Marky Mark, you did it again!

Making it.

"There's no right or wrong way to succeed, honey bun."

- Edie Weitz

How To Make it in America, one of HBO’s newest shows, is a half-hour drama that attempts to ask the simple yet impossible question, how do you make it in America?  Millions of dollars each year is spent on books and seminars created by people who claim to have that very answer.  The truth is, if someone actually had the answer, these books wouldn’t sell and everyone would be rich.  However Mark Walberg, the executive producer, might actually be on to something.  If you managed to catch this show about two hustlers (read: entrepreneurs) trying to make it, you would have seen the answer.

That’s of course if you were paying attention.  Although the question may be simple, the answer is much more complicated.  It borders on the line of clarity and ambiguity, consistency and contradiction.  The answer is always right in front of our face but isn’t always visible.  The answer is like a a recipe, where you have all the right ingredients but too much of one and too little of another will ruin the meal.

How To Make it in America is very much like the recipe where each character represents an important and distinct ingredient.  Take Ben for example.  Ben had the idea and the talent.  You can’t start to think about success without an idea and some level of ability to achieve it.  You don’t always need world-class talent but you do need to bring something to the table.  Ben had an eye for fashion and he could create clothes that people would buy.  His idea for “Crisp” had all the potential to win.

Ben’s partner in crime “Cam” couldn’t stitch or press an item of clothing but, “Crisp” can’t succeed without him.  Why?  Because Cam has the drive and the guts.  One of Ben’s flaws was insecure and he quit the moment the road got rough.  Cam on the other hand had an unstoppable drive.  There wasn’t a problem that Cam felt he couldn’t fix.  He also had the courage to make decisions even if failure appeared to be inevitable.  You need a little Cam because after 99 “no’s” you still need to be able to stand tall and wait for that “yes” on the 100^th attempt.

Rene, Cam’s ex-con turned “Rasta Monsta” CEO cousin, represented humility and sacrifice.  Its not easy turning your back on a lifestyle that you have been accustomed to for something that’s new and can potentially fail.  Furthermore, when you are just starting you have to realize that you’re the little guy and must earn everything from the ground up. That can be rough for someone who say, left a job where they were a top executive (For Rene as a drug lord) and was used to a certain level of prestige and success (Having people fear him and follow his every request).  You have to humble yourself and be willing to take two steps back in order to get ten steps ahead.

The best part of the first season is figuring out if they “made it “ or not.  It depends on your definition.  Did they all become millionaires and realize their dreams?  No.  But all three fought hard, took risks and put themselves in position to take advantage of the major opportunities that crossed their paths.  Although there’s a huge difference between trying and succeeding, with such a high failure rate for entrepreneurs, getting close is an accomplishment in itself. 

So yeah, I’d say they made it.