Andrew: Hey there, freedom fighters. My name is Andrew Warner. I am the founder of Mixergy, where I interview entrepreneurs, about how they built their businesses, for an audience of ambitious entrepreneurs. You know, when I was in school . . . I’m going to ask you about this situation, Safwan. Nobody talks about it. But I had a friend. We graduated. A couple of years later, we talked about what we were doing. He was running his family’s . . . hotels, excuse me. And in a moment of openness, he said, “You know, one of the things that we do is I give them loans.” I said, “Why are you whispering about giving them loans?” He goes, “I give them loans whenever they ask for it, then they now owe me for months into the future, and they can’t leave. Because having people clean up after you is not really a good job, but once I give them a loan and they’re indebted to me, they stick with me.
Today’s guest looked around at...