Max Cantor Q&A 2017

A year ago I did a short Q&A with one of the smartest folks I know in the bond business. Time for Q&A Part II. Enjoy !

Interviewer: Max, a year has gone by and you remain shrouded in unfathomable mystery. Tell us how your year has been.

Max: [Name of interviewer withheld] I’m no mystery to you, though. You’ve been knowing me for what, nine years ? This blog is the best thing I’ve done by far. I am very proud of it. So this year I made the decision to shape it as an alpha male, A-list blog with a sharp twist. People are too PC nowadays, and there’s a growing trend against that. I opened the blog to comments, allowing descriptive language. It was a good decision. The well-thought, outspoken comments of my readers enrich the content and are just as important as my thoughts on a subject. It makes a rewarding, invigorating read not available anywhere else. The publishing world is moving away from political correctness.  Look: one of the best selling books of 2016 was Mark Manson’s The Subtle Art of Not Giving A Fuck. Sold over 2 million. We don’t need to bleep fuck anymore.

Interviewer: Right. Can you tell us what was a big revelation for you ? Some Wow! moment ?

Max: Yes. It’s amazing the huge amount of free content writers, even famous ones, have to put out before they reap even the smallest rewards. Look at Tony Robbins, hundreds of hours of videos, tapes and lectures -he does three hour appearances at various venues throughtout the world -all free to the public. Bloggers write for years, hundreds of posts and guest posts, all without any pay. On Youtube, there are millions of videos -all free to the public, from content owners. So perhaps there’s a less than 1% content conversion rate. All this from people with years in their field. I am not a professional writer, not in the slightest. I write with many errors. I need a good copywriter. Or two of them. I am good spirited, however, because I am original.

Interviewer: I see. What’s your vision ?

Max: My vision is to become to go-to resource for the up-and-coming MOTU: Master-Of-The-Universe. I want to be the resource for the underling. This blog is the Best Alpha Male blog for the techie, as you know. I am developing a Heartless of Gold strategy for climbing the corporate ladder.

Interviewer: Did you start writing, for the heck of it ? (Note to readers: We’re paying Max for this tête-à-tête interview in carrots and sticks)

Max: No, I didn’t. This effort came out of my personal struggles. My personal failures in the cruel, unforgiving world of high finance. My struggles and roadblocks the “big” guys put me through. This came out out of my wounds , the deceptions and blows that powerbrokers hit me with. I got tossed out like a piece of discarded cardboard. They tried to ruin me. They’re real assassin creed these bandits.

Interviewer: Impressive. In our talk last year, you said something about Star Wars’s Yoda. You know there’s a new Star Wars movie out this month.

Max: What do you know, everything comes back to the force, right ? Are you thinking of the original Star Wars archetypes: The Hero, The Mentor, The Villain ?

Interviewer: No. I mean there are Jedi and Sith.  There are 6 of them, according to those in the know. And millions and millions of minions. Which one are you, damn it !

Max: Careful there, Padawan.

Interviewer: You must be a Dark Jedi. You use Sith Alchemy and Midichlorian manipulation. Did Master Yoda train you ?

Max: No. My Master’s name was Master Calculus.

Interviewer: Back to your blog. What’s your core readership ?

Max: I have arguably the smartest readership out there. Couple of days ago I got an email from a person that works at Google. I mean Google, Alphabet. Think about it. Do you know how hard it is to get a job at Google ? 

The estimate is 60-65% of my readership are technology workers. However, there’s also the issue that I have been censured by a number of media outlets. My blog is so controversial that some said I was NSFW. I don’t care. As long as Bloomberg reads me, I’m fine. I think BB are starting a video channel. That should be interesting .

Interviewer: What are your thoughts on the markets ?  Are you an optimist ?

Max: The markets are poised for a correction. I’ve talked about a reversal, perhaps a recession in the last quarter of 2018. Anybody that’s been though a few economic cycles knows it.

Interviewer: So it’s coming. Are you more active on social media now than you were a year ago ?

Max: I’m using it less. Twitter is not a productive use of my time, unfortunately.

Interview: You mean, you don’t get followers ?

Max: No, I mean a lot of time wasted, time that I can never recoup.

Interviewer: What’s the most overrated Twitter account ?

Max: I followed Nassim N. Taleb for four months, and his tweets are berated opinions and right wing crap. What a disappointment. Low value. He’s anything but anti-fragile.

Interviewer: That’s interesting, because, in the words of Sam Harris, we have a President “that’s an Internet troll.”

Max: Well, stop reading his tweets. It’s garbage. You know, I could say that Donald Trump is jerk, that he is a nogoodnick, but I am not going to say that. What do I gain if I said it ? Nothing. I’d gain more haters, as if I don’t have enough already.

Interviewer: You have haters ?

Max: I have more haters than roaches in a New York brownstone. Some of the most powerful people in business hate my guts. The CEOs. The top brass.

Interviewer: What ?

Max: I have more haters than a whore in Youngstown has followers.

Interviewer: Wow ! Do you have a message for your readers today ?

Max: I do.

[Sheryl] Sandberg is no more than an average woman.
[Mark] Zuckerberg is no more than an average man.

Do you know what these people, and others like them, are most afraid of ?
They are afraid of the underling that’s going to come and challenge their rein. The’re afraid to be challenged. They’re afraid of you. And because you are small and insignificant now, they don’t know you can rise to the occasion. But they know you’re coming. They know your time will come. Keep on grinding, preparing, learning, developing. Re-frame, reshape reality, train your mind. Your time to shine will come. Soon enough. I’m leveling the playing field for you. I am proud to contribute to future entrepreneurs, industry dreamers and makers. Believe in your dreams.

Interviewer: Thanks, Max.

Max: Thank you, and play the song on the page because: I was right.