An Offer You Can't Refuse.

Kevin Coolidge

When guys are on the mattresses, they’re not out earning---Tony Soprano


What do you think of when I say Mafioso? Do you think of sweaty guys named "Big Tony", great Italian food, and sleeping with the fishes? The American mafia has seeped into popular culture through films, books and television. Crime definitely does pay for the entertainment industry, and organized crime pays and pays well.

Annual gross income from racketeering is estimated to exceed $50 billion this year. That makes the mob's business greater than all U.S. iron, steel, copper, and aluminum manufacturing combined, or about 1.1% of the gross national product. These figures, compiled for the President's Commission on Organized Crime, include only revenues from traditional mob businesses--such as illegal gambling, loan-sharking, narcotics and prostitution. It doesn't include billions more brought in through diversification into legitimate enterprises like entertainment, trucking, construction, and food and liquor wholesaling. The organization of a crime family mirrors the management structure of a corporation. At the top of the pyramid is a boss, or chief executive. Below him are an underboss (chief operation officer) and a consigliore (general counsel), then followed by the ranks of capos (vice presidents) and soldiers (lower level employees who carry out the bosses’ orders).

Organized crime a $50 billion annual industry? Revenues greater than U.S. Steel? A business structure similar to a major corporation? Michael Franzese, author of I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse, ought to know. He was a capo in the Colombo crime family. Michael had interests in labor unions, construction, entertainment and sports. He ran numbers, bookmaking, and loan-sharking operations. He operated auto dealerships and repair shops. He had interests in nightclubs, restaurants, and catering halls. Vanity Fair called Michael Franzese "one of the biggest money earners the mob had seen since Al Capone." and Tom Browkaw called him a "prince of the mafia, as rich as royalty." But could he have survived a season of Trump's The Apprentice, or run a division of a major fortune 500 corporation?

What possible similarities are there between running a mob enterprise and operating a legitimate business? Business is business. You have to have a plan, work it hard, work it smart, and surround yourself with people who know how to help you reach your goals. People like Michael Franzese. Organized crime in America has been thriving for almost a century. It has raked in billions of dollars through many lucrative endeavors; many of them clean, or pretty darn close. The mob has made its formidable presence known everywhere. Want proof? Just ask the Department of Justice. None of this has been accomplished by accident. To operate any business successfully, one must possess certain qualities and adhere to a certain philosophy critical to the success of that business. The mob may use the tools of fear and intimidation, but anyone who sells the mob short when it comes to its ingenuity, its ability to connect with people from all walks of life, and its profit margins, is kidding themselves.

Michael Franzese's intention is not to glorify organized crime or the mobsters who run it. He walked away from the mob and has lived to write about it in Quitting the Mob and Blood Covenant. He is NOT suggesting that you be involved in any kind of criminal activity. We have quite enough crime in our boardrooms with corporate scandals from Enron, Adelphia and even Martha Stewart without encouraging more lascivious behavior, but Michael Franzese has acquired a hard-won "street sense" that isn't taught in the classroom. It's acquired through living a lifestyle where everyday presents a challenge to survive, where every friend is a potential enemy, and a hostile takeover ends up with someone getting "whacked."

There's no shortage of people willing to share their secret formula for success, but few have a master’s degree from the school of “hard knocks." Franzese cuts to the chase. You can give up the idea that there's a magic formula that will guarantee your success. There are no shortcuts to triumph, even in the world of organized crime. He's got something of real value. Like a tip on a certain horse in a certain race at Belmont. These tips include: the value of having a good crew, how to handle yourself in a "sit-down", how gambling can trip your business and your employees, and how to think about real success. These tips are legit, and they're sure to pay off...

Keep your enemies close? Or your friends closer? Visit http://frommyshelf.blogspot.com and fuhgeddaboudit. Hobo wants to make sure that you know that nasty “caviar incident” with the Russian Mob was all just a big misunderstanding. You can read about his early adventures in “Hobo Finds a Home” a children’s book about a cat who wanted more out of life.