On June 4th, 2004 Marvin Heemeyer, an entrepreneur from Granby Colorado, started up the Killdozer. This was a bulldozer, outfitted with a home made bulletproof tomb. It was a giant hunk of machinery made for destruction. Killdozer was the machine in which Marv would demolish businesses and city buildings in his town, and commit suicide over a business deal gone wrong. Many people look at this event positively. They love the sentiment of it and the Robin Hood nature of the story. The problem is they are wrong.

Was Marv the underdog entrepreneur we think?

Every June we see posts and article celebrating Killdozer Day. Fans hail it as a libertarian and entrepreneurship win over big government. The myth says that Marv stood up to big government and took back power. He ended his life to fight tyranny and send a message. That message was that big government shouldn’t interfere with small business. But, as with most myths, the story is completely wrong. Before you repost some random article toting the goodness of this event, read on to learn the truth.

What Happened?

I wrote a post that was called Why Your Small Business Isn’t Working. One reason I listed was that entrepreneurs get the math wrong. This is exactly what happened to Marv. He made a previous miscalculation on the sale of a piece of property. This miscalculation drove the events of that day. In the following video I explain exactly what happened without the myth and misinformation that surrounds this story. Take the truth from the story of Killdozer and use it to avoid the miscalculation that Marv made.