Making of a Billionaire

Okay, so as a Western Man, my vernacular will tend to be slightly Western. Bits, spurs, saddles, etc. As it is, I have a strong personal interest in all things Western and as a hobby raise and train quarter horses. It should come as no surprise then that as I take the conscious step from “early retirement” to running another fast growth, innovative tech company, I say that I am getting “back in the saddle”. From that you can imply that I feel like I got bucked off. Sure I was paid a bundle of money to leave the rodeo but at such a time as I was really comfortable with the skills and the level of my game. It really stinks to sit back and look at the trophy on the mantel rather than actually be playing in the game. So there I go, switching metaphors from horses to sports. Someone once told me both of those metaphors are type A things.

The details: after selling our company and working for the acquirer for almost a year and cashing out, I rode off into the sunset. It wasn’t fun. Even my kids’ weren’t sure what I was doing. Staying up late and sleeping in… I recall one my kids saying in their morning prayer, “… and please bless Daddy at, umm, whatever it is he does…” . That didn’t sit well. So I jumped head first into “angel investing”. I looked at over 1000 business plans and only invested in a few. The bottom line is that you can buy into other people’s dreams but you can’t really affect the outcome. So for me the decision was obvious. Time to get back to the grind of building a world-class technology company. Be involved. Breathe it. Sweat it. But this time, I want to go bigger. Expand the skills. Take the past experiences, the prowess, and the garnered funds and target a bigger success – a larger trophy. Why? I often ask myself that. The answer is really simple. It is, “Because I can. I am hard wired to compete. To win. To succeed. It is what I do.” This time is different though. I have this blog. I hope to analyze and appreciate the journey more. I also hope that the proceeds are beneficial to many, many more people. For, to me, that is what I think happiness is. Helping others to live better – and that doesn’t really mean financially. So the challenge is before me. I know the market. I know the game plan – although most of it really is by gut instinct. I know I have to bootstrap it (it usually costs 2-3 times as much as you think) because that makes it more worthwhile and it has to be a better, a more difficult success than those from the past. I know I have to get a better team than I had with the prior success. And I know I have to be patient.

All of those epiphanies started about a year ago and here we are, about ready to launch the new venture.

The next few posts will recap the past year. After that, they will be from the heat of the battle.

Until next time, The Journeyman