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Business rewards strength, not hope.
Clarity, not desperation.
Posture, not pleading.
In Chapter 8 of Winning Through Intimidation, Robert Ringer calls this period “My Senior Year at Screw U” — the final stretch of his brutal education in the jungle of business. This chapter isn’t about technique or tactics. It’s about identity, the moment you stop allowing yourself to be intimidated and start acting like someone who deserves to be paid.
It took three last, humiliating second-mortgage deals for Ringer to understand that his problem wasn’t skill.
It was posture.
The High Cost of Needing the Money
Ringer recounts a deal where a lender’s attorney told him:
“If you’re a good boy and keep your mouth shut, you might get your $1,250.”
He needed the money.
And the room could feel it.
In business, people don’t just read your words — they read your energy. They read your posture. They read the subtle signals that say I need this deal too much.
Ringer realized, at that closing table:
He was begging for crumbs
He was operating from weakness
He was working on deals too small to matter
The humiliation became the turning point:
You cannot win when you need the other person more than they need you.
And small deals?
They take just as much effort as big ones — with none of the upside.
The Relativity of Power
Next came a $500,000 loan, for which Ringer structured a $15,000 fee.
The lender erupted:
“You’ve got a lot of nerve trying to make $15,000. You’re only a broker.
A 3% fee is unconscionable.”
The same lender who:
preyed on desperate borrowers
charged brutal interest
hid fees in fine print
made far more than $15,000 on every deal
… was suddenly lecturing Ringer about morality.
This wasn’t about ethics.
It was about relativity.
To the lender:
His enormous profits were normal.
Ringer’s small fee was offensive.
Not because of the number, but because Ringer didn’t yet carry the posture of someone “entitled” to big money.
Until your posture matches the size of the compensation you want…
People will reject it on sight.
The deal collapsed.
But the lesson stuck:
If you want to earn more, you must become someone whom others believe should earn more.
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Graduation from Screw U
The final exam arrived through another second-mortgage deal, this time with a $15,000 fee payable directly.
Ringer sensed instantly that the borrower would try to avoid paying him.
But this time, he was ready.
He hid his intentions.
No mention of attending the closing.
He sent his assistant to surprise the borrower.
This disrupted the setup before it could begin.
The borrower signed the check.
But it wasn’t certified, meaning the payment could be stopped.
Most brokers would have trusted that it would clear.
Ringer wasn’t that naïve anymore.
Exhausted, starving, and running on fumes, he caught a late-night flight to Tampa with one mission:
Protect the money he had earned.
He arrived before the bank even opened—black suit, black sunglasses, briefcase in hand—and demanded the cash as soon as the doors unlocked.
The banker insisted on calling the endorser.
Ringer knew that call would kill the payment.
So he redirected the banker to the attorney who issued the check, betting the borrower hadn’t yet moved to stop it.
The bet paid off.
The attorney confirmed the signature.
The bank released the funds.
And Ringer walked out with $15,000 in large bills.
Then came the line that marked his transformation:
“I laughed all the way from the bank.”
Not because the moment was easy.
But because, for the first time, he refused to be intimidated.
On the flight home, he made the decision that completed his education:
No more crawling
No more small deals
No more apologizing for wanting big money
No more posture of desperation
He had graduated from Screw U.
Gritletter Lessons
1. Weak posture is expensive.
People sense when you need the deal, and your leverage collapses.
2. Small deals cost big energy.
If the reward isn’t meaningful, the humiliation feels magnified.
3. People only accept big money from people who look like they’re supposed to make big money.
Not because it’s fair, but because it’s human psychology.
4. Strength isn’t declared.
It’s demonstrated.
By showing up, by protecting your value, by refusing to be boxed out.
5. The uncomfortable action is usually the right one.
That late-night flight to Tampa separated Ringer from every broker who would have simply hoped the check cleared.
6. You graduate the moment you stop allowing yourself to be intimidated.
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