Joe Poirier

4/23/19

Entrepreneurial Capstone

Prof. Fluery

Bill Cummings is a multi million dollar Philanthropist who lives in the Massachusetts area. His
book talks about his life journey and how he became the millionaire he is today. Early on during the
depression Bill sold Soda’s to construction workers and started a serial entrepreneurialism. He started
on his path with an economics degree from tufts which he would later fund. His big ticket was buying
and building. He bought one small building in the 70’s and built it up over the next 50 years to an 11
million sq- foot building that has many different businesses in it. The seed money for this venture was
from the purchase of a juice concentrate company. He sold it years later for millions of dollars after the
business boomed. Cummings talked about how he built up his business and the base of it was targeting
colleges and schools. He wanted to give kids and colleges a cheaper alternative to Milk and one that
lasts longer. He also sold the machine that went with it. He described it as almost like a fountain that
held the juice and kept it moving and flowing. This was a cost saving alternative for Schools, added
diversity and choice to meals and bill had a unique selling point for his company. He took care of all his
clients and contacts, he also did a great job expanding and adding more clients on a consistent basis.
This is how he was able to sell the company for millions and move quickly to real estate. Bill has had a
lot of businesses in his buildings and he talks about his life beyond work. Him and his wife are part of a
group of millionaires that pledged a portion of their wealth to better the world they live in. Bill and
Melinda Gates and other wealthy people are part of the group.

Personally I had a hard time tying his speech to anything I learned in class. He kept boasting
about all his successes and his accomplishments. In reading his book his biggest set back his protégé
Jaime died of a heart attack after being a star pupil and protege for 17 years. Bill reflected at his funeral
of how great a person he was and a great prospect and future millionaire. This isn’t a failure per say but
a big set back that wasn’t mentioned in his talk. I wanted to hear a more humanistic approach and a
more human perspective of business. I understand that’s bill’s story and he wants to present it as he is
almost god like and he wants to present it and he will present it as he wants. To quote Collin Cowherd a
great sports analyst “ he needs to step off the stage, he needs to take a selfie, to shake some hands and
get off the stage.” This was about Lebron James and his attitude in Los Angeles but this is how I felt
about Bill. He was on the stage 24/7/365 and he soaked up the spot light and the lime light.