Hustling For Playboys | Ubermensch & I Talk

[Deleted35442]

Hey boys.

@Ubermensch and I were fixing to chat for awhile about what we're working on a little bit regarding PACE and a couple other industries from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. This thread equal parts about documenting our progress and discussing the landscapes amongst a myriad of different industries ripe for disruption.

Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/yr-125813
Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/ubermensch-and-cyriex-part-deux
Part 3: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/yr-133000

Thanks to @axiom for uploading.

My consensus on Wall Street is this. The hours are horrible, the pay is shot, and everything is over-regulated. Should you make it to the buyside and want to start a fund raising money is nearly impossible with institutional investors looking to other alternatives to find alpha.

My consensus on Silicon Valley is this. Everybody is making apps. Everybody is making tech. This bubble is going to pop and I assure you after shareholders in Twitter saw how dismal this IPO went in one of the most overhyped tech IPO's probably in history, people are getting sick of it. Heed the words of Marc Benioff: http://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-predicts-dead-unicorns-cheap-startups-2016-1

Update: Given that certain somebodies made obvious as you scroll down think that I am dismissing tech entirely given what I said above. Far from it. I merely recognize that while opportunity still exists, there are greater challenges toward raising capital and a lot of dev-heavy work required to disrupt major industries. I challenge this new pseudo wisdom that everybody should learn to code. Learn to disrupt industries where nobody is looking.

To give you more ideas, look into a CNBC show my girlfriend and I would watch during dinner called Blue Collar Millionaire.

Our niche is in construction. Everyone needs to be looking in areas that need massive overhauls in terms of efficiency. Ubermensch and I go into detail about where some of this will be in the recording.

That's all for now. We'll be posting more updates here as things progress. I'll also be dropping ideas for other industries I'd go after as well to keep conversation abuzz.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

Good stuff man

You mentioned at one point about talking to old money and introducing them to modern solutions. Can you expand on that?

 

[juan917]

My consensus on Silicon Valley is this. Everybody is making apps. Everybody is making tech. This bubble is going to pop and I assure you after shareholders in Twitter saw how dismal this IPO went in one of the most overhyped tech IPO's probably in history, people are getting sick of it. Heed the words of Marc Benioff: http://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-predicts-dead-unicorns-cheap-startups-2016-1

That's all for now. We'll be posting more updates here as things progress.

Twitter F*ckin blows. Always have, always will. They have never been profitable, ever. One shitty tech company is not representative of the whole industry. Tech is going nowhere. There may be a large amount of quantity but quality is what matters..

 

[Deleted35442]

Twitter F*ckin blows. Always have, always will. They have never been profitable, ever. One shitty tech company is not representative of the whole industry. Tech is going nowhere. There may be a large amount of quantity but quality is what matters..

Tell that to Jack Dorsey. It's representative of one of the largest tech IPOs of its time and hence hugely relevant. My point was not getting into it trying to become a "unicorn" or creating the next Uber. Thanks for the obvious. Tech will always exist, but it's asinine valuations sure won't. What passes for "tech" on this forum won't make it. Thanks for that.

@ApparentHorizon Guys that grew up without social media and its influence. They're struggling to understand how to win the dollars and votes of millenials.

Here's a case study of a guy that spent millions on Jeb Bush's campaign, look at their campaign ads and ask yourself - would this resonate with anyone these days?

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/sam...ire-who-cant-stop-giving-his-money-to-losers/

There's money to be made helping people like this understanding us and corporations are paying well for this already.

 

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[juan917]

Tell that to Jack Dorsey. My point was not getting into it trying to become a "unicorn" or creating the next Uber. Thanks for the obvious. Tech will always exist, but it's asinine valuations sure won't. What passes for "tech" on this forum won't make it. Thanks for that.

I wish I could talk to Jack Dorsey I would tell him he should quit and have someone else lead the company. You don't need to be a unicorn to be a successful tech company. Valuations only matter if your a public company and/or have investors. Doesn't really come into play when you are just starting out.

 

[Deleted35442]

I wish I could talk to Jack Dorsey I would tell him he should quit and have someone else lead the company. You don't need to be a unicorn to be a successful tech company. Valuations only matter if your a public company and/or have investors. Doesn't really come into play when you are just starting out.

You're naive. Tech companies are overvalued. Period. All my friends who work in VC agree and talk about this constantly. Valuation always matters or what the hell is the point? When you exit you need a valuation. To grow faster you need a valuation to have an investor. Occasionally guys get away with something really good and hold off to a B or C round but not that common. Few tech companies try to grow organically. They exist, and one went public semi-recently, but it's not common.

