How did you do it? Financial Success Thread

[ArturiusX]

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cheers
jason

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Very nice. I'm sure I've read about you in BRW at some stage.

[JaBlue]

ActionJeff,
If you want to go to school but can't get in anywhere good you can always try going wherever you get in and then transfer. You gotta get the grades though.

[kaj_kyle]

AJ,
i can understand where your coming from, even though i havent made even close as much as you (bit under 500k), i still drive a 98 civic which i got when i was 16 from my mom (18 now for perspective). I dont really spend much money when i go out, dont have an really baller stuff, and still feel uncomfortable when spending lots of money. I think its an adjustment process, as a year ago i was just another broke kid and still havent got out of that state of mind. But then again i dont really plan on spending sick amounts of money like some of the other guys here. Curious about some other peoples state of mind about this.

[N 82 50 24]

My state of mind is that a few hundred K in cash really isn't that much money. Invest it and spend it wisely and it will last a lot longer. Spending indiscriminately like some poker players do is just dumb because there's no guarantee that any of us will continue to have these sick incomes. Better to focus on making it last while also enjoying life. There's a balance.

[jbird]

Hey Guys,

I see that a lot of people in this thread have found success -- most of them on their first try. The stories are fun to read and inspirational as Taylor mentions in the open.

I'm writing because my situation is a bit different -- and I'm sure that there are many people out there who have tried and failed. I did, a couple of times -- but the thing is to not let it deter you from trying again.

I grew up in New England, did OK in high school in the Boston area (was big into sports and girls), wound up getting into a higher-end liberal arts school. Went to college and had a BLAST. -- side note, for many of the younger poker players, I really feel bad for you that you may not get to experience this...the whole experience is such a big part of life - end side note -- Left college in the mid/late 90's and got a job as an accountant in Boston. HATED it. Worked for a year, quit, moved to Nantucket and became a chef at a restaurant there (I grew up working in all capacities in a local restaurant so I had experience). LOVED it. Was there all summer 1998 fishing, cooking, hanging with friends, beaching, drinking, and just generally having an amazing time.

As the summer wound down I realized that I didn't want to leave -- A well known restaurant had just become available due to the problems with the previous GM's marriage, etc. I got to writing a business plan -- recruited a chef, raised commitments for private equity, and generally spent the months of September and October preparing to lease this restaurant and go into business for myself. I had a menu developed, even new chairs picked out when a couple of guys with M&D's money swooped in at the last minute and decided to actually buy the whole property and not just lease the restaurant (over $1.5 million at the time). It was an offer the current owner wasn't expecting and couldn't refuse. Well [censored] me. There I am, high and dry, island shutting down for the season, with no job and with the project I was going to work on all winter stolen from under me.

So I decided to get away. Far away. I moved to San Francisco. Drove cross country by myself in 4 days, met a buddy in the city, crashed on a few couches and eventually found a cheap apartment. Clipped newspaper ads, visited headhunters, went back into the corporate world. Actually worked at a job I didn't hate for a couple years as the internet boom was swelling. I couldn't stay away.

I developed a business plan with my friend that used the web to address the lack of streamlined information, communication, and supply chain within the fishing industry. I was so confident in our business plan and proud of our model I had no doubt I was going to get rich. Raised seed funding, developed site, drove all around the west coast visting tiny fishing shops and signing them on as affiliates. Raised a first round of angel money. Started soliciting VC money, but we started to hear that the B2C (which isn't exactly what we were -- but VC's saw us this way) money was drying up. Uh Oh. Went a different route while still trying to raise VC money -- contacted CEO's and CFO's at larger fishing-related companies. Enter Field & Stream, owned at the time by Times Mirror Magazines. They were incredibly interested in our idea and wanted to brand us as the F&S web presence. We were dealing directly with the division president, and drafts of agreements were formed. Enter the Tribune Company. They bought Times Mirror in 2001, and all potential transactions froze. They announced that they weren't interested in keeping the magazine division. The president of the outdoor group was let go. Interest in my company, and even conversations ceased. So in 2 years there we were -- dotcom bubble bursting, no VC money, no Private Equity, no partnership, just a forgotten good idea and enough cash to last only a few more months. It was sad admitting failure again, but I had no choice. I even worked a second job in a restaurant for the last 6 months, in hopes of hanging on. It was not to be. I packed up and headed back to Boston just before 9/11, in about $50k in credit card debt with no job.

I entered the workforce again in Boston -- networked through my old boss in San Francisco and actually got a decent job. Was making about $70k / year plus commission. I focused hard on paying down my debt. I went back to school in the evenings and got my MBA from what is generally considered the #1 entrepreneurship program in the country. The company was focused on large coporations that lease most capital equipment, and was originally VC funded as a leasing software firm. The VC had no desire to be involved in a consultancy, so as we were changing the business model, they negotiated themselves out. So myself, the original founder, and one other guy re-incorporated the business and started from scratch. This was 2003ish. Four years, and several huge clients later, I'm a partner, VP, and equity holder in what is widely considered the thought process leader in equipment leasing in the United States. We haven't sold the company yet (nor do we have any plans to in the short term), but we are consistently working on huge deals with the Fortune 500, and manage to divide the profits between only 3 of us.

So sometimes you are going to fail. Actually, the average entrepreneur will fail a lot. Just keep at it. You are smart and you know it.

Cliff Notes: Started 1 business, failed. Started another business, failed. Up to eyeballs in debt, got a real job, worked hard to pay it off. Started 3rd business, so far very successfully.

Don't accept failure as a concept, but accept that there may be small bumps or failures along the way.

[dp13368]

Great story JBird, thanks!

[raptor517]

nice story jbird.

[hanster]

I assume you're talking about Babson College? Thanks for the inspiring story!

[ElliotR]

AND you beat John Quinn!! I was just up against him myself (case is sub judice)

Very, very nice.