Category: Wealth

15 Years of (Failed) Side Projects

When writing about the hyper-niche strategy, I thought back to all my own side projects. In this post, I offer a brief post-mortem for each one, so you can learn from my mistakes and don’t repeat them. (There were even more projects, but these were the main ones.)

Webmaster forum (2003-2015)
While this started as a side project during my university time, it became my main project between 2003-2006. This was my first project where I could feel real traction. In its best days, it had 100.000 unique visitors per month.

  • The main mistake was a technical one. Most of our traffic came through organic search (SEO). In 2005, I wanted to rebrand the service and move it to a new domain. The new domain had a Google penalty from the previous owner. I didn’t know about the penalty, but I knew there were indexing issues, and I had an uneasy feeling. I did the switch anyways, mainly motivated by my ego. We lost all Google traffic for 90 days, until the ban was lifted. We never regained the past traction. F*ck! (I’m pretty sure that without this, the site would have grown to be 10x larger than it ultimately became…)
  • Managing a discussion board is hard. I let myself be totally absorbed by reading and writing in the community. I neglected everything else. Bad monetization, no business development deals, no development of own service offerings. Instead of working “on the business”, I worked “in the business”. We should have outsourced more and getting more help from freelancers. Don’t do everything yourself. Get help!
  • I just didn’t realize how many different monetization strategies could have been applied to this project. We only monetized with banner ads. We should have used more affiliate links. Write an ebook. Create paid directories of professional service providers. Promote our own professional services. Create a paid membership community etc. I’m pretty sure we could have come up with 25 different ways to monetize the site, while providing value. With banner ads alone, we made 15-25k CHF per year. Not bad for students. But not enough to make a real business out of it. It could have been a 250k a year business.
  • We had a niche, but didn’t communicate well enough. We should have been much more specific in our positioning/branding, and don’t be afraid to repel people we weren’t addressing. What do we stand for? Who is this service really for? We never answered those questions.
  • After moving on to our new startup in 2007, we held on to the site for 8 (!) more years. These were frustrating times for all community members and ourselves, and it went downhill pretty soon. Don’t hold on to projects you don’t want to focus on anymore! We eventually sold the site in 2015 for a small sum. In 2007/2008 it would have been worth much more, and we would have avoided much frustration.
  • I learned a lot from this project, and it pays dividends until today. I learned HTML/CSS, SEO, SEM, Affiliate Marketing, and many of the core skills I use until this day.

Keyword-based arbitrage website (2008-2013)
The idea was to pick an affiliate program on TradeDoubler or Zanox, to build a highly specialized site around a specific set of keywords, attract organic search traffic, and redirect it to the affiliate program to earn commissions. I hired freelancers to write the content.

  • I picked the wrong market and language. It was a Swiss site, in German only. Combined with the hyper-niche aspect the total addressable market was too small. Why didn’t I pick a global affiliate program and built a site in English? I wasn’t thinking big enough. Think big!
  • I didn’t want to spend much money, so I hired low-quality writers. I wasn’t proud of the site. Outside of SEO, I didn’t promote the site. I didn’t want to put my name behind it. Life is too short to do things you are not proud of!
  • At peak months, the site had 300 visits and made 100 EUR per month.
  • All the money we made was reinvested in buying backlinks and content. The project was not profitable.
  • In the end, traffic and motivation faded away, so I shut it down.
  • I still think that picking a hyper-niche topic and building an authority site around it is a viable strategy. But it needs to provide real value or solve a real problem, and don’t be a pure arbitrage play.

Meditation app (2014-2016)
Since 2012 I had the desire to build an app. In 2014 I had the idea for an app based meditation community. The idea was “Runkeeper for meditation”, and it was my main project in 2014. I sold it in 2016 and it still exists today.

