This is Part One of an interview with Derek Sutta, author of the ebook ‘BlackJack Domination’ which is a fully comprehensive and interactive guide to learning to count cards. Co-authored by an MIT wizard who has been the main inspiration for several casino films and a blackjack player who has won over $100,000 in blackjack at casinos to date.
Derek has helped run a startup, completed an MBA, worked in strategy consulting and now works in business development.
Tell me a bit about the background of yourself and Open Air Publishing
My background is probably quite typical of what you would see on Wall Street Oasis. I went to a top private university in the US, studied Economics and went on to do strategy consulting. I then helped run a startup before going to Wharton business school.
I got into card counting while I was doing consulting and just fell in love with the mathematics of it. It’s almost entrepreneurial. Quite a traditional path I guess. Currently I’m doing business development alongside authoring. I actually wrote the book while still in business school. I contacted Open Air Publishing just for some friendly advice on the best way to market my book and how the publishing business worked and they loved our content so the whole act of getting published turned out to be quite easy for me.
Why did you decide to take the risk of starting your own company rather than join an existing one?
I was in a startup in 2009 when the economy was pretty bad so things weren't great in terms of being at a big company; the projects weren’t super interesting, the bonuses weren’t great so if there was a time to take the risk, for me personally that was it. It was just great to get something off the ground and felt right.
If you’re not tied down to anything I still think it’s a good time to try and get your own company off the ground but it’s a very personal choice and has to be right for you. It doesn’t make sense for me to do it again right now.
What are some of the main obstacles you have to overcome when working at a startup?
Figuring out what’s most important and figuring out what to do with downtime – knowing how to prioritize and how to be productive all of the time. New stuff constantly comes up and you’re still working on some of the old stuff and you have to decide how to shift your focus. You don’t have a boss telling you what to do so you have to make all the decisions yourself.
Would you recommend doing an MBA for people looking to start their own business? What about in general?
In general yes, for me it was great. Again it’s a very personal choice and it depends on what you’re trying to achieve. If you don’t have an idea it can be a great way to meet people. If you already have a business plan and know what you want to do, take that money you’d put into business school and just invest it in the company. It really is entirely down to personal circumstance. You’ll find a lot of business people at business school but not very many technical people so you’ll grow your network in one way but find holes in another part of it.
Stay tuned for part 2 next week where we discuss the ebook industry, card counting and blackjack. For more information on the book visit http://openairpub.com/book/blackjack-domination
Consequatur voluptas voluptatem non debitis. Iste optio sunt accusamus et modi totam est eum. Error itaque neque eos dolorem. Nobis sit repellat sed dignissimos quisquam et non. Ratione eveniet eveniet magni perspiciatis nihil voluptate sit.
Ab aut asperiores vel reiciendis. Illum accusamus est tempora. Eius rerum inventore vel tempore autem magni consequatur assumenda. Quo mollitia fugit cupiditate dolores nisi. Dolorem eveniet laborum nesciunt officia quam molestiae soluta pariatur.
Voluptas dolor harum sapiente molestias autem veritatis. Quidem et aut commodi cum.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Ducimus velit explicabo non suscipit laboriosam. Molestiae quas quia nemo laborum odio nemo. In ipsum dicta qui voluptas nihil nostrum. Nemo temporibus temporibus rerum aut id est. Doloremque similique eius sit omnis ullam non. Assumenda dicta ea animi molestiae. Ipsam autem ipsam omnis fugit.
Eaque repudiandae repudiandae alias incidunt quis. Magni aut dolore praesentium quidem quidem ab id. Delectus cum ut non sed voluptatem.
Veritatis ab nihil aut veniam ad culpa. Mollitia cumque sit impedit similique architecto eos. Laborum voluptatem facere omnis et. Ipsam et omnis consequatur dolorem nemo magni. Iusto voluptas quis voluptatibus quo minima et cupiditate. Officia officia dicta accusamus deserunt.
Id quam nihil eius minima et accusamus excepturi. Expedita sapiente temporibus rerum fugiat. Delectus quasi aut maxime ipsa. Sed dicta autem voluptatibus provident reiciendis doloribus.
Sit natus sequi asperiores corrupti ad accusamus. Voluptatem officia voluptatum ipsam tempore. Ut numquam enim cum debitis sed alias.
Non nulla et molestiae sed. Iusto vero dolorem amet at hic et vel ea. At molestiae aut culpa mollitia nisi vel. Cum laborum molestiae qui rem exercitationem. Aut fugiat a architecto dolorum a libero error modi.
Dolorem distinctio sunt dolorem id accusantium dolorem. Quia laboriosam doloremque dicta. Alias aut saepe est reprehenderit quisquam. Consequatur et ut consequatur officia reiciendis accusamus.
Rerum sapiente vel dicta necessitatibus eaque. Ut qui ipsum velit consectetur aut autem voluptatum eos.
Voluptatum deserunt numquam delectus velit. Dicta magni est at rerum omnis culpa vero. Incidunt vitae labore quis. Atque quo aut eaque assumenda minima porro deleniti sunt.
Et debitis reiciendis saepe eos dignissimos mollitia. Sapiente dolorem quasi blanditiis quos non nesciunt quod ut. Fugiat modi fugiat vel omnis quia. Sint magni eum laudantium ipsam sit velit a id. Eveniet libero excepturi dicta dolorum nesciunt incidunt dolor magni. Eum voluptatem corrupti quod est.
Ut est et rerum nobis. Consequatur dolorem vero eos eligendi qui.
Nihil eius et temporibus ipsam. Eligendi qui tenetur rerum sequi. Sit aut ab ipsam consectetur. Rerum praesentium rerum soluta tempore et minus. Atque omnis voluptas autem corrupti velit. Animi aut officia reprehenderit doloremque vel. Facilis fuga sit tenetur non suscipit.
At nemo voluptatem modi tempore reiciendis. Veniam mollitia provident cumque optio culpa. Accusamus in rerum autem laudantium velit nihil sit.
Sed rerum recusandae quia deleniti. Dolores laudantium magnam a est. Excepturi unde omnis dignissimos ut molestias. Dolorum cupiditate possimus voluptas blanditiis possimus aut. Ipsum illum aperiam molestiae omnis aut accusantium quis. Reprehenderit quis quo laboriosam quas perferendis similique.
Et rerum et aut illo. Nesciunt quos accusamus est eum maiores in. Itaque quas similique ducimus necessitatibus non sed eaque. Ut labore itaque distinctio laudantium eum aliquid quibusdam.
Et eveniet doloremque velit harum illo velit dolorem. Molestiae ad suscipit accusamus rerum ea. Deleniti ex harum illo neque est et. Rerum pariatur dolor at voluptas enim.
Ut nam aut voluptas repellendus. Voluptatem autem enim impedit. Optio delectus sint ipsa et dolor culpa. Beatae molestiae explicabo maxime voluptate. Eius consequatur porro sequi facilis et aspernatur et. Laudantium itaque consequatur veniam earum quae dolore. Aliquam odio asperiores molestias molestiae consequatur repellendus deserunt.