually they performed a spinal tap on him to test for meningitis. I was in total shock and obviously scared as hell. Not only that, but I felt completely useless because I couldn’t do a thing to help my son. It was a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach that I’ll never forget. To watch such a little person—my own flesh and blood, so new to this world and weighing just 6 pounds—go through what he did was indescribably painful. As a parent, you automatically fear the worst in a situation like that, and I nearly lost it.

Once the doctors had run all the tests and safely stabilised Logan’s oxygen levels, they checked us into the cardiology ward as he would need to be monitored for several days while they waited for results to come in.

After a few days and some tense moments, Logan ended up being fine. The doctors diagnosed him as having a nasty case of acid reflux. Given the fact that he was so small and born premature, he was having trouble breathing—which is why his face turned blue—but he would eventually grow out of it. My little man was OK! Thank God!

I Need to Do More

It was during those days at the hospital, watching my little man sleep while having several cords and tubes hooked up to him as he was poked and prodded, when I had an “epiphany,” I suppose you could say. I realized that I was living a very small life up until that point, and my focus had always been on my OWN career and next business venture or upcoming investment opportunity—I was living in a bubble. I love what I do for a living, don’t get me wrong, but I knew then that I could do more. I needed to do more.

I don’t know what made me realize this, exactly; perhaps it was the fact that my son was in a vulnerable state, which caused me to reflect on what was truly important in life. Perhaps it came after watching this one pediatrician, who was in charge of Logan’s care, repeatedly step into our room with a smile and a calm face after working for 16 hours straight. With just his demeanour, he would instantly relieve all my nervousness and tension—he was as much a help to my mental state as he was to Logan’s recovery. Or perhaps it was my wife’s unbelievable loyalty in never leaving Logan’s room for almost three days—not even to grab a bite to eat. Most likely, it was a combination of all three.

During that week in the hospital, I realized that I needed to do more for others and give back to the system that has given so much to me. I wanted to be able to help like-minded entrepreneurs, investors, and free-market advocates anyway I could. I wanted to be able to give others the rejuvination they need when they’re down in the dumps, just as the paediatrician did for me. I wanted to promote capitalism with the same resolution my wife showed by never leaving Logan’s side—she wouldn’t even leave the hospital room to eat!

It’s kind of a shame that it took an event like this to make me realize how small I was living—just focused on my own business ventures—and I wish it had been me in the hospital as opposed to my son, but despite all that, I’m grateful for the change in mind set the experience gave me.

So, without getting too emotional with this piece, I’ll get to the point.

The Why

Capitalist Creations is a site dedicated to motivating and coaching entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and promoters of capitalism. I started it because I want to share my passion with like-minded capitalists and help their businesses and investing ventures grow.

Capitalism is a system based on creating net gain for both parties involved in an encounter, transaction, deal—whatever you want to call it. That gain and profit is precisely what I anticipate this site will bring for its readers. I know it’ll be a net gain for me because it allows me to pursue my passion of promoting entrepreneurialism, investing and the free markets; I’m also certain it will be a net gain for you as it is intended to provide the motivation, strategies, and ideas for your own entrepreneurial and investing ventures.

Capitalist Creations will inspire and bring fresh ideas to entrepreneurs and investors on their journey, which can be lonely and stressful at times. Even when we reach a high level of success as entrepreneurs, we hit plateaus. And to avoid becoming stagnant, it is imperative we are constantly educating ourselves and finding new inspiration to come up with fresh and most importantly, profitable ideas. There’s a saying that always stuck with me and it’s “nothing fails like success”. We must constantly evolve and stay hungry.

There are so many amazing creations crafted by capitalists all over the world that never make it to market. Quite often, those innovative creations were just one important contact, angel investor, marketing strategy, or new communication technique away from greatness. I never want to hear about a member of Capitalist Creations falling short of his or her entrepreneurial goal because he or she quit. William Feather once said “success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go”. I strongly believe this to be a timeless truism.

It’s an incredible feeling to envision an idea or concept, act on it by investing your hard earned money and/or time, and later realize that thousands of others appreciate your vision and are willing to compensate you for it. It’s self-stimulating, financially rewarding, and employs others in the process. When a capitalist succeeds, the impact is a far-reaching one. The concept of capitalism is so vital in our society, and yet it’s so seldom defended—never mind promoted.

The Greatness of Capitalism

Capitalism and entrepreneurs are responsible for the creation of the breakthrough medical equipment which helped my son at the hospital during his rough patch. Capitalism gave mankind the ability to fly, perfected the telephone, and was responsible for the first heart transplant and the creation of the printing press. This amazing economic system, and the entrepreneurs who promote it every day, gave us the Beatles, Guns N Roses and Lady Gaga. It gave us CDs, MP3s, smartphones and 3D movies. Give it another year or two to flourish, and only God knows the wonders it will bring.