  • My main goal was to build a lifestyle business. I outsourced the design and development to an app development company, and wanted to keep the operations as lean as possible.
  • I underestimated the amount of work (and cash, if you use contractors) it takes to create an app. It’s much more complicated than a website.
  • We got 40k downloads in the first two years, and our users logged 380k meditation sessions. Unfortunately, retention (in terms of repeat daily usage) and revenues were not very impressive. Only 3k Monthly Active Users and $200-$560 monthly revenues.
  • A larger pivot would have been needed. Addressing beginners instead of experienced meditators, create paid audio/video guides, or trying out radically different business models would have been possible approaches.
  • In the meantime, a different opportunity came up, and I decided to focus on that. I didn’t want to repeat the mistakes from the webmaster forum project (see above) and let the app die a death of abandonment. So I decided to find a new owner and found one. In fact, one candidate was a prominent Silicon Valley entrepreneur with >1M followers, but it ended up to not be a good fit.
  • I was applying the Lean Startup methodology for this project. But, I was not totally rational, intentionally so. I really wanted to build an app. It was a bucket list kind of thing. It might have been wiser to create a lean web-based version first, to validate the market, before building the app.
  • In the end, I learned a lot from this project. I now have the skill to build and market apps, and work with outside development companies. I was able to successfully apply this know-how at Exsila, where I led the creation of the iOS and Android apps.
  • Read more: What I learned building the ZenFriend meditation app

Investor community (2018-2019)
The idea was to build a paid membership community for entrepreneurs and professionals, and to give them everything they need to define and implement a passive stock investing strategy.

  • The main hypothesis was to make the discussion forum the center piece of the product. For members to share and encourage each other to take action. I recruited 40 founding members from my newsletter. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. Even though it was a closed group, people didn’t feel safe (or simply didn’t want to) share their progress with others.
  • The guides I created for the members area were helpful and valuable. I was proud of them. Members found them useful, and I was able to inspire at least two people to start investing.
  • I wasn’t proud of the whole service. A larger pivot was needed.
  • In the end, inspired by Seth Godin, I decided to shut down the site, to have the freedom to start again with a blank canvas. Build. Test. Learn. Repeat.
  • I learned from this project that I don’t want to build online communities anymore. I want to have more direct relationships with people. Maybe in person. Maybe digitally enabled, but more personal. I also learned a lot about ClickFunnels, the service I used to build the site.
  • I still have a desire to help people achieve financial freedom. But not in this format. Maybe one day, I will come up with something new.

Conclusion

  • I seem to have trouble with Reid Hoffman’s wisdom: “If you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.” I am pretty good at starting things, launching quickly, and also being somewhat embarrassed. But, when I’m not proud of the product, I don’t want to promote it and stand behind it, limiting its early adoption.
  • I seem to have trouble with pivots. When the initial hypothesis doesn’t hold true, I lose motivation to do larger pivots. On the flip side, people like Seth Godin recommend to better shut things down and start from scratch, instead of being influenced by the things you already have (a form of path dependency). It seems there is no clear answer. What is clear to me: don’t hold on to a product that is not working. Move forward, or go home.

What’s next?
I will keep creating new projects. I learn from each one, no matter whether it succeeds or fails. And also, to be totally honest, I see it as a personal challenge (and bucket list item) to build a side project that I am truly proud of, that solves a real problem, has traction, is fun and profitable. I’m not there yet, but I will keep trying!

What have you learned from your side projects? Let me know on Twitter.

PS: Here is a compilation of Thirty years of projects by Seth Godin.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Why You Should Go Hyper-Niche

Since the agricultural, and more recently the industrial revolution, specialization has been one of the key drivers of human economic progress. It allows for a unique win-win situation: You focus on what you do best. I do what I do best. Then we trade. In total, we produce better and more things, which keeps increasing our standard of living.

No matter how big your ambitions, whether you want to build a large company, or a side project, I believe one of the best strategies available is to go hyper-niche. Picking a niche of a niche of a niche.

Don’t be the “plant person”. Become the “baby spinach guru”.

Don’t do “asset management”. Offer “value investing for entrepreneurs in Germany with a net worth between €5 million to €25 million”.

Don’t do “book reviews”. Do “reviews of artificial intelligence science-fiction audiobooks”.

Why?

