Comments on: Every journey has a start

By: Paul

Paul — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 14:34:00 +0000

great post. @Gary Wall, I like what you said. @Sahill, I believe in todays society you must be completely transparent and I think you are one person that is, I rally enjoyed hearing your personal side and great info. Thanks

By: People buy People…NOT business plans! « WordPress

People buy People…NOT business plans! « WordPress — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:36:00 +0000

[...] entrepreneurs I have met are naturally optimistic. I certainly am a glass-half-full type of guy. It’s sort of hard to risk everything to start a new venture if you focus on the likelihood of [...]

By: People buy People…NOT business plans!

People buy People…NOT business plans! — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:48:02 +0000

By: Ross Hill

Ross Hill — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:59:21 +0000

@KevinR I love that comment about the VCs. Youtube was the same – leaking money all over the place, then they sold for billions and everyone wishes they were on board. Twitter will probably be similar again. I love the irony!

By: Scott Kilmartin

Scott Kilmartin — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 07:30:55 +0000

Thanks Sahil,

As ever raw honesty in a world where it is a rare commodity.
I’ve asked myself many of the questions you pose in your post. Especially the ‘Persistence vs Blind Faith’ question.

My experience building haul bares many similarities to your MagNation journey. Different businesses & different paths but many shared challenges and ‘fork in the road’ decisions.

Keep on truckin’

http://twitter.com/scottKilmartin

By: KevinR

KevinR — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:46:22 +0000

“When presenting your financial projections, do you put down realistic numbers to establish credibility, knowing that funders will automatically dumb them down and then find them unattractive, or do you show the optimistic case so that the dumbed down numbers become realistic but you risk your believability?”

Absolutely true! Put in realistic figures and they are too low. Put in blue sky figures and they are unrealistic. Put in low figures and they are unattractive. So Best/Expected/Worst offered and the worst are looked at!

Any excuse will do!

I listened to a ‘panel’ of VCs talking at a recent conference. How they all would have liked to invest in Facebook etc etc. Yet of all the panelist from personal experience I knew none had the balls to invest in anything that was not cashflow positive. All wish/talk/BS but no balls.

By: Raz Chorev

Raz Chorev — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:38:56 +0000

Sahil, great and wonderful and brave(!) initiative. Don’t take too many pages of Guy Kawasaki’s book, or you’ll become a wanker

Don’t sell yourself short. Others will do that for you, and probably better. concentrate on your positive attribute. Nothing to do with transparency – once you make it, many people will LOOK for faults they can expose. You don’t have to make their job too easy…

I would love to hear about your experience, and the lessons you’ve learned along the way. Failure is the best way to really learn – this short video will explain better – http://bit.ly/1862aR.
Keep sharing…

By: Mike Boyd

Mike Boyd — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 01:13:34 +0000

Nice work Sahil, Keep it coming!

By: Ross Hill

Ross Hill — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 00:47:36 +0000

You guys might also be interested in a podcast we recorded at a Hive event with Sahil You can download it from http://rosshill.me/sahil-merchant.mp3

By: Claire

Claire — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 22:28:02 +0000

Wow, this is different! Looking forward to reading what you have to say,

Claire

By: Gary Wall

Gary Wall — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:52:37 +0000

Hi Sahil
I will be looking forward to hearing more about your secrets to raising capital. In my experience the procedure goes very much like the “Dragons Den” where a bunch of blood sucking parasites sit around and rip you to shreads before offering you nothing for 100% of your company. It is a difficult call to make and I look forward to hearing any tips you have as to the issues you mentioned in your blog. Keep at it. Jump in head first. Dont give away more than you have to. Your wife/ partner and especially hampster are vitally important – it costs a bundle to pay them off if you make the big time. Love what you do – bugger your friends they will come around once you start to make it. Show optimistic numbers – nobody believes anything you say anyway. Persistence is every thing.
Good luck

By: Con Frantzeskos

Con Frantzeskos — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:17:32 +0000

Good stuff Sahil – looking forward to the blow by blow… Don’t hold back.

SHAMON!

By: Sahil Merchant

Sahil Merchant — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:45:29 +0000

Hi Susan,

Sounds like you have an opinion!

A good friend of mine runs a business valued in the hundreds of millions. He has partially cashed out so the valuation is more than theoretical. Two years ago, he too was broke and his business had not made a cent. He was on a journey and kept on investing in capabilities and infrastructure to get ahead of the curve. I am doing the same. Our revenues have grown massively, but we are investing to do this. New stores and online capabilities all cost money, and there is a lag before we can recoup this investment.

Not all business models are the same. Take 42 Below, the NZ vodka company that sold to Bacardi in the vicinity of $170M while making an EBITDA loss of a few Mil. This is not to say that all businesses can tap in to “strategic value” but there are very few overnight successes in my experience. I don’t know of many young businesses that cream it from day one. Using your logic, no one running a young business could possibly have any expertise in anything.

It is not easy to raise money from VCs and PE firms. Nor is it easy to build a brand to evoke passion even with lots of money. Take a look at the problems Borders and Angus & Robertson are having in relation to engaging younger audiences. Yet they have lots of money behind them.

I don’t really need to convince you of whether I am a wanker (yes – you are allowed to spell it) or not. However, I think it is important to recognise that expertise can be found in many places. Keeping an open mind never hurts.

By: SusanB

SusanB — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:22:25 +0000

The writer sounds like a w*nker – ‘yet to make a cent’ and ‘broke’ but an expert in raising and spending other people’s money. We could all have a ‘cult following’ if we spent $7m on unprofitable but fun ideas.

By: bronwyn

bronwyn — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:49:38 +0000

So true. I’d love to read the memoirs of all the failed businesses out there.

I’d learn so much more than from the the millionaires and their hard covered business books.