ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jeff Smith - Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with.

Why you should listen

In 2004, Jeff Smith ran for the U.S. Congressional seat vacated by Dick Gephardt, and came this close to defeating Republican Russ Carnahan. His inspiring, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign was documented in the award-winning documentary, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

A year later, Smith ran for the Missouri State Senate and won in a hotly contested election. He quickly became a rising star in the legislative body, focusing on education reform and tax credits among other things. However, in 2009, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into whether Smith had lied about a violation in his 2004 campaign. He ultimately plead guilty and spent a year in jail. It’s a story he has told on This American Life

Since being released from prison, Smith accepted a position as an assistant professor at The New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy in New York City. His research focuses on political campaigns, the role of race in urban politics and the legislative process. At the same time, he writes for The Recovering Politician, City & State NY and Politico's The Arena, and is working on an memoir. 

More profile about the speaker
Jeff Smith | Speaker | TED.com
TED@New York

Jeff Smith: Lessons in business ... from prison

Jeff Smith: Lliçons de negocis... des de la presó.

Filmed:
1,324,960 views

Jeff Smith va passar un any a la presó. Però el que va descobrir és que dins no era com esperava: va veure en els companys presos un enginy ilimitat i bon ull per als negocis. I ens pregunta: Per què no aprofitem aquest potencial emprenedor per ajudar els expresidiaris a contribuir a la societat quan son de volta al exterior? (De l'acte TED Talent Search, TED@NewYork.)
- Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
B.J. was one of manymolts fellowcompany inmatesinterns
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El B. J. era un company meu a la presó
00:19
who had biggran plansplans for the futurefutur.
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que tenia grans plans de futur.
00:21
He had a visionvisió. When he got out,
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Tenia un projecte. Quan en sortís
00:23
he was going to leavesortir the dopedroga gamejoc for good and flyvolar straightrecte,
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deixaria el món de la droga i aniria pel bon camí
00:26
and he was actuallyen realitat workingtreball on mergingfusió his two passionspassions into one visionvisió.
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i planejava combinar
les seues dues passions en un projecte.
00:31
He'dHo faria spentgastat 10,000 dollarsdòlars
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S'havia gastat 7.700 €
00:33
to buycomprar a websitelloc web that exclusivelyexclusivament featuredPresentat womendones
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en un lloc web que mostrava dones
00:36
havingtenint sexsexe on topsuperior of or insidedins of luxuryluxe sportsEsports carscotxes. (LaughterRiure)
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tenint sexe en cotxes esportius de luxe. [rialles]
00:42
It was my first weeksetmana in federalfederal prisonpresó,
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Era la meua primera setmana a la presó
00:45
and I was learningaprenentatge quicklyràpidament that it wasn'tno ho era what you see on TVTV.
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i ben aviat vaig aprendre que no era com a la tele.
00:49
In factfet, it was teemingplena with smartintel·ligent, ambitiousambiciós menhomes
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De fet, estava ple d'homes llestos i ambiciosos
00:52
whoseels qui businessnegocis instinctsinstints were in manymolts casescasos
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amb cap per als negocis sovint
00:55
as sharpagut as those of the CEOsDirectors generals
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tan hàbils com els dels CEO
00:58
who had winedguanyar and dinedmenjava me sixsis monthsmesos earlierabans
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amb qui jo dinava sis mesos abans,
00:59
when I was a risingpujant starestrella in the MissouriMissouri SenateSenat.
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quan tenia un futur prometedor al Senat de Missouri.
01:04
Now, 95 percentpercentatge of the guys that I was lockedbloquejat up with
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El 95% dels meus companys de la presó
01:07
had been drugdroga dealersdistribuïdors on the outsidefora,
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havien estat traficants de drogues,
01:10
but when they talkedva parlar about what they did,
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però quan en parlaven,
01:13
they talkedva parlar about it in a differentdiferent jargonargot,
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utilitzaven un argot diferent,
01:16
but the businessnegocis conceptsconceptes that they talkedva parlar about
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però els conceptes de què parlaven
01:17
weren'tno ho eren unlikea diferència those that you'dho faria learnaprendre in a first yearcurs MBAMBA classclasse at WhartonWharton:
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eren els mateixos que els d'una clase
a la universitat de Wharton:
01:21
promotionalpromocional incentivesincentius, you never chargecàrrec a first-timeprimera vegada userusuari,
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incentius i promocions, no cobrar
el primer cop a un nou client
01:26
focus-groupingenfocament-agrupació newnou productproducte launchesllança,
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centrar el llançament de productes en grups focals o
01:29
territorialterritorial expansionexpansió.
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expansió territorial.
01:31
But they didn't spendGastar a lot of time relivingreviure the gloryglòria daysdies.
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Però no perdien temps revivint glòries passades.
01:35