  • You have a chance to stand out
  • You can leverage your unique skills and experiences
  • You have a chance that your hyper-niche is not taken yet
  • It’s easier to find your first customers, because you exactly know who your audience is
  • It allows you to focus on just one thing, and not be “everything for everyone”
  • It helps you to say no to clients and opportunities, because you’re not that person, sorry
  • You have the chance to fill your hyper-niche globally and become a hyper-monopoly
  • Customers gravitate towards the most specialized provider. If you have eye problems, do you go to your general physician, or an eye specialist?

Your market entry strategy depends on the product you want to offer. If you offer a highly personal and professional service, you might want to start locally. If you want to build an authority website covering your topic of interest, you might want to start in one language. After you have succeeded in one segment, you might expand.

Personally, the more I think about it, the more I’m feeling the itch to go hyper-niche too. To create one (or multiple) side projects, and to create real value in a narrow segment. I had several side projects in the past 10 years, some with moderate success, and others failed miserably. That, too, is part of the game: Fall down, get back up, and learn!

I think it’s a great model for entrepreneurs. And especially a great model to build lifestyle businesses that provide value, are fun, and profitable.

(I keep re-learning this lesson from Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chase Andrews and others.)


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Audio Is Titanically Important

I am a huge believer in audio. These days, more than ever.

I started listening to audiobooks 11 years ago, inspired by a friend (thank you, Rouven!). I had a portable MP3 player. First, I had to buy or lend a CD, then convert the CD into MP3, and then load them onto the device. The device would not remember my audio position, so I would keep a note on my phone with the last track I completed. It was cumbersome, but I loved it. I would listen to books on my commute or while walking around. A whole new world opened up to me.

Fast forward to today. Each smartphone is a high-end audio player. You can subscribe to things, and they are automatically downloaded onto your device. Or you simply purchase and download them digitally. How cool is that?

I agree with Marc Andreessen that audio will be (and already is) “titanically important“. For me, audio is the most important medium. I listen to 2 to 8 hours of audio per day. Books, Podcasts, YouTube videos, text-to-speech, everything.

Text is great. I love writing and reading. But I have to admit: audio is more convenient. It can be better integrated into your daily life. Personally, I have the capacity to consume much more audio than text.

I think it’s time for everyone to start thinking about audio. Personally, my audio production skills are pretty underdeveloped, so I have a natural reluctance. It’s a completely new area of expertise. Of course, it’s not exactly rocket science, but it’s something you need to learn and master.

I’m starting to think about it myself. This episode was great food for thought. It doesn’t need to be a podcast, though. It could simply be what Switzerland’s daily newspaper NZZ or Pocket is doing: offering a text-to-speech button.

Also, I found it important what Daniel Sennheiser, CEO of Sennheiser, said during his recent talk. You need to focus on your core competences (where you have an edge), and outsource or find partners for everything else. For most of us, audio is probably not our core competence. However, it should be pretty easy to find some talented freelancers on Upwork to help you with that.

Another thing I learned from Daniel Sennheiser is that smartphones are very good at video, but pretty shitty at audio. So you definitely need an external microphone. Personally, I have bought the Blue Yeti USB Microphone and have been very happy with it. It offers great value for money. Now, I only need to use it more often to bring my cost per use down…


Posted on by Remo Uherek

The Cost per Use Principle

Do you want to spend less money than you earn, so you can save more, invest more, and ultimately achieve financial freedom?

Then I suggest you pay attention to the Cost per Use Principle:

For each material possession (especially the most expensive ones), calculate and minimize your cost per use.

Crave a swimming pool? Then interview someone who owns a pool and calculate his cost per use. It could be twenty dollars per swim.

Want to go on vacation with an RV? Then calculate the cost per night and compare it with a regular rental car in combination with hotels/motels/bungalows. The RV rental alone can easily be 100-150 EUR per day. Gas, campsite fees, parking, and additional public transportation not included. A regular rental car costs 20-25 EUR per day, with much less gas expenses. That leaves 75-130 EUR per night for the accommodation and parking. I love renting RVs myself, but you just have to be aware that more often than not, it’s the more expensive option.

Want to buy a Tesla with the largest battery pack and performance package? Compare the cost per kilometer with a smaller battery and regular performance. And then compare it with a pre-owned one. I talked to people who ended up paying more than $2 per kilometer ($3.22 per mile). So if I ever would buy a Tesla (I almost did), I’d do a careful calculation and try to bring my cost per kilometer down as much as possible.

