Met Marc Ostrofsky, and was mesmerized by his talk at last night’s Austin Internet Marketing Party meeting. It’s pretty rare for me to attend networking events locally, but this is one I never miss. David Gonzales founded this group, and he’s brilliant at attracting the cream of the cream of Austin-based online marketers (and Austin has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to Internet Marketing superstars!)…AND the speakers he brings are stellar.
Marc runs a $75 million empire of businesses. He’s the guy behind the hugely successful Blinds.com, as well as Cufflinks.com (hmmm…who knew cufflinks could be such big business) and many other projects.
This guy is so visionary (his second-in-command describe him as “seriously ADHD”). It was fun to hear him talk. He’s written a book that comes out in Spring 2011, Get Rich Click about Online businesses. He’s predicting a huge migration to Online for businesses, and there’s no doubt in my mind he’s very right about that.
One message I got loud and clear from Marc was that we as Entrepreneurs often put too much focus on our cash flow and not enough on equity. Looking toward the future value of the businesses we’re developing.
He shared the story of a business he’d built where he knew the service he was developing would be exactly what a particular high-tech Corporation would be needing at a point in the not-too-distant future. He had the vision to know this long before it appeared on that Corporation’s radar screen…so he structured it to fit perfectly with his future buyer’s systems. Flash forward they’re knocking at his door, and it’s all ready to go – at Marc’s 8-figure price tag.
Smart. And I don’t think it’s unrealistic for any of us. Build your business so it can at some point be transferred…that’s the equity. And the clearer you are about where it’s likely to fit, the bigger the equity potential. Yes, I know it’s your baby and you’d never sell your baby, but believe me when the right buyer comes with the right price at the right time, you’ll be glad you planned for it! This is something the savvy corporate world is familiar with, and Entrepreneurs should be thinking about it, too.
That’s a million dollar tip!
