#008 Andrew Finn of G64 Ventures & Wait But Why: How To Acquire A Free Company And Knowing When To Eat A Shitburger

Sep 28, 2021

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ADVICE

Prioritize Asset Building Early

Do prioritize building assets over selling your time early in your career.
Aim to accumulate and manage assets that produce passive income, not just a job paycheck.

ANECDOTE

From Couch Start To Scalable Tutoring

Andrew and Tim started a tutoring company from Tim's existing clients and grew it into a real business.
They found turning a founder-dependent tutoring business into an owner-independent company was a huge and difficult leap.

INSIGHT

Service Businesses Are Like Software

Service businesses mirror software economically: you resell someone's time at a markup.
The core challenge is expanding and justifying that markup (Y) to customers and workers.

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Today, I’m talking with my new Capital Camp buddy Andrew Finn. He is the co-founder of the blog Wait But Why. Since age 25 he’s been patiently building, buying, and operating small businesses. Now, he and Tim Urban share a portfolio of cash-flowing small businesses. Together we discuss how to get a free company, why it is often easier to buy a company than build it, and when to eat a shitburger. Enjoy these topics and countless others on this episode of Jorgenson’s Soundbox.

Additional resources to help enrich your experience below:

Topics Covered:

How to get a “free” business
What a $100,000 failure in early stage podcasting looked like
Why it’s easier to buy a company than build a company
Why “doing it later” is a risk and the opportunity cost that comes with it
The importance of judgement and getting experience making ‘real decisions’
How to be a legitimate player in “the game”
An illustration of a jobless renegade pirate’s day looks like
Eating shitburgers, and how to know when to stop

Favorite Quotes:

“If I do all this maneuvering, find this company, sell at this price, sell some debt and get some money. In 5 years it’ll be like poof here’s a free company and I get my money back.” - Andrew Finn

“Your job is not to win the SMB game, it’s to win the game. It’s to win the game of money in a way that will benefit your life. Like, we’re invested in crypto, and the stock market too.”

“All service businesses are chicken, just as much as software. You pay someone $X. Resell their time for $X + $Y. And the entirety of the business is justifying and expanding Y to both customers and workers. Y comes from well managed opex, capex, and organization structure. To do it well, you have to just laser focus on what you're providing in exchange for Y. The market gets pissed long-term if it doesn't feel like you're providing enough, and every day it conspires to ask you the question.” - Andrew’s Twitter

Additional Resources:

Additional Episodes If You Enjoyed:

If you enjoy podcasts with Brent Beshore of Permanent Equity or Patrick O’Shaughnessy, you’re going to love this one!

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