Takeaway: "In 2000, tech stocks crashed, venture capital dried up and many young companies were vaporized. Even today, with the technology industry on fire, venture capital investment remains below its 2000 peak."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/t...ut-not-the-word-that-must-not-be-uttered.html

Take your quarrels elsewhere. You add 0 value and likely won't be running the next Uber anytime soon.

 

[juan917]

You're naive and do a disservice to anyone reading this. Tech companies are overvalued. Period. All my friends who work in VC agree and talk about this constantly. Valuation always matters or what the hell is the point? When you exit you need a valuation. To grow faster you need a valuation to have an investor. Occasionally guys get away with something really good and hold off to a B or C round but not that common. Few tech companies try to grow organically. They exist, and one went public semi-recently, but it's not common.

Takeaway: "In 2000, tech stocks crashed, venture capital dried up and many young companies were vaporized. Even today, with the technology industry on fire, venture capital investment remains below its 2000 peak."
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/23/t...ut-not-the-word-that-must-not-be-uttered.html

Take your quarrels elsewhere. You add 0 value and likely won't be running the next Uber anytime soon.

I agree that tech companies are overvalued, even companies like Tesla are falling into this 'tech' category. From the perspective of a startup entrepreneur valuation is only relevant if you are getting investors, which is completely optional. Your point that you *need* to have investors is just not true.

 

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[Ubermensch]

@juan917 is not as dumb as he may seem to you @Cyriex

He's not an OVO.

Not defending or vouching for his points.

Just sayin'.

 

[jazb]

Nice to see people who can see through the bullshit of the app bubble. history repeats as always. happened to the automobile industry in the 30's, the web bubble in early 00's.

It's all about value V price. investing all boils down to that. these tech companies are massively overvalued. some don't even produce any money !!! where the hell is the value in that

combine that with the fact that it's a new industry, with a swarm of smart driven entrepreneurs. meaning the industry changes all the time, how does one possibly know where it's heading?

The best opportunities are found in old boring businesses. massive industries worth billions and trillions. they never change and the competitors are often asleep at the wheel. if you can provide value/ save people time, money, energy with a good plan to scale....you can make a killing.

 

[axiom]

Nice to see people who can see through the bullshit of the app bubble. history repeats as always. happened to the automobile industry in the 30's, the web bubble in early 00's.

It's all about value V price. investing all boils down to that. these tech companies are massively overvalued. some don't even produce any money !!! where the hell is the value in that

combine that with the fact that it's a new industry, with a swarm of smart driven entrepreneurs. meaning the industry changes all the time, how does one possibly know where it's heading?

The best opportunities are found in old boring businesses. massive industries worth billions and trillions. they never change and the competitors are often asleep at the wheel. if you can provide value/ save people time, money, energy with a good plan to scale....you can make a killing.

More and more I am convinced this is the best way to go. Nobody targets the "boring and unsexy" industries, leaving so much opportunity.

Relatively very few millionaires will be minted through apps in the near future. Many more will create fortunes in the archaic industries that need a makeover.

 

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[conquer]

Help thousands/millions/billions solve a problem

Bubble or not, this rule never fails

 

[jazb]

More and more I am convinced this is the best way to go. Nobody targets the "boring and unsexy" industries, leaving so much opportunity.

Relatively very few millionaires will be minted through apps in the near future. Many more will create fortunes in the archaic industries that need a makeover.

everything old becomes new again

 

[Deleted35442]

@juan917 is not as dumb as he may seem to you @Cyriex

He's not an OVO.

Not defending or vouching for his points.

Just sayin'.

And....We have a winner @jazb. The next tech multi-millionaire/billionaire will come from he who finds big solutions to big problems. Here is another example of a "big problem" http://www.gao.gov/assets/680/677454.pdf

A new ride sharing app, a new note taking app, a new way to lease apartments won't cut it. What I propose above merely suggests there are far more promising markets that are not being addressed that aren't tech-related. This is the reality of "organic growth" in tech: http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080101/how-hard-could-it-be-the-four-pillars-of-organic-growth.html

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-...-subterranean-500month-live-crawlspace?page=1

The above is considered a bargain in Silicon Valley. Live in this hole for $500 a month eating ramen thinking you'll become "the next Uber" vs. doing what @IceCreamKid did here "unsexy" as @axiom said.

 

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[ApparentHorizon]

@ApparentHorizon Guys that grew up without social media and its influence. They're struggling to understand how to win the dollars and votes of millenials.

Here's a case study of a guy that spent millions on Jeb Bush's campaign, look at their campaign ads and ask yourself - would this resonate with anyone these days?

http://www.rawstory.com/2016/05/sam...ire-who-cant-stop-giving-his-money-to-losers/

There's money to be made helping people like this understanding us and corporations are paying well for this already.