Do your parents own a vacation home? You’d be surprised how much they pay per night if they don’t use it often. For the same money, they could often stay at 4 or 5 star hotels, and not always go to the same place.

I am aware that this is a purely financial perspective. You might want to consider convenience, quality of life, potential appreciation of assets, potential rental income, and other factors that are important to you.

Even more important than that is to make sure to consider the total and true cost of ownership of anything you own. Including maintenance, insurance, storage, opportunity cost of invested capital, your own time, people you need to hire, hassles/headaches, and all other directly and indirectly related expenses.

Of course, the most efficient cost per use is zero. This is achieved by either getting your things for free, or not buying them at all. Here are some hacks:

Hack #1: Instead of buying something, put it on your wishlist and wait for 48 hours. Often, your purchase impulse fades away. Example: Last year, I considered buying an electric moped. I ended up not buying it, and am using my bicycle (in combination with mobility-as-a-service options) ever since.

Hack #2: Force yourself to sell or give away one item before you are allowed to purchase another. Advanced: Give away two or more for each new one.

Hack #3: Make it a habit to buy things used. Example: I recently needed more teaspoons, so I went to a thrift store and bought some for a fraction of the price at IKEA.

Last year, I increased my iPhone cycle from 2 to 3 years, bringing my cost per day down by 33%. If I increase it to 3.5 years, 6 months after the introduction of a new model, I’d be able to buy it second-hand, decreasing my cost per use even further.

This is a powerful principle, and I hope that it will serve you as well as it did me.

[Hat tip to Mr. Money Mustache]


Posted on by Remo Uherek

31 Takeaways from START Summit 2019

My main motivation for going to START Summit 2019 was to meet old friends and acquaintances from the St. Gallen area, but also to learn from the talks. I was positively surprised. It ended up to be one of the best and most innovative tech/startup conferences I have ever attended. Check out the opening video as one of the details they nailed.

Here are my key takeaways:

#1: The University of St. Gallen (HSG) has a palpable entrepreneurship vibe. This event has been 100% student organized by 60 students. They had support of HSG’s Dean and the St. Gallen Mayor, both of whom came to the opening. I loved my time at the University of Basel, but looking back, I really missed the entrepreneurship vibe I felt in St. Gallen!

#2: St. Gallen wants to become the hub for eSports, similar to how Zug became the “Crypto Valley”. They started the initiative “Digital Sports Hub Switzerland” to push this forward. (Learned from the Mayor of St. Gallen.)

#3: There is no such thing as an “AI startup”. It always needs to be “AI plus x”, i.e. AI applied to a specific thing. AI itself is not a product, it’s a technology, similar to electricity. (Learned from Richard Socher, Chief Scientist at Salesforce.)

#4: How to build an AI startup: (1) Pick a very specific niche/problem. (2) Collect as much structured data as possible in this niche. (3) Create specialized algorithms that create value. (Learned from Richard Socher, Chief Scientist at Salesforce.)

#5: Ask yourself regularly: “Where can I have the biggest impact, given my personal skills and resources?”. I have added this question to my quarterly life review. (Learned from Richard Socher, Chief Scientist at Salesforce.)

#6: “Essentialism” is a better term than “Minimalism”. It’s not about the number of possessions, but how essential/important they are to you. (Learned from Cédric Waldburger, Entrepreneur and Essentialist.)

#7: Quick tips on how to start with essentialism: (1) For everything you add/buy, remove/give away one thing. (2) Put things you haven’t used in the past 90 days in a box. Then wait another 90 days to see whether you go back those things. If not, give away the box. This battles your loss aversion and the instinct of “I might need this one day”. (Learned from Cédric Waldburger, Entrepreneur and Essentialist.)

#8: “As an investor, it’s important to cut your losses. As an entrepreneur, it’s important to keep going. So there is a difference in mindset.” (Learned from Daniel Aegerter, Investor and Entrepreneur.)

