TSP026 | Jon Paul – Harder Faster Cheaper Is Not A Change In Direction
Posted by John Livesay in podcast | 0 comments

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Episode Summary
Jon Paul is the CEO of Value Added Finance Resources and brings an incredible amount of experience to this interview. Jon has turned companies hitting rock bottom around to multiple million dollar revenue streams. He prevents entrepreneurs, nonprofits, and startups from making key mistakes that could ruin their success as a business. Jon talks on several different ways you can value your company and how you can prevent a down round from happening on your second round of funding.
Key Takeaways
- 02:10 – Harder, faster, cheaper is not a change in direction.
- 03:15 – What’s Jon’s background?
- 06:55 – Jon talks on helping a telecom provider grow their stock from $2 to $65 in two years.
- 12:45 – How much equity should I gave a CTO or someone similar?
- 14:30 – How do you value a company accurately?
- 19:15 – What’s a down round?
- 21:05 – How can you prevent a down round from happening?
- 23:45 – Tips to keep in mind when pitching?
- 28:45 – Founders need opposite partners. Example: The risk taker who has someone to watch his back.
Tweetables
[Tweet “You need to start even if where you end up is not where you think you’re going.”]
[Tweet “Harder faster cheaper is not a change in direction.”]
[Tweet “Early investors should get rewarded the most.”]
[Tweet “Startups need yin and yang on the team.”]
[Tweet “Learn from the past, but look forward.”]
Links Mentioned
Disrupting Class by Clayton Christensen
The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen
Competitive Strategy by Michael E. Porter
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell
Freakonomics
People Smart in Business by Tony Alessandra and Michael J. O’Connor
Content Chemistry by Andy Crestodina
Value Added Finance Resources
SmartScholar’s Economics Education Resource Guide
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TSP017 | Charles Smith – Seed Investor Turns Into $32.6M For “Boxed” Startup
Posted by John Livesay in podcast | 0 comments

Listen To The Podcast Here
Episode Summary
Charles Smith is an New York-based angel investor and was named top 25 investors in the NY area to know. He has been an active investor since the mid-1990s and has a wealth of knowledge to share on today’s show. He talks on why he believes Style Lend is changing the world for the better, why he loves the startup company Boxed, and why you should network with entrepreneurs who have already pitched the angel investor you’re interested in.
Key Takeaways
- 01:50 – What is Social Starts?
- 06:20 – Technological skill is what enables you to beat the competition.
- 09:20 – Charles talks about Style Lend and how they are changing the world.
- 13:40 – Charles loves the startup company Boxed.
- 17:50 – Why did Charles want to be an investor?
- 20:05 – Network with entrepreneurs who have already pitched the same investor you’re interested in.
- 23:10 – There are no new ideas, so why are you the person to do this?
- 26:30 – Charles believes merchandising will charge dramatically in the upcoming years.
- 28:30 – Entrepreneurs should start reading Neal Stephenson’s books.
- 30:25 – Don’t dread the pitching process, see it as a way to learn from smart people who have been there before.
Tweetables
[Tweet “The internet has enabled trust over distance at scale for the first time in human history.”]
[Tweet “The coach of the Eagles says, ‘Culture beats scheme.”]
[Tweet “You don’t have to be as big as Google, obviously, to treat people well.”]
[Tweet “How do you handle “trough of sorrow?””]
Links Mentioned
Charles Smith Twitter
Social Starts
Want the Transcription?
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- Click on ‘Write a Review’