Sadly, this amazing economic system has been demonised of late and is under attack simply because it is misunderstood—or maybe society just needs a scapegoat in tough times.

The Current Global Economy Desperately Needs New Capitalists

I am concerned with the state of our economy, just as many people are these days. However, the cyclical nature of our economy and what stage it is currently in don’t concern me. It is the negative tone in which free markets, entrepreneurial success, and capitalism are being spoken about that concerns me.

For example, the President of France—which is one of the most powerful countries in the world thanks to capitalism—once said, “I don’t like the rich.” How do you not like someone based on their bank account balance or how many houses they own or how successful their business is? He essentially said that he doesn’t like economic standouts.

If this hate for capitalism continues to grow, cyclical economic downturns will be no more; instead, a permanent economic downturn will take hold, and innovators and job creators will either be suppressed or move to another country.

Capitalism gives people the freedom they need to innovate and better their lives, families, and communities. In the case of some, it has even given them the ability to better their entire country. Just look at what Steve Jobs, a foster child, created with Apple. Thanks to all of its amazing innovations, Apple now has more cash in the bank than the GDP of 128 countries. It directly employs 47,000 people in the US alone.

Personally, I owe a lot to capitalism. It gave me the ability to start my own online marketing business in my early 20’s, which has grown far beyond my expectations, and live a life that isn’t dictated by a clock. Forget about materialism, family is the most important thing in life, and thanks to capitalism, I have a growing amount of time to spend with those most important to me.

The benefits of capitalism go far beyond material compensation. From a personal standpoint, the fruits of my labour—which only came to me because I live in a capitalistic and free-market society—allowed me to spend more time with family, meet incredibly inspirational people, marry the woman of my dreams, start my own family, and provide for my loved ones. I also get out of bed every morning excited to hunt my own meat (that’s my way of saying “work”; perhaps I have a demented sense of what I do for a living, but my mentor told me that being an entrepreneur is exciting because we get to “hunt our own meat” every day. If we don’t succeed, the metaphor is that we starve. So always stay hungry!).

One of the most inspirational athletes in the world, Lionel Messi. That’s my wife and I with Messi at a practice in Barcelona. If you aren’t familiar with Messi’s life story, I highly encourage you to learn more about him. He overcame great obstacles as a child and is now the world’s top soccer player. I have a feeling he will go down as the greatest to ever live…

Capitalism is a system which promotes the most important component of life—FREEDOM. At heart, capitalism promotes the idea that every person can support himself or herself by the industries of his or her labour. As famed commodity investor Jim Rogers explained, money simply buys us all freedom. It is a means to an end. So if capitalism allows entrepreneurs to innovate and create wealth both for themselves and their employees, then it directly enables FREEDOM.

We need to highlight the great innovations, strategize on how to encourage start-up ventures, and acknowledge that businessman willing to risk his own capital to achieve great things. After all, many people benefit from the success of just one entrepreneur.

Game Time

This site is not going to consist of me rambling on in various articles about why capitalism is so wonderful—it’s not a site about theory. Capitalist Creations is about the nuts and bolts of capitalism, investing, and entrepreneurialism. This site is going to explore cutting edge start-ups, present interviews with wildly successful entrepreneurs and investors (the people who have been there and done that), explore exactly what strategies and practical everyday routines are required to build your own brand, fiercely contest the naysayers of capitalism, dissect all the innovations capitalists are creating to make our lives that much better, promote individualism and economic liberty, analyse various investment opportunities, keep you up to speed on the newest trends in the venture capital world, and a lot more. Capitalist Creations will get political from time to time, so consider yourself warned. In an economy that is becoming more politicised by the day, it is imperative that we understand what the bureaucrats are up to.

This site will also keep you posted on some of my latest ventures—many of which I am extremely excited about. At the end of the day, everything we talk about on Capitalist Creations is intended to give you fresh ideas for your own venture.

I’ve been blessed to have worked with some amazing entrepreneurs across various sectors, including alternative energy, advertising, publishing, mining, oil and gas, biotech, internet start-ups, and more. Many of the entrepreneurs whom I’ve worked with in the past—all self-made by the way—will be brought in to share with us their latest ambitions, strategies and investments.

I have one goal with this site: I want to make Capitalist Creations your number one resource to find inspiration and practical strategies for your own capitalist ventures.

Stay hungry,

Aaron Hoddinott
Founder, CapitalistCreations.com