My Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Karen Briscoe is the creator of the transformative “5 Minute Success” concept. Her first book Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed, offers a combination of information and inspiration delivered through memorable stories.STORY: Karen took over Huckaby Briscoe Conroy Group (HBC) when Sue Huckaby passed in 2008. The luxury business had high overheads, and Karen was having a tough time running it, but a past client came to her rescue.LEARNING: Invest in yourself because you are your greatest asset. Take your challenges and turn them into confidence. “Changing you starts with changing the way you look at things because whatever got you here is probably not going to get you there.”Karen Briscoe Guest profileKaren Briscoe is the creator of the transformative “5 Minute Success” concept. Her first book Real Estate Success in 5 Minutes a Day: Secrets of a Top Agent Revealed, offers a combination of information and inspiration delivered through memorable stories. Karen is the host of the “5 Minute Success” podcast, ranked #1 on Overcast, most recommended in the business category.Karen is the principal owner of the Huckaby Briscoe Conroy Group (HBC) with Keller Williams. The HBC Group has been recognized by the Wall Street Journal as one of the 250 Top Realtor® teams in the United States.Worst investment everIn the early 2000s, Karen went into residential real estate, where she did well and became successful very rapidly. Karen’s success came to the attention of one of the top agents in her market area, who happened to also be number 10 in the entire nation. Sue Huckabee asked Karen to join her and become a partner in her company, which she did in 2006. The business was doing great then.In 2008, the financial crisis hit the US, and real estate took a turn for the worst. In the same year, Karen’s partner died, and she took over the business.Running the business was tough for Karen because it was a luxury business with high overheads. She often felt like she had made the worst investment ever. But just as Karen was about to give up, a past client came to her and expressed interest in getting into real estate. Her client’s energy and drive renewed Karen’s spirit, and together they revived the company.Lessons learnedInvesting in yourself is worth it.Your knowledge and ability to create value and help people are your greatest asset.Andrew’s takeawaysConfidence is built by overcoming a record of challenges.Take your tough experiences and turn them into your confidence.You can change yourself.Actionable adviceTake action. What you put energy into is what you’re going to receive back. If you want to attract something new or anything good in your life, you need to take action towards it.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsKaren’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to launch four books. She is also focusing on expanding her coaching business.Parting words “If I can do it, you can too.”Karen Briscoe [spp-transcript] Connect with Karen BriscoeLinkedInTwitterWebsitePodcastBookAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever PodcastFurther reading mentionedGary Sutton, (2001) The Six-Month Fix: Adventures in Rescuing Failing Companies

BIO: Marina Krivonossova is a Russian-American currently based in the Netherlands, pursuing a master’s degree in political science.STORY: Marina was looking for accommodation in the Netherlands when she met a fellow Californian lady on Facebook. They decided to move in together. Marina made the mistake of leaving her in charge of the lease. One day, she came home to find the lady had canceled the lease and didn’t want to live with her anymore. Marina was left homeless and a few thousand dollars poorer.LEARNING: Never trust anyone with your money unless you have a legal contract in place. “Don’t trust anyone else with your money unless there’s a legal contract.”Marina Krivonossova Guest profileMarina Krivonossova is a Russian-American currently based in the Netherlands. She moved there to pursue a master’s degree in political science after completing her bachelor’s degree at the University of California, Irvine. Though her most recent work has been in marketing and writing, Marina’s ultimate goal is to work for the government in anti-human trafficking policy development and implementation. In her free time, Marina is a fan of traveling, hiking, and baking.Worst investment everMarina was craving for something new, and so she decided to study in the Netherlands. She found a program that she liked and started looking for a place to stay but couldn’t find any through the websites she was using. She decided to turn to Facebook, where she found a lady who lived near her in California. The lady also wanted to do that exact same program, at the exact same time, at the exact same location. They got in touch and decided to meet up. They got along fine, and they decided to be roommates.The lady had an Airbnb account, so they found a long-term rental and moved in together. The two ladies lived in harmony, but there was just something off about the lady. However, Marina didn’t think much about it, and she wasn’t home most of the time anyway.Marina spent most of her free time traveling in and out of Netherlands. For her birthday, Marina went to visit a friend in London, and on getting back, her roommate informed her that she didn’t want to live with her anymore and had canceled their Airbnb lease. The lady refused to refund her the money she had paid for the lease.As if that was not enough, they had booked a trip together to Portugal, Spain, and Morocco, and now they couldn’t go. Everything had been prebooked and was nonrefundable.Marina was homeless and also lost thousands of dollars on a trip that she never got to take. Her biggest regret was trusting a stranger too fast and allowing her to have access to her money.Lessons learnedDon’t trust anyone else with your money unless there’s a legal contract.Make sure everything you book is refundable, or at least partially refundable.Make sure you’re always in charge of your situation, and nobody else is influencing it.Andrew’s takeawaysNever lose control of your money or let another person get access to it.When moving to a new location, use your friends as a reference or starting point.Actionable adviceDo thorough research before moving to a new country. Don’t be so trusting and never let anyone take control of your money.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsMarina’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to finish a book she’s been working on. [spp-transcript] Connect with Marina KrivonossovaLinkedInFacebookBlogAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