For the mostla majoria partpart, everyonetothom was just tryingintentant to survivesobreviure.
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Principalment, només intentaven sobreviure.
01:38
It's a lot hardermés difícil than you mightpotser think.
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És molt mes difícil del que penseu.
01:40
ContraryContrari to what mostla majoria people think,
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Al contrari del que molts pensen,
01:43
people don't paypagar, taxpayerscontribuents don't paypagar, for your life
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ni el poble ni els contribuents no et mantenen
01:46
when you're in prisonpresó. You've got to paypagar for your ownpropi life.
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a la presó. T'has de mantenir tu.
01:48
You've got to paypagar for your soapsabó, your deodorantdesodorant,
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T'has de pagar el sabó, el deodorant,
01:50
toothbrushraspall de dents, toothpastepasta de dents, all of it.
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el raspall i la pasta de dents... Tot.
01:53
And it's harddur for a coupleparella of reasonsraons.
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I és dur per dos motius.
01:54
First, everything'stot és tot markedmarcat up 30 to 50 percentpercentatge
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Primer, tot és un 30-50% més car
01:56
from what you'dho faria paypagar on the streetcarrer,
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que al carrer,
01:58
and secondsegon, you don't make a lot of moneydiners.
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i, segon, no tens gaires diners.
02:00
I unloadedDescarregar truckscamions. That was my full-timea temps complet jobtreball,
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Jo descarregava camions. Era la meva feina
a jornada completa,
02:03
unloadingdescàrrega truckscamions at a foodmenjar warehousemagatzem,
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descarregar camions d'un magatzem d'aliments
02:05
for $5.25, not an hourhores, but perper monthmes.
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per 4 €, no a l'hora, sinó al mes.
02:09
So how do you survivesobreviure?
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I com sobrevius?
02:11
Well, you learnaprendre to hustleenrenou, all kindstipus of hustlesesclatar.
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Aprens a fer tripijocs de tot tipus.
02:15
There's legallegal hustlesesclatar.
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Hi ha tripijocs legals.
02:17
You paypagar everything in stampssegells. Those are the currencymoneda.
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Ho pagues tot en segells. Eixos són la moneda.
02:19
You chargecàrrec anotherun altre inmatepres to cleannet his cellcel·la.
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Cobres als presos per netejar-los la cel·la.
02:21
There's sortordenar of illegalil·legal hustlesesclatar, like you runcorrer a barbershopbarberia out of your cellcel·la.
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Hi ha tripijocs poc legals, com muntar
una barberia a la teua cel·la.
02:26
There's prettybonic illegalil·legal hustlesesclatar: You runcorrer a tattootatuatge parlorsaló out of your ownpropi cellcel·la.
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Hi ha tripijocs bastant il·legals,
com fer tatuatges a la teua cel·la.
02:30
And there's very illegalil·legal hustlesesclatar, whichquin you smugglecontraban in,
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I hi ha tripijocs molt il·legals, com el contraban
02:34
you get smuggledcontraban in, drugsdrogues, pornographypornografia,
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de drogues, pornografia o
02:38
cellcel·la phonestelèfons, and just as in the outerexterior worldmón,
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mòbils. I igual que a l'exterior,
02:41
there's a risk-rewardrisc de recompensa tradeoffequilibri, so the riskierels the enterpriseempresa,
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hi ha una relació entre risc i recompensa.
Com més risc corris,
02:45
the more profitableaprofitable it can potentiallypotencialment be.
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més profit en podràs treure.
02:47
You want a cigarettecigarret in prisonpresó? ThreeTres to fivecinc dollarsdòlars.
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Vols un cigarret? Entre 2 i 4 €.
02:51
You want an old-fashionedantiquat cellcel·la phonetelèfon that you flipflip openobert
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Vols un mòbil antic dels que s'obren
02:55
and is about as biggran as your headcap? ThreeTres hundredcent bucksdòlars.
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i són grans com el teu cap? 230 €.
02:58
You want a dirtybrut magazinerevista?
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Vols una revista eròtica?
03:01
Well, it can be as much as 1,000 dollarsdòlars.
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Pot arribar a 770 €.
03:04
So as you can probablyProbablement tell, one of the definingdefinint aspectsaspectes
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Com podeu endevinar, a la presó
03:07
of prisonpresó life is ingenuityenginy.
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l'enginy és vital.
03:11
WhetherSi it was concoctinginventant deliciousdeliciós mealsàpats
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Tant si és per fer menjars deliciosos
03:13
from stolenrobat scrapsretalls from the warehousemagatzem,
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d'unes deixalles furtades del magatzem,
03:17
sculptingescultura people'spersones haircabell with toenailungla clippersdels Clippers,
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per esculpir cabells amb tallaungles o
03:21
or constructingconstrucció weightspesos from bouldersroques in laundryBugaderia bagsbosses
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per fer peses amb pedres en boses de roba bruta
03:26
tiedlligat on to treearbre limbsextremitats, prisonerspresoners learnaprendre how to make do with lessmenys,
