The importance of starting small

When Daniel Plainview first pitches the folks at Signal Hill, he describes how his wells are giving him an income of $5000 a week. "I couldn't come here sooner because my new well was coming in at Coyote Hills and I had to see about it. That well is now flowing at two thousand barrels and it's paying me an income of five thousand dollars a week. I have two others drilling and I have sixteen producing at Antelope. " And in the end, it is revealed that Paul Sunday, with the initial $10000 cash in hand from Plainview, also has his own company, a prosperous little business, three wells producing five thousand dollars a week. And given inflation since this is past 1927, this number is much lower than Daniel's income in 1911 -- not to mention, it is unclear if $5000 a week includes the Antelope production.

But one must not forget that Plainview started with just a few hundred dollars of silver mining. So he started really small.

A penny saved is a penny earned.

Meanwhile, how much was Eli Sunday able to get with his song and dance? Discuss.