What I learnt from a $100 million exit
And the million dollar plan I created for my niece and nephew
Every Sunday I share what I learn about health, money and business. Here is what I learnt last week:
What I learnt from a $100 million exit
Is eating a low carb, high fat diet bad for your heart?
The million dollar investment plan I created for my niece and nephew
You can access previous editions of my weekly emails here. Let’s begin!
(1) What I learnt from a $100 million exit
A friend of mine successfully sold his business for millions.
When he was telling me about the origin story, what stood out to me was how he went about identifying the problem before he built the solution. He went to a prospect before he built anything and asked them "If I give you this solution, would you be interested?" They said yes. Then he took three months to build the solution. He then called on the same prospect and said "hey, the solution is ready, can we get on a call to demo it?" That is how he got his first client. About a decade later the company sold for $100 million.
Amazing! Inspiring!
He has now identified another problem. He is going to go through the same process of first reaching out to prospects to understand if the solution he is suggesting solves a real pain and whether they would be willing to pay for it. If the answer is yes and yes, then he will build the solution, just like he did for his first business.
This story is very different to what most entrepreneurs do. They "assume" that the problem they have identified is a problem that most people also identify with. And then they further "assume" that people will be willing to pay them for a solution of the problem that they have dreamt up in their heads. Don't make the same mistake. Go talk to the people you want to solve a problem for and make them pay you for it to figure out whether they mean what they say. Just validating that you have customers who are willing to pay you for the solution you offer before you go all-in will improve the probability of you being part of the rare 10% of businesses which succeed.
If I had to bet on my friend, I would. He will be solving problems, building solutions and selling companies till he is alive. Money is not the main motivator anymore, even though money is a good barometer for the value he creates. If it is not about the money then why is he doing it? He is doing it because he needs his brilliant mind to be active. If it is not actively solving problems then it is actively creating anxieties. There is truth to the saying that “an idle mind is a devil’s playground.” He needs a purpose to stay alive as a contributing member of society.
(2) Is eating a low carb, high fat diet bad for your heart?
If you are eating less than 100 grams of carbs or less than 25% of your daily calories as carbs per day and more than 45% of your total daily energy as fat per day, then you are consuming what is called a Low Carb, High Fat (LCHF) Diet.
305 out of 1525 participants were eating LCHF. The results showed that these 305 participants had higher levels of LDL cholesterol and apolipoprotein B (apoB). apoB is the main protein in LDL which is thought to be the main factor which allows fatty plaque to build up in your arteries.
Source: https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacadv.2024.100924
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My thoughts - not all fats are created equal. Avoid the saturated and trans fats that are obviously bad for you, and consume more of the unsaturated fats from olive oil, nuts, avocados and fish to stay away from cardiovascular disease. told her boss never to let her go.
(3) The million dollar investment plan I created for my niece and nephew
I shared a 30 minute YouTube video with my 9 year old niece called One Idiot. It promotes the magic of compounding through Systematic Investment Plans (SIP). It basically promotes the idea of buying mutual funds.
I asked Aryana what she learnt? She said that keeping money in a piggy bank does not grow the money, putting money in the bank grows it a little but putting money in mutual funds through SIPs can make it grow a lot.
I then repeated this lessons when I was talking to my sister and brother in law. I told them that if they are not creating businesses then they should be investing in businesses because just like they work hard for a pay cheque, their money should work hard for them.
I then created this compounding calculator for them. I requested them to determine how much of their savings they can invest every month without fail so that by the time Aryan (8 months old) and Aryana (9 years old) get to being 30, they have a corpus to give them optionality. I recommended they put their money in MeritorQ. MeritorQ has given a whopping 50% return last year but that is not normal so in my compounding calculator I have assumed a very conservative 15% annual return. If they can invest 1 lac per month ($1120), Aryan and Aryana will end up being millionaires by the time they are 30.
Harsh Batra (LinkedIn)
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