#9: Dragon = a company that returns >1x the whole fund (compared to Unicorn = Startup valued at >$1 billion.) Recent European dragons were Spotify, Adyen, Supercell, Delivery Hero, Just Eat. (Learned from Nenad Marovac, Investor.)

#10: Logitech transformed itself from a PC peripherals company to a Cloud peripherals company. Now multi-brand, multi-category. Vision: Become a Nestlé or Unilever type company. (Learned from Bracken Darrell, CEO Logitech.)

#11: Best team size is a team of 2. Reason: You only have 1 relationship to manage. Team size of 3 = 3 relationships. Team size of 16 = 120 pairs of relationships. That’s why Jeff Bezos at Amazon focuses on very small teams (“two pizza teams”). (Learned from Bracken Darrell, CEO Logitech.)

#12: Large organizations have only one advantage: scale and resources. But one huge disadvantage: complexity and bureaucracy. Startups have the advantage of small teams and less pairs of relationships. That’s why startups can move much faster than the big guys. (Learned from Bracken Darrell, CEO Logitech.)

#13: Logitech CEO has 25 direct reports. This is a wonderful number. As he cannot micromanage them all (because they are too many), he needs to give them responsibility, so they can work autonomously. It’s not a 25 people team either (with 300 individual relationships). It’s 25 single pairs, i.e. 25 subsets of two people. This is manageable. (Learned from Bracken Darrell, CEO Logitech.) [Want to know how to calculate the number of relationships for a given number of people? I did. Here is formula with n representing the number of people: (n*(n-1))/2 e.g. for 25 people it’s (25*24)/2 = 300 pairs of relationships]

#14: Give each new employee this task: “after 30/60/90 days send me a note with things that are broken. What obviously broken/ineffective/inefficient things can we improve?” (Principle: Fish don’t notice water anymore). Logitech CEO meets with each new employee and gives her/him this task. They have implemented many suggestions already. (Learned from Bracken Darrell, CEO Logitech.)

#15: Logitech sees itself as a design company. Why did Bracken Darrell join Logitech as CEO? Because he wanted to be part of a design company.

#16: Pick a very specific niche. How did Scalable Capital (soon €2 billion assets under management) get started? They focused on a very particular target group. Super exclusive. Focused on people with a university degree in business or computer science (i.e. people with a high degree of numbers literacy.). (Learned from Erik Podzuweit, Founder of Scalable Capital.)

#17: California Privacy Act 2018 (CCPA) is coming. It’s similar to GDPR, i.e. everyone who has users in California needs to comply. (Learned from Lisa Gradow, Co-Founder of Usercentrics, a Consent Management Platform).

#18: Privacy = freedom from unauthorized intrusion. Cyber Security = measures taken to protect a computer against unauthorized access or attack. (Learned from Lisa Gradow, Co-Founder of Usercentrics).

#19: Archlet.io won the startup pitching competition. They use machine learning algorithms to make value chains more efficient. They implemented one project so far, and achieved cost savings of 3% for the client.

#20: A great business model for hackers is to become ethical hackers and sell their know-how to companies. Edwin van Andel (Hacker & CEO of Zerocopter) believes that 60% of all hackers could be converted to ethical hackers, applying responsible disclosure principles.

#21: How to fix your security issues? Apply the Security Knowledge Framework. (Learned from Edwin van Andel, Hacker & CEO of Zerocopter.)

#22: “There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.” — Buddha (Learned from Daniel Graf, Uber Advisor.)

#23: Kilian Wagner, Co-Founder of VIU Eyewear won the HSG Founder of the Year 2019 award. The other nominees were the founders of Avrios, FELFEL and Globegarden.

#24: N26’s first product was “pre-paid cards for teenagers”. They spent all money, it didn’t work, then pivoted to the current product. (Learned from Valentin Stalf, Co-Founder N26.)

#25: Most of N26 customer service is done via chat. Their new chatbot reduced 20% of customer service requests. (Learned from Valentin Stalf, Co-Founder N26.)

#26: In the real estate space, a lot of digital low handing fruits are still available, e.g. remote signing of contracts with DocuSign. Lot’s of other innovation/disruption potential in this industry! (Learned from Dustin Figge, Founder von Homelike.)

