People always say that to be successful, all you need is demand from 1 percent of China’s 1.4 billion population. - Sam Zell

I believe the fundamentals of business — supply and demand, liquidity equals value, good corporate governance, and reliable partners, to name a few — apply across the board.

Jay taught me to use simplicity as a strategy. He had an uncanny ability to grasp an extremely complex situation and immediately locate the weakness. He always said that if there were twelve steps in a deal, the whole thing depended on just one of them. The others would either work themselves out or were less important.

In 2006, China was suffering from a dearth of available investment capital. Locals were waving in U.S. and other foreign investors with open arms. As you know by now, I love a market or deal that is starved for investors. It creates an environment where sellers and partners are bending over backward for you. I discovered that advantage over and over in my career, and I’m always on the lookout for that dynamic.