The guy in the video is exactly the type of person I had in mind.
1. More money than he knows what to do with
2. Wants more influence/power/money
3. Won't try something outside of his comfort zone to save his life

Do you try to convince these type of people to get on board, or look for that small % that know the benefits of your solution, but they don't know where to start?

 

[The-J]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is what I'm getting from you and @Ubermensch talks...

1. Sell high value stuff: don't waste time dealing with 4-figure stuff. 6 figures and up. This also requires talking to companies bigger than your average onepreneur shop.
2. Pick a giant industry. Think trillion $, not million or billion $.
3. Pick an industry with glaring inefficiencies. If you're gonna disrupt, there needs to be room for disruption.
4. Pick an industry with longevity. Tech moves fast, grows fast, busts fast, and if you're on the wrong end of the sine wave, you're F*cked.
5. Talk to people who can actually pull triggers. You gotta get to speaking with the CEO if you're going to make anything happen.

Am I missing anything huge?

 

[Evil_Jester]

Hey boys.

@Ubermensch and I were fixing to chat for awhile about what we're working on a little bit regarding PACE and a couple other industries from Wall Street to Silicon Valley. This thread equal parts about documenting our progress and discussing the landscapes amongst a myriad of different industries ripe for disruption.

Part 1: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/yr-125813
Part 2: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/ubermensch-and-cyriex-part-deux
Part 3: https://soundcloud.com/axiom-403344048/yr-133000

Thanks to @axiom for uploading.

My consensus on Wall Street is this. The hours are horrible, the pay is shot, and everything is over-regulated. Should you make it to the buyside and want to start a fund raising money is nearly impossible with institutional investors looking to other alternatives to find alpha.

My consensus on Silicon Valley is this. Everybody is making apps. Everybody is making tech. This bubble is going to pop and I assure you after shareholders in Twitter saw how dismal this IPO went in one of the most overhyped tech IPO's probably in history, people are getting sick of it. Heed the words of Marc Benioff: http://www.businessinsider.com/benioff-predicts-dead-unicorns-cheap-startups-2016-1

Update: Given that certain somebodies made obvious as you scroll down think that I am dismissing tech entirely given what I said above. Far from it. I merely recognize that while opportunity still exists, there are greater challenges toward raising capital and a lot of dev-heavy work required to disrupt major industries. I challenge this new pseudo wisdom that everybody should learn to code. Learn to disrupt industries where nobody is looking.

To give you more ideas, look into a CNBC show my girlfriend and I would watch during dinner called Blue Collar Millionaire.

Our niche is in construction. Everyone needs to be looking in areas that need massive overhauls in terms of efficiency. Ubermensch and I go into detail about where some of this will be in the recording.

That's all for now. We'll be posting more updates here as things progress. I'll also be dropping ideas for other industries I'd go after as well to keep conversation abuzz.

I'm going after the steel fabrication industry. B2B. The quoting methods are archaic

 

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[ejames]

I agree that tech companies are overvalued, even companies like Tesla are falling into this 'tech' category. From the perspective of a startup entrepreneur valuation is only relevant if you are getting investors, which is completely optional. Your point that you *need* to have investors is just not true.

Yup im doing a tech startup completely self finance. We may look for outside capital but thats way down the line, our plan is to only seek funding after we show steady positive cashflow.

 

[Alxander]

How about making apps for boring & old businesses?

What about creating VR webshops? Some things may sound completely crazy, but in 100 years from now nobody will go to a store, if they can go online and fit their shoes through Virtual reality.

This was just an crazy example, but tech won't die, it will just keep growing and adapting, and when the Next Uber is out, you won't be that, so be the first and the best.

 

[Deleted35442]

How about making apps for boring & old businesses?

What about creating VR webshops? Some things may sound completely crazy, but in 100 years from now nobody will go to a store, if they can go online and fit their shoes through Virtual reality.

This was just an crazy example, but tech won't die, it will just keep growing and adapting, and when the Next Uber is out, you won't be that, so be the first and the best.

Tech will never die, obviously. What my more more challenged readers in this thread didn't get is that it was never about completely dismissing tech. What you're suggesting sounds great, it doesn't sound crazy, a VR webshop would obviously require some cash to get a prototype going and I assume some sort of hardware component that has to be retailed and undergo adoption before touting the benefits of this to big block retailers to adopt it in lieu of maintaining more brick and mortar locations. This is a hypothetical, but a hypothetical I recognize would surely take off with more limitations that require investor capital. I posted a link above providing a case study of Fog Creek Software (who are doing well by the way), but growth is usually slower, and a myriad of other issues came into play for them.

