Fascinating Authors

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Tell us a little bit about your book.

Roncal:  “The Big Gamble: Are You Investing or Speculating?” challenges the traditional wisdom surrounding what most people call “investing.” It’s loaded with examples that show the reality that every “investment” is actually a speculation, unless it provides a fully guaranteed return.

Abbo: We describe how people too often make investment decisions based on emotion, not logic, and that “financial dementia” among the masses feeds into economic bubbles like the real estate bubble that’s devastated the global economy. The purpose of the book is to set the record straight and warn people not to confuse investing with speculation and gambling.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What inspired you to create a work of non-fiction?

Roncal: My co-author Jose Abbo and I were originally going to write about the  telecom industry, and the business lessons to be learned from the old AT&T, which seemed to us a good example of a company that fell victim to what you might call “creative destruction” under Schumpeter. As we were researching AT&T, though, it hit us.

Abbo: As we researched AT&T it hit us: Here was a “blue chip” company your grandfather might have bought with his eyes closed three decades ago. But now, to survive deregulation and technological innovation, it had to be thrown a lifeline by BellSouth, one of it own offspring, a “Baby Bell” that came out of the AT&T split-up back in 1982.

Roncal: So, we thought: Here is the big mistake people make when trusting their funds to so-called ¨investments¨ that in reality come with no guarantee of return. People thinking they are playing it safe for the ¨long term,¨ but are actually gambling. They’re betting that because a company is “blue chip” today, it will be a blue chip forever. All around us are countless fallen idols: Polaroid, Eastman Kodak, Xerox and of course, General Motors.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What did you do to prepare – such as research – to write your book?

Roncal: We both were well versed on the subject of speculation, so that made the preparation and research much easier.  Together we’d already read at least 100 books on speculation and profiles of all sorts of speculators. That gave us a great head start. Books, journals, periodicals and loads of Internet research were the main sources for our book.

Abbo: We are both obsessive about the capital markets and entrepreneurial activities, and we had  endless discussions in the beginning about how to approach the book. We knew all along we wanted to write something related to speculation and risk taking. The research required sacrificing many weekends and a lot of family time, since we both have regular jobs. And, as the book was going to press, events surrounding the real estate bubble, credit crisis and Wall Street meltdown required frequent updating as a result of “breaking news.”

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How did you decide which information to present in your book?

Roncal: This is such a rich topic that it was difficult for us to decide what to keep and what to leave out. We knew we wanted to take readers through a discussion of the difference between investing, speculating and gambling — and develop an understanding of the need to make decisions with their eyes wide open.

Abbo: In the second half of the book we profile business speculators like Fred Smith, Bill Gates and Sam Walton, who “bet the ranch” on an idea and built multimillion dollar companies from the ground up. We think there is a lot to learn from them about what it takes to succeed in life. You have to take risks…they just need to be prudent ones.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What do you hope people will gain from reading your book?

Roncal:  Our objective is to give readers the insight, perspective and tools they need to make wise financial decisions, and to realize that risk and speculation are not to be feared, but to be understood and taken into account.

Abbo:  That’s true not only in financial terms but also in daily life. After all, what’s a job change, a romance or a marriage but a form of real-life speculation in which you hope that the outcome will be favorable — and do your best to improve the odds?

FASCINATING AUTHORS: How long did it take you to write the book – (was it longer or less time than you expected)?

Roncal:  It actually took six or seven years all told, because we had to work on the research and writing of it part time, on nights and weekends. We work in different parts of the world, and for two different companies, so we collaborated via phone and email.

Abbo: I’d say it took longer than we thought. The part that was most frustrating, though, happened at the end of the process, when we wanted to get the book out quickly and the actual production seemed to drag on.  We were making edits up to the week before presstime.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Did you seek the support of a writer’s group or class?

Roncal: The opportunity to join a writer’s group or class was not available to us. At the time I was living in Barbados and Jose Abbo in Panama. Resources for writers are thin in both places. We got a lot of help along the way from my wife, Fiona, who is British and fluent in English, and from two editors, Sharon Rockey and John Hiatt, who were invaluable.

Abbo: Neither of us have had formal training as writers, although we’ve both written dozens of articles for publication in various professional journals, and been interviewed by the media.  It helps that in our business lives we need to write clearly and concisely.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What surprised you the most about this process?

Roncal:  The amount of time and energy it takes. Although Jose Abbo had written a book before, this was the first time I’d done any writing this ambitious or involved. It was tough for me to stay focused and disciplined. I envy writers who just crank out five or six pages a day, without fail.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What tips would you offer to anyone writing nonfiction for the first time?

Roncal: Choose a subject that you are passionate about, so that you can stay disciplined and focused. Make sure, in advance, that you have an idea that is marketable. Research other titles covering the subject, and make sure that your book will offer something new or different. It helps to have the right timing. We were fortunate in that respect.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: What can we look forward to in your next book?

Roncal:  I’m working on a book about corporate turnarounds. It has the working title “Back From the Abyss” and explains what action companies need to take when they are on the slippery slope.

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Is there anything we haven’t covered that you would like to include?

Abbo:  We’d like to invite readers to visit our website, www.financialspeculation.com where we are engaged in a continuing dialog that acts like an electronic update to the printed book.  Readers who register there can also download a copy of a free report, “12 Keys to Smart Speculating in Tough Times.”

FASCINATING AUTHORS: Thank you for taking the time to be part of this interview!