Inspired Ideas

I love gangster movies. They make me feel, well, gangsta. (Note: you must spell it like that if you want to fit the part).

For those of you that have the divine pleasure of knowing me, know that there’s nothing really gangsta about me. I guess, that’s why I couldn’t help but unleash my inner nerd while watching American Gangster and thinking of all the relevant business lessons that underscored the plot.

Here are three business lessons that you can learn from Frank Lucas in the movie American Gangster, my man…

1. Create Blue Oceans

In the 1970s the American heroin trade was characterized by relatively high prices, an inferior product and a weak distribution system. The process of finding blue oceans (new uncontested market space) involves creating a strategy canvas as detailed in the book Blue Ocean Strategy.

Here’s how it might have looked for the heroin trade before Frank Lucas got involved:

The strategy canvas for Blue Magic, Frank’s product probably looked like this in comparison to the heroin industry at the time:

By going straight to the source to get a much cheaper and better product and involving his family, Frank Lucas was able to create his own blue ocean in the American heroin industry.

There are examples abound of companies that have created blue oceans for themselves and reaped the rewards in the process. Think Nintendo in the gaming industry, Netflix in the movie rental industry or Cirque du Soleil in the circus industry. No clowning around, this is serious business…

[UPDATE: The always insightful, J. Ho made an interesting point - did Frank really create a blue ocean or did he simply find a way to optimize the trade? Thinking about it some more I think I may have been incorrect in my original assertion. Frank didn’t create a completely new market which is what finding blue oceans is really about like the above companies did.  I am now re-reading Blue Ocean Strategy. Thanks J. Ho)

2. Protect Your Brand

“I got hatas on my j-iz-ock, plus the frickin c-iz-ops…” - Jay-Z. (Translation: He’s got haters and cops on his jock, I think)

Frank Lucas surely had both. Nicky Barnes was another gangsta who wanted his fair share. Since he couldn’t compete with Frank he started cutting Blue Magic, mixed it with his own product and started labeling it with the same brand name. Talk about hatas on your j-iz-ock and you thought you had it bad. Frank Lucas had a sit down with Nick and when that didn’t work he whooped his ass. Gangsta.

When it comes to the brand you’re working for or your personal brand you have to do everything to protect it. Quoting another gangsta movie, “all I have in this world is my and my word…and I don’t break ‘em for nobody”.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not advocating violence. I’ve been told that violence is never the answer.

Sic your lawyers on the Nicky’s of the world and channel your energy towards out-smarting the hatas.

3. Know When to Quit

Frank didn’t know when to quit. It’s why most gangstas end up losing. The Chinese General with seemingly infinite wisdom says it best to Frank, “quitting while you’re ahead, is not the same as quitting”.

This lesson should of been # 1.

You hear a lot of bullshit about “never quitting” but I say you’re an idiot if you’re in a sinking ship and you don’t at least try to jump out before it’s too late.

You can learn a lot from gangstas.

Here are bunch of other business lessons from Frank himself, my man…

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