"The moment this product hit the market, Marty recognized the opportunity before him."
During the Learning stage of his life, Marty encountered two hurdles: getting kicked out of the University of Florida’s MBA program and fired from his job. During his second to last semester at the University of Florida, Marty enrolled in the Macroeconomics course. The professor would transcribe extensive mathematical equations on the board indicating that students would utilize these equations when holding an executive position in their future careers. However, Marty could not envision a time when he would be in a conference room discussing a business issue and apply the mathematical equations on the board in front of him. After a few lessons, Marty raised his hand during class, and inquired if they would actually use these mathematical equations in practice upon departing the classroom. The professor ultimately failed Marty in the course, which resulted in his grade point average dropping below the required 3.0. Consequently, the Dean called Marty into his office to present Marty with a one-time offer: Marty would leave the University’s MBA program to get a job, and, in return, he would be rewarded a second bachelor’s degree in business. Marty accepted.
The first job Marty procured following his departure from the University of Florida was as a Manager Trainee at the Montgomery Ward department store. During his time at the job, Marty spent six months learning about every department and function in the store—from Human Resources to Shipping and Receiving to Accounting. Although Marty was compensated very little in this position, he learned an invaluable amount of information. Then, Marty was solicited to work in Sales, which he feared. Marty ultimately loved working in sales, but he did not feel as if he had his hands on the steering wheel in this company. Not long afterwards, Marty was fired from the company due to a dispute with the boss over his desk organization. Marty credits this as the best thing that anyone could have done for him.
Subsequently, Marty went on to work in tangent with a previous co-worker from the company that fired him. Marty helped his new boss to launch a new division of his business selling products, such as the Kroy Lettering Machine, on the audio-visual market. The moment this product hit the market, Marty recognized the opportunity before him. He knew that he needed to open his own company selling the Kroy Lettering Machine, thus Marty combined what he learned as a Manager Trainee in the department store and what he learned in sales with his work ethic to start his own company.