User:Rick-sapio/sandbox

Rick is a lifelong entrepreneur who started his first business, a bicycle repair shop, after the death of his father, when he was just 13 years old. Since then he has founded more than 20 companies. Rick is the seventh of nine children raised by a mother with serious, life-long depression issues. He learned early that it's best to think positively about the cards one's been dealt in life, no matter how difficult those cards seem.

His life's purpose, which is to inspire entrepreneurship, led Rick to start A Billion Entrepreneurs ("ABE"). ABE is a global movement and theatrical film that motivates people to seek the freedom associated with living a purposeful life. His dream is to motivate people to learn and grow as passionate entrepreneurs, regardless of their age, their starting point, or their current position.

Rick learned that business growth and success are accelerated when a few key principles are applied. He found that by learning "The 12 Foundational Principles of Business," which he teaches in an online program called Business Finishing School; that virtually any individual or company can be put on the path to prosperity. He created these principles to help successful people become more grounded and focused in their business and personal lives. For more than 20 years, Rick has been the founder and President of a financial holding company. He is proud of being the founding and five-time Chairman of the Gathering of Titans Program, an annual event held at MIT in Boston. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a degree in engineering. Rick resides in Dallas with his wife, Melissa, and their four children.