I left my first job to partner with a guy that wanted to compete in the enterprise database space offering something somewhat similar to the innovations you see companies like MemSQL undertaking. MemSQL is run by ex-facebook guys and underwent several rounds and are growing fast. This guy was technically competent but a total moron in just about every other aspect. He thought he was Steve Jobs, he thought he was hot shit and that we'd just organically grow our way to billions. He'd pontificate to no end on how what we had was worlds better than what companies like Oracle were offering. In doing so, we got an offer to undergo a seven figure joint-venture deal with a big player in this space. My partner said no, no matter how much I tried to tell him it was an amazing opportunity without telling him he's an idiot. I cut ties with him after he failed to deliver multiple times on a beta launch with several mid-market sized companies that I did all the prospecting for, sales cycle for, and ultimately closed. Money that was on the table went *poof*. Last I'm told from a mutual friend/developer we worked with is that the "company" is idle/non-existent and my ex-partner went back to working as a sys admin at some local hospital. I've moved on and my first consulting company is successful but I strongly believe in what I, @Ubermensch, and @axiom are doing.

This thread is largely about what you can do now with the least amount of upfront capital. I've reconciled that most guys that are building a Peter Thiel style technology company would not likely come to these forums (if you read from Zero to One you'd get what I mean). I can bloviate to no end on why raising money in tech is better in most cases than growing on a shoestring budget from friends that actually work at big name VC companies now that invest in Y Combinator companies and others you know/use but gimp children like @juan917 know everything already. Food for thought @ejames.

Back on topic.

@The-J Saving people money on big volume orders, lots of dollars signs, will net you some nice profits in the process. But may often see longer sales cycles. @Ubermensch care to add? If you create a product and the margins are so enticing that you're selling your product and not middlemanning, then by all means. To question 2 & 3, yes, pick big industries with archaic business models and operations as that's where most of the opportunity is. Big industries means lots of money changing hands at regular intervals. To question 4, exactly what I'm telling you @The-J. You have these complete noobs that come in like vultures to saturated markets that offer "something" slightly different and they think by doing that that their target customers will care enough to switch. Question 5, in sales, you always want to talk to who can make a purchasing decision, but preferably the guy that sees the value in it and additional dollar signs it can add to his company. That's why we love the C-suite. You're not missing anything too huge. We're just saying what needs to be said.

@ApparentHorizon Convince them you can generate result X and if you don't, you'll refund them half their money. This allows you to exude confidence in your ability but you don't come across arrogant and their risk is minimized. Add to the fact they have tons of money the government is itching to take away from them after they pass. If you strike a rapport with some of these guys, they'll want to help you, they'll say things like "you remind me of me" and then you're gold. You can start right now too. Look to your local chamber of commerce for starters.

@Evil_Jester Now THAT gets me excited and its areas like that few people are looking at. Do you have a background in this industry or going at it from scratch? I'm fascinated by metals and tons of innovation is going into new ones such as: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/news/a13919/new-steel-alloy-titanium/
Summarize the market opportunity. Do you know your target customers and started calling on them?

 

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[Ubermensch]

@The-J Saving people money on big volume orders, lots of dollars signs, will net you some nice profits in the process. But may often see longer sales cycles.

@Ubermensch care to add? If you create a product and the margins are so enticing that you're selling your product and not middlemanning, then by all means. To question 2 & 3, yes, pick big industries with archaic business models and operations as that's where most of the opportunity is. Big industries means lots of money changing hands at regular intervals. To question 4, exactly what I'm telling you @The-J. You have these complete noobs that come in like vultures to saturated markets that offer "something" slightly different and they think by doing that that their target customers will care enough to switch. Question 5, in sales, you always want to talk to who can make a purchasing decision, but preferably the guy that sees the value in it and additional dollar signs it can add to his company. That's why we love the C-suite. You're not missing anything too huge. We're just saying what needs to be said.

If you want to make four-figures per deal, you have to be selling products or services priced in the five-figure range.

If you want to make five-figures per deal, you have to be selling products or services priced in the six-figure range.

If you want to make six figures per deal, you have to be selling products or services priced in the seven figure range.

Sell high ticket items to get the high ticket dollar.

 

[Kingmaker]

@Cyriex 's idea about being on the financing side is on point, check out these guys who created a fund for connecting investors with commercial solar projects:

http://www.businessinsider.com/wunder-capital-solar-investing-2016-6
https://www.wundercapital.com/

 

[Ubermensch]

@Cyriex 's idea about being on the financing side is on point, check out these guys who created a fund for connecting investors with commercial solar projects:

http://www.businessinsider.com/wunder-capital-solar-investing-2016-6
https://www.wundercapital.com/

Didn't see anything about their revenue or profit.

Until someone shows me otherwise, I still say the big money is on the service side (being in the position of procurement sourcing, to fulfill requirements on project specs).

 

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