#27: Don’t underestimate the power of mentors. Look for somebody with the same values, who is 10-15 years ahead of you. Don’t do it half hearted. Create a project and systematically reach out to specific mentors! #mentors That’s what I will implement, to find 1-2 additional mentors.

#28: Sennheiser, a 3rd generation family business, was founded in 1945; born out of necessity (needed food for his family, founder was scientist before); started with voltmeters, microphones; today 3000 employees (50% in Germany, still near the farmhouse where the company started); invented the first headphones in 1968; built a new innovation campus; CEO is here in St. Gallen to see what is going on, to not become complacent; the big opportunity is to create audio solutions for iphone/ipad. Video of those devices is great, audio still shitty. (Learned from Daniel Sennheiser, CEO of Sennheiser.)

#29: Audio & video are the future (Podcasts, YouTube videos etc.). If you are not good at it, then hire freelancers to help you! Lack of action is not an option.

#30: “Only do what only you can do.” Always ask yourself: Where is my edge? Then 100% focus on this area. All other things: Outsource them, find partners, or don’t them at all. (Learned from Daniel Sennheiser, CEO of Sennheiser.)

#31: Freigeist Capital investment criteria: How big is the market? Is the team right? Can this have a huge impact? Traditional KPI’s are not important (cashflow etc.). (Learned from Frank Thelen, CEO at Freigeist Capital.)

Conclusion:
If you are interested in the Swiss and European innovation and entrepreneurship scene, you should definitely consider adding START Summit to your schedule in 2020! I will be back for sure. 

Related links:
– My Photos (many pics of slides!)
– My Tweet summary
– My LinkedIn summary


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Twitter is a public utility

I have been using Twitter for 12 years and I love it more than ever.

For me, Twitter is not a social network. It’s an interest community. An idea network. More like a protocol. A global conversation protocol.

Twitter the business

I have trouble viewing Twitter as a regular tech company. Of course, I want Twitter the company to be sustainable and profitable. But, Twitter has a history of not being very good at monetization. It looks like this has improved, as Twitter has been profitable for the past 5 quarters.

I might be mistaken (and I hope that I am), but I don’t believe Twitter will ever find a similarly strong business model as Google or Facebook. So while I couldn’t be more excited about Twitter the product, I am not similarly excited about Twitter the business.

The role of Twitter in society

I believe Twitter plays a different role. More one of a protocol and public utility. Twitter enables real-time global conversation, and it does it better than any other tool. Well, not fully global, as Twitter is currently blocked in China, which might never be resolved. But this is a different story.

A decentralized future?

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, is also the CEO of Square, a mobile payments company. Both Jack and Square have been experimenting with and supporting Bitcoin for several years.

I have a strong conviction that the world is moving towards decentralization and privacy. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are an important catalyst for that. So how could Twitter look like in a decentralized, censorship-resistant world?

It could be similar to Steemit. The central database would be decentralized on a distributed ledger. Created content could not be controlled or censored. It only could be moderated in a limited way on the client layer. There would be multiple clients and user-experiences.

Without a central database, the current business model would be heavily disrupted. There would be no data licensing. And advertising would be harder, as there would be multiple clients.

Conclusion

Is that the future of Twitter? I don’t know. What I do know is that I love Twitter and the work of Jack Dorsey, and I will be watching and continue to cheer from the sidelines.

—

This post has been inspired by the recent podcast episodes with Jack Dorsey, which allowed me to take a deep dive:

– Jack Dorsey on Roe Rogan Experience
– Jack Dorsey on Sam Harris
– Jack Dorsey on Tales from the Crypt
– Jack Dorsey on Stephan Livera


Posted on by Remo Uherek

Podcast Ads 101: How to Succeed with Podcast Sponsorship

My own experience shows that sponsoring podcasts can be very effective in driving awareness and sales. I have bought many things triggered by podcast ads, including supplements, clothing and even a new mattress.

Here are the success factors that made those sales happen:

A trusted host
Podcasts are very personal, and loyal listeners spend countless hours listening to their favorite hosts. I would only work with hosts that have earned a high level of personal connection and trust with its audience.