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lligades a branques d'arbre. Els presos
aprenen a fer més amb menys.
03:31
and manymolts of them want to take this ingenuityenginy
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I molts d'ells volen aprofitar aquest enginy
03:34
that they'veells ho han fet learnedaprès to the outsidefora
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quan surten a l'exterior
03:36
and startcomençar restaurantsrestaurants, barberPerruqueria shopsbotigues,
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i obrir restaurants, barberies o
03:38
personalpersonal trainingentrenament businessesempreses.
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fer-se entrenadors personals.
03:40
But there's no trainingentrenament, nothing to preparepreparar them for that,
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Però no hi ha formació ni cap mena de preparació o
03:44
no rehabilitationrehabilitació at all in prisonpresó,
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de rehabilitació a la presó,
03:46
no one to help them writeescriure a businessnegocis planpla,
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ningú que els ajudi a fer un pla de negoci
03:48
figurefigura out a way to translatetraduir the businessnegocis conceptsconceptes
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per traduir les idees de negoci
03:52
they intuitivelyintuïtivament graspcomprensió into legallegal enterprisesempreses,
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que es plantegen en empreses legals,
03:55
no accessaccés to the InternetInternet, even.
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ni tan sols accés a Internet.
03:57
And then, when they come out, mostla majoria statesestats
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I quan ixen, la major part dels estats
04:00
don't even have a lawLlei prohibitingprohibint employersempresaris
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no tenen una llei que prohibeixi a les empreses
04:02
from discriminatingdiscriminant againsten contra people with a backgroundfons.
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discriminar la gent amb un passat.
04:06
So nonecap of us should be surprisedsorprès
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Així que no us sorprengueu
04:08
that two out of threetres ex-offendersEx-delinqüents re-offendtornar a ofendre
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que 2 de cada 3 delinqüents reincideixin
04:11
withindins fivecinc yearsanys.
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els 5 primers anys.
04:14
Look, I liedlied to the FedsFederals. I lostperdut a yearcurs of my life from it.
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Jo vaig mentir als Federals. Vaig perdre
un any de la meua vida per això.
04:19
But when I cameva venir out, I vowedes va comprometre that I was going to do
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Però quan vaig eixir, vaig jurar que faria
04:23
whateverel que sigui I could to make sure
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el que poguera perquè
04:24
that guys like the onesuns I was lockedbloquejat up with
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els nois com els que vaig conèixer a la presó
04:27
didn't have to wastemalbaratament any more of theirels seus life than they alreadyja had.
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no hagin de malgastar les seues vides
més del que ja ho han fet.
04:31
So I hopeesperança that you'llho faràs think about helpingajudar in some way.
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I espere que penseu en ajudar d'alguna manera.
04:35
The bestmillor thing we can do is figurefigura out waysmaneres
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Lo millor que podem fer és trobar com
04:37
to nurturenodrir the entrepreneurialemprenedor spiritesperit
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nodrir l'esperit emprenedor
04:40
and the tremendoustremend untappedsense explotar potentialpotencial in our prisonscentres penitenciaris,
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i l'enorme potencial desaprofitat a les presons
04:43
because if we don't, they're not going to learnaprendre any newnou skillshabilitats
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perquè, si no ho fem, no aprendran noves habilitats
04:46
that's going to help them, and they'llho faran be right back.
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que els siguin útils i tornaran a delinquir
04:49
All they'llho faran learnaprendre on the insidedins is newnou hustlesesclatar.
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i a la presó només aprendran nous tripijocs.
04:52
Thank you. (ApplauseAplaudiments)
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Gràcies. [aplaudiments]
Translated by Fran Ontanaya
Reviewed by Òscar Aznar Alemany

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jeff Smith - Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with.

Why you should listen

In 2004, Jeff Smith ran for the U.S. Congressional seat vacated by Dick Gephardt, and came this close to defeating Republican Russ Carnahan. His inspiring, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign was documented in the award-winning documentary, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

A year later, Smith ran for the Missouri State Senate and won in a hotly contested election. He quickly became a rising star in the legislative body, focusing on education reform and tax credits among other things. However, in 2009, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into whether Smith had lied about a violation in his 2004 campaign. He ultimately plead guilty and spent a year in jail. It’s a story he has told on This American Life

Since being released from prison, Smith accepted a position as an assistant professor at The New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy in New York City. His research focuses on political campaigns, the role of race in urban politics and the legislative process. At the same time, he writes for The Recovering Politician, City & State NY and Politico's The Arena, and is working on an memoir. 

More profile about the speaker
Jeff Smith | Speaker | TED.com