DAVID GOLD SEMINAR:
David Gold and family are at number 178 in the Times Rich List with a fortune of £300m. He has no doubt led a very interesting life. There were quite a few vacant seats, so I was able to go inside the hall. Listening to him speak was like having a chat with my next door neighbour. He was down to earth, and spoke of many personal experiences. Here's a few notes on what he said.
Lack of cash is the biggest obstacle to any business.
Every time you try to raise money, you will learn from it, especially when you get turned down, so keep trying.
Most people in this room are struggling to be successful.
I've been through 3 recessions, and I've learnt there are great opportunities to be had. I am opening 10 new stores this year! This year, Bluewater Mall offered me a 2 years rent free period if I opened a store in their mall, because they have many shop vacancies due to the recession, and they don't want their units to be empty!
The most important qualities I look for in entrepreneurs are: Courage, and work ethic. The big companies get slow and lazy so if you are willing to work 10 hours a day, and they are not, you will have a massive advantage.
“Don't give up”. Keep going through as many rejections as possible, learning each time. Do not give in.
Test foreign markets by opening 1 store in a new territory. Do not immediately open 20 new stores when you start a new venture.
Entrepreneurs should not risk everything and be “danger men”. Protect what you have, and cherish it. Only gamble the small fraction you can afford.
David Gold was just an everyday person, like the type you might bump into on the street. An ordinary man, living an extraordinary life.
THE MIDAS TOUCH: PART ONE:
Panellists 1) David Lester. 2) Chelsea. 3) Brad Rosser. 4) Richard Davis
DIY platform:
Two 55yr old men had a portable plastic DIY platform which they said was more stable than existing methods, which they sold at retail for £60. They had already raised 100k from friends and family but now they were out of money, and wanted an additional 200k investment. It seemed like a good idea.
Travel Website:
An eastern European male of about 22 years old pitched YourTour website. It links not only travel times, but also an itinerary of local events which you would attend whilst on holiday. His consortium sought investment of 3m Euros. 2.5m Euros had already been raised from his university, and government grants, in order to develop the technology. The panellist Chelsea asked how much of that budget had been reserved for marketing. When he replied “nothing”, Chelsea went ballistic and angrily held her hand up. “THAT, says it all”, she exclaimed.
THE MIDAS TOUCH: PART TWO:
Brad Rosser had his book (Better, Stronger, Faster) prominently displayed on the panel desk and was giving it away as the prize for the best pitch. He said his book is “like a mentor you can carry around with you”. He has a real business pedigree, having been Group Corporate Development Director for Virgin, so I would definitely consider reading it.
Double door accident stopper:
The pitcher wanted 90k for a device to stop children having accidents with double doors (the type that open on to patios). He had a highly experienced management team of 6 people. The calibre of his team was incredible, which included many experts and professionals in their fields, it was surprising that they had so far been unable to raise any additional funds. They've put in 30k of their own money so far. Www.safefrenchdoors.co.uk.
Water filtration system:
Well here was a surprise. The lady presenting was previously on the TV show Dragons Den and successfully got all 5 dragons to invest in her mobile water filtration system. It turns out the deal fell apart later, as she said, “it was very challenging dealing with 5 high net worth individuals”. The lady presented professionally and was universally praised by the judges.
Portable keyring holder for small objects:
3 people with full time jobs had put £25k into this project and wanted £50k for a 10% stake.
Job auctions website:
The pitcher was a 50 year old man with a posh accent. He thought: why apply for a job when you can treat the whole process like eBay. The panellists told him that the recruitment model is already good enough, and that there are a lot of people who are not getting jobs because they are not good enough. In 6 months of operation of his website, not one applicant had been placed with a job! The panellists openly laughed in his face. http://www.jobfindauctions.co.uk/
STEFAN TOPFER SEMINAR:
Stefan pitched in between every session of the Midas Touch. He gave a talk on how to start and run a business. He was one of the people who started a group of ISP's in Europe, which were later sold to a company which became Tiscali. The sale was just before the dotcom crash of 2000, and he and his cohorts achieved a sale price of over 100 million pounds. He is a fluent speaker who has the gift of making his talk sound different every time. Here's a few notes of what he said:
Be pessimistic with your cash flow. State your intended monthly cash flow, then half it, because things never go according to plan.
