It takes more than capital to swing business. You’ve got to have the A. I. D. degree to get by - Advertising, Initiative, and Dynamics.

The line plays on the idea that business success requires more than money (“capital”): it also depends on intangible, human-driven forces. By inventing an “A.I.D. degree,” the speaker treats practical traits as if they were formal credentials—suggesting that advertising (public visibility and persuasion), initiative (self-starting action), and dynamics (energy, adaptability, momentum) function like a real education in commerce. The aphorism also has a lightly satirical edge: it implies that credentials alone are insufficient, while the real “degree” is demonstrated through effective action and communication in the marketplace.