Pretty Girls in High Places

Growing up, I knew girls like Nicole John. They weren't just pretty, they were flames that drew all the guys. They were also a human tornado of mental and emotional issues. Using their feminine charms and looks, they left path of destruction littered with broken hearts, psychotic ex-boyfriends, bottles of vodka and lots and lots of drugs.

Somehow these girls turn themselves around by collecting an M-R-S degree at the end of their 4 years and marry a doctor or lawyer. There was one girl I knew who got engaged in college, yet treated her college experience like Vegas. What happened at college, stayed at college. Besides having a wild streak, her husband to be was living halfway around the world. Her fiance knew she was screwing around his back, but they still got married and had kids.

Nicole John will never ever be able to turn around.

Even before her demise, Herald Towers did not have the greatest reputation in the world. And it appears it is doing its part to keep it that way.


Ilan Nassimi is the unlucky man in the middle of this hell storm. Go to his Linkedin profile and you will see a list of accomplishments. His academic credentials include attending SUNY Stonybrook and Zicklin School of Business at Baruch. I do find it interesting that there is no mention of when or whether he graduated from these institutions.

He currently works as a Commercial Broker at Metropolitan Property Group and is the President and Owner of Llann Enterprises. What is Llan Enterprises exactly" It appears to be an amalgam of ventures which are the following

Third Degree Jean Company

theLimed.com

Venture Capital & Private Equity industry

My take on Nassimi is that, assuming that he did graduate from these esteemed institutions, that he showed up ready to rock the job market. Problem was there were no jobs to rock. Whatever was out there was far and few and were going to the top tier graduates. Don't get me wrong. SUNY Stonybrook is a great school with an outstanding medical program. As far as business schools go, Zicklin is the best deal in New York City. Unfortunately, Manhattan is a brand centric society and with the economy the way it is, Wall Street's standards are higher and tighter.

So Mr. Nassimi decides to put his business skills to use. Gets a real estate license and gets entrepreneurial. And he parties. Parties very hard.

In its simplest form, a real estate broker makes money by taking a piece of the action from a transaction between a buyer and seller. It is the same wherever you go. How a broker acquire these deals is through their networks which can come from church, volunteering or friends. Judging from Mr. Nassimi's extracurricular activities, he was probably searching for deals through the Manhattan night life scene.

Baller Brokers like Mr. Nassimi are not uncommon. They are Type A personalities, who went Greek all through college. They often hit the hottest clubs and restaurants with a fistfuls of business cards and cash. They get an exclusive spot in the VIP section and make friends by dropping rolls of paper for bottle service. As the old adage goes, "You have to spend money to make money." When a baller broker blows an equivalent of one semester of tuition at NYU for one night, it shows that he has it going on. And when people see that he is a high roller, he attracts other high rollers. Bernie Madoff used a similar strategy by using his country club as a way to get new customers. In fact he was a master since everyone came to him in droves.

It is not a foolproof plan, however by using an exclusive social gathering as a way to qualify customers, they can land some pretty sweet deals. It is tantamount to the strategy I described regarding landing rich Chinese customers.

So what was Mr.Nassimi's motivation in inviting Nicole to an after hours party? Was it for a one night stand? Perhaps, but I believe it was purely for social and business purposes. Pretty girls like Nicole bring the boys in droves, particular boys with big bank rolls. There is no doubt she was probably one of many pretty girls invited back his apartment for the after hours party. And it does not hurt a man's reputation to be in the presence of beautiful women. How do you think Raffaello Follieri was so successful?

Just to being able to party on his level indicated that she had her own juice and with her family connections and money, it appeared she had a lot of it. Just a sip from her cup would have made Mr.Nassimi's position in the business world very strong.

As you may notice, I am not ragging on Mr. Nassimi. Professionally speaking, I applaud him for his efforts. He was doing what every young and hungry business man would do. If this accident never happened, there is no doubt that Mr. Nassimi would have made a name for himself.

Of course the future of these two is all speculation at this point.

A combination of unfortunate circumstances and an environment that was not conducive to good judgment has resulted in this horrible accident resulting in a tragic loss for a family. I am not unsympathetic to Mr. Nassimi.He will be hurting for awhile, but he should consider himself fortunate. He's still alive.