Let the host read the ads
When the host reads the ads, they feel much less intrusive and may even be perceived as useful information. Bonus points if the host ads his own twist to the ad text.

A product loved by the host
The absolute best conversion rate can be achieved when the host uses and loves your product, and includes his own experience/testimonial into the ad text. Most of my own purchases have been triggered by this factor.

A juicy coupon code
This serves two purposes. The consumer has a powerful call to action, and the advertiser can measure the effectiveness of the campaign.

A separate landing page
Sometimes, the company creates a unique landing page, e.g. yourproduct.com/john if the host goes by the name John. This can increase the conversion rate, because a testimonial or special promotion can be added.

Repeat the call to action
The call to action and URL should be repeated multiple times.

Frequency is key
It can take a long time for people to get the message. That is what frequency is for. Don’t book just one or two placements. Book 8, or 24 or 52 placements, spread out over a long period of time. Don’t stop when you or your employees are tired of hearing the ads. Consumers need regular reminders, even if they have purchased from you before. If you want repeat purchases, don’t stop the campaign.

Consider Media for Equity
Some entrepreneurs form a joint venture with podcast hosts. In such a deal, the podcast host gets a share of the business in return for its audience and influence. One such example is Onnit which has partnered with Joe Rogan.


Posted on by Remo Uherek

6 Key Takeaways from Charlie Munger’s 2019 Daily Journal Annual Meeting

Charlie Munger, business partner of Warren Buffett, recently spoke at the 2019 Daily Journal Annual Meeting. You can watch the full recording here.

Here are my key takeaways:

#1: Fish where the fish are
For Charlie, that means China. High-quality companies in China are currently available for cheaper prices than similar companies in the USA.

#2: China
Charlie has outsourced his China investments to Li Lu. This is the only time he has ever given money to an external manager.

#3: Don’t be too active
As a value investor, you need to be okay with inactivity. Be a good picker and then hold for a very long time. For example, Charlie has held Berkshire Hathaway and Costco for many decades.

#4: No exit strategy
Charlie does not have an exit strategy or price target for his investments. He rarely sells.

#5: Have a “Too hard” bucket
Charlie has three categories when evaluating investing opportunities: Yes / No / Too hard. Especially the last category solves many problems. Charlie looks for the easy and obvious opportunities, and discards the rest.

#6: Charlie on Stoicism
He admires stoicism and has learned a lot from stoic thinkers. I didn’t expect anything else. In fact, I view Charlie and Warren as modern stoics!

Watch recording:


Posted on by Remo Uherek

What I learned from Sam Zemurray, America’s Banana King

My learnings from The Fish That Ate The Whale about Sam Zemurray:

  • Fire people who can’t get the job done, and replace them by people who can.
  • Fast decisions. Don’t nibble. Get things done.
  • Get your hands dirty. Work hard. Go out to the fields with the machete. “We are here, they are there.”
  • Make gold out of other peoples trash (Sam did this with ripe bananas)
  • Invent things. Be innovative. The company missed to invent the banana box, because Sam was not there anymore. When Sam was there, they were the innovation leader.
  • Founder led companies are stronger than companies where the founding generation has already passed away.
  • Get creative with your solutions! E.g. Sam double purchased land that was owned by two different parties. His opponents hired lawyers. Sam just purchased it twice and got it done. (Effective vs. efficient)
  • Never complain. Just play the hand you are dealt.
  • Want to replace current management? Get enough proxies and fire the board.
  • Listen to the people on the front lines. They have the best information. Go to the docks. Talk to people (scuttlebutt method).
  • Companies have a lifecycle. Even the most innovative, most profitable or most powerful companies fade away. What are the characteristics of companies that survive for hundreds of years? They need to keep reinventing themselves. A young generation needs to take over and rebuild the business.
  • Keep a low profile. Don’t attract too much attention. Be a doer, not an attention seeker.
  • Give anonymously. If you don’t, you are not giving, you are trading (e.g. for status or reputation).

What have you learned? Let me know on Twitter.

(Thank you for recommending the book, Brent Beshore.)


Posted on by Remo Uherek