KISS and tell: Gene Simmons talks business

Q: Who in business do you admire?

A: The Warren Buffetts and the Bill Gateses of the world — they are not interested in putting on big shows, they are real, hard-core capitalists. It's a very romantic ideal. I am an avowed self-made capitalist. I earned every penny I made and I'm proud of it and I'm hungrier than ever.

Q: With your level of success, you're still hungry for more?

A: There is no such thing as enough. Only small minds put barricades in front of themselves. If you perceive death, it is only a matter of time until you are dead. The guys with the most amount of money don't get caught up in the trappings—it's the lottery winners that buy all the stuff. Money, ironically enough, is beside the point. It's the hunt, not the kill.

Q: At times you've been called more of a marketer than a business, what do you say?

A: Gee, I don't know what the difference is.

Q: At one point in your varied career you managed Liza Minelli. She doesn't seem to automatically come to mind when one thinks of KISS and Gene Simmons.

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A: All business models are the same: It's coming up with the price of goods and marketing and trying to make a profit. Capitalism is the same unless you are a charity, and even there you are figuring out how to pay yourself first.

Q: What would you consider to be your best business advice?

A: Be a voracious reader. When I first came to America, I was blown away and blessed the day the founding fathers gave us free libraries. It was the first time since the Gutenberg Bible that all information became available to all levels of society. Everyone has the same access to information, which is access to power.

Q: Conventional wisdom holds that small business is the engine of the American economy — what do you think?

A: No, it's not. It's big business. Wal-Mart is the largest employer. If Wal-Mart goes out of business, how many millions will be out of work? It is the biggest businesses that run the economy. That is why I say, be nice to rich people. I don't remember the last time a poor person gave you a job.

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