I watched the movie Limitless last night with Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro. I actually would of never watched the film had I not seen that De Niro was in it (clip below).

I love this guy as an actor and have rarely been disappointed by films he was in (I do leave out all the Fockers crap he was in for the money!)

Nevertheless, think what you will of the film (I loved it)! One very lasting monologue from the film remained with me. The main character goes to De Niro, the tycoon and is discussing his "departure" from their work together. De Niro forewarns him of breaking ties with him. The monologue he delivers was so good I went and found the video and transcribed it as best I could for you:

You have a gift unearned.

You do not know what I know because you did not earn what you know.

You’re careless with those powers!

You flaunt them and thrown them around like a brat with his trust fund.

You haven’t had to climb up all the greasy little rungs on the ladder.

You haven’t been bored to life at all the fundraisers.


You think you can leap over it all with a single bound.

You haven’t had to threathen or bribe or charm your way into that seat at the table.

You don’t know how to assess your competition because you haven’t competeted.

Don’t make me your competition. 

Leave out the movie plot and simply read it for what it is. It's a great text to keep in mind when competing in the real world. Either you have "done your time" and earned your experience or you better have someone to advise you. Also being someone who very early on in life was given a ton of opportunities to skip rungs on the ladder, I have always been cognizant of the need for mentors. Further, I have always tried to make sure not to underestimate my competition. As much as we often think in our youth that the "grey hairs" are out of their minds and haven't kept up with the times, pay heed. You may be up against someone who simply by having put in the time has far more experience, a far better pool of stumbling blocks behind them from which they have learned. No matter how smart you are, you sometimes have to have failure smack you in your thick head to learn something. 


This article originally appeared at Babbling VC. Copyright 2014.