In business, aim for the lowest risk possible, with the highest gain possible.
When my business started to become successful, the banks were offering to loan me money. I never took it.
THE MIDAS TOUCH: PART THREE:
Protective coating for boats, planes and cars:
The pitcher was a 50 year old man who gave an extremely impressive pitch about how he had an exclusive up to date coating technology for large machines. He wanted a £150k investment for 20% of his business. His Pro Guard Plus coating technique intrigued the panellists, and they all asked him to talk to them afterwards.
French Fast Food kiosk:
Pitcher was a 58 year old man who apparently is also an experienced management consultant. He wanted £400k of investment, and had so far put in none of his own money. His job is telling real businesses what to do, but two things were surprising: 1) He has waited until age 58 to even start his own business and 2) has not got the money to further the business himself, even though management consultants are supposed to be very highly paid.
Exclusive Beachwear for women:
Two thirty somethings, a male and a female wanted 150k investment for their exclusive beachwear designs for ladies. They showed lots of glamorous power point slides, then the lady dropped jaws by modelling one of the skimpy beachwear costumes, she was the designer, but could easily have passed for a model herself. They had put in 30k of their own money into the venture. They make the garments in china, which are then sold at retail for a good mark-up. The panellist Chelsea, who is an ex-model, said that the clothes were very high quality! It's a reminder that all of the expensive, high quality stuff that westerners buy, is usually made in third world countries.
Stone heaters:
The pitch was made by a young male of around 30 who wanted to import heaters made of marble and granite, from Croatia. He had put in 5k of his own money so far. It turns out that he was an investment banker who was recently made redundant from a major bank in August! He had only just completed a degree in Political History and Economics at a top university. He then won a job at a top bank last year, but before he had even worked for one year, he was made redundant. Panellist Richard Davis said “I'm not interested in your idea, but I might give you a job”. I don't know if he was being sarcastic, but he sounded serious to me.
Review of Midas Touch part 3:
I was amazed by how quickly panellists such as Richard Davis did the maths on the pitches that were given to him. He was able to instantaneously tell each pitcher exactly how much money or sales they had calculated for, from looking at one part of their data, even if these figures went into complex percentages. He said he had dropped out of school, but it shows that being good with money also made him become very good at maths.
At the end the prize for best pitch was awarded to the girl from Red Button Designs and their 3 in 1 water filtration, sanitation and storage system
FINAL REVIEW OF THE BUSINESS STARTUP EVENT:
As I looked around at other attendees, I saw so may faces, and I wondered what each person was here for. Some probably came out of curiosity, some came for entertainment, some came to get ideas on starting their own business, some came to look for ideas on how to make more money. I was actually surprised there weren't more people there.
The featured speakers are real people who have traversed the mountain in business. They are far more qualified to speak about wealth creation via business, than many of the other various life coaches and wealth coaches who have only made their name from selling courses. They can speak from their own experience. I would definitely want to read the books by some of the speakers, but I don't know if I can spare the time for their seminars.
Memorable speakers were: David Gold for being so frank and honest, he was like a next door neighbour. Rachel Elnaugh for being friendly and inspirational, she is down to earth and professional, and it is clear that she will always be a success. Stefan Topfer for genuinely wanting to impart his knowledge and motivate and help people to stand on their own financial feet. They are reminders that one must never give up their dreams. No matter how many rejections and obstacles they encountered in life, it is clear that they will never give up. It was very honourable of them to share their vast knowledge and experience.
The Midas Touch showed that being academically intelligent and being good with money do not go hand in hand, as many of the pitchers had stunning backgrounds, yet for various reasons were unable to finance their schemes. It couldn't have been easy for them pitching their ideas in front of everyone, and sometimes having their ideas shot down in flames. There were many great ideas, and even though I didn't like some of the schemes, I think they were all very brave for trying. The panellists were fantastic people and were only trying to help people to learn to use money wisely.
After the event, I am left with the following prominent memories. Wealthy people are careful with their money and do not treat it with contempt, they protect and grow it. Banks can be your worst enemy, so its good to rely on your own cash as much as possible.
Two investments I will be making, are buying the books Better, Stronger, Faster by Brad Rosser, and Business Nightmares by Rachel Elnaugh.
I like business, and I like money, and I definitely found the event worth going to. The next Business Start-Up Event is this year, at London Olympia in November 2009.
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