How to Value a StartupToday I want to talk to you about how to value a startup.This story started when Dan, a podcast listener, replied to my recent weekly email with this question, “How do you value a startup, especially if there is no revenue?”How do you value a startup?To answer this question, I decided to dust off a business plan that I wrote for a client soon after the 2000 dot-com boom and bust. For those of you who were not around then, the dot-com boom saw the US Nasdaq Composite peak in early 2000, up 400% from 1995. At that time, the New York Stock Exchange Composite index was trading at a Shiller cyclically adjusted PE (CAPE) ratio of 45x (by the way, as of this writing on July 16th, 2021; we are currently at 37x a CAPE). But after the Dot Com crash by 2002, the Nasdaq Composite had fallen by 80% from its peak.You will learn how to value a startupAfter this story, you will see that you can value an idea, activity, or revenue for early-stage companies. Ideas have value if their market size is massive and there is a reasonably high probability of success. Activity has value, particularly activity related to customers. This value derives from the fact that eventually, those users can be converted into paying customers. And that’s when revenue starts rolling in. A company may lose money for years but still have massive revenue growth.You can value an early-stage startup with no revenueA good example of this is Amazon which ramped up revenue but produced losses for many years. And now we all know there was value to those revenues. So, Dan, you can value an early-stage startup with no revenue based on its idea, activity, or revenue.Let’s get into the story.I was hired to write a business plan to help my client raise capitalThis client came to me in 2004 as we were just recovering from the dot com bust. He asked me to help his team write a business plan and value their company to raise capital from angel investors and eventually from venture capital funds. He even had big dreams of someday listing his startup on the stock market.I pulled together all the information they had and started to work on forecasting revenue and building the financial model that would lead us to the value of the business. What follows are excerpts from the report I wrote for him.Our product is globalWe believe that our product is global, so our market is the world. Therefore, the first driver of value for our business is the size and growth of the global population. As of 2004, the world’s population is 6.5 billion, and we expect it will grow at about 1.2% per year for the next 10 years and then slow to 1.1% for the remainder. That means that by year 30 of our projections, the global population will be about 8.6 billion, which is our starting point for forecasting and valuing our business.Our product is free softwareOur product is a software application that runs on a desktop computer and allows users to communicate better. We are still in the testing and development phase, and as a result, have encouraged our customers to download our software for free. Since we have also started experimenting with monetizing our software, we have generated a tiny bit of revenue. We are optimists and expect explosive growth and are raising the funding we will need to finance that growth.Only internet-connected people can use our softwareOne challenge we face is that, because we will be using the power of the internet, only those people who are on the internet can use our software. Currently, 87% of the world’s population is not on the internet, but we think that this will change over the decades to come.Addressable market of 800 million people now, and we expect 6 billion in 30 yearsTo calculate our addressable market for our software, we multiply the percent of the population (currently 6.5 billion) times the percentage of people on the internet, which we estimate at about 13%. Therefore, we consider about 800 million people as our total addressable market today.We have talked with many thought leaders who confirm that the internet is the trend of the future. They estimate that 17 years from now, there will be 5 billion global internet users, up from the current 800 million. We also expect 30 years from now; there will be 6.3 billion people on the internet, more than two-thirds of humanity. In other words, three decades from now, our total addressable market will have expanded by 8 times. This is massive. This is exciting. And now is your opportunity to get in.We expect to capture at least 50% of all internet usersWe estimate that by year five, we will capture 10% of all internet users, and by year ten, 49%. No company can expand forever, so we forecast that this will peak at about 60% of all internet users sixteen years from now and then slowly fall to 50% due to competition. However, we do not forecast that our share of internet users will ever fall below 50%.One million customers already use our softwareNow that you understand the market potential let’s talk about customers. We consider customers to be those who download and use our software. Some will only use the limited, free option, while others will use the paid feature. But to simplify, we will combine these into one measure, which we call monthly users. These are customers who use our software at least once a month.Currently, we have one million monthly users. And you could say that they are almost all free users as they are paying us next to nothing. Our revenue this year (2004) was only US$400,000, or about 40 cents of revenue per user per year. We know it is tiny, but our objective is to get as many users on as possible to start to build something we call called the “Network Effect.”The “Network Effect” could drive massive valueThe “Network Effect” was first described in Bell Telephone’s 1908 annual report, written by Theodore Vail. It was later expanded on by Robert Metcalfe, which is why it has more commonly been called Metcalfe’s law. Metcalfe’s company, 3Com, sold Ethernet cards which allowed computers to connect to the internet and communicate. He argued that the value of the network was proportional to the square of the number of users.This Network Effect implies that as more people use our software, it will make the experience more valuable for all users, making our company more valuable too. Our goal is to expand our network of users in the first five years rather than focusing on revenue or profit. So over the first five years, we expect only to generate about US$2 per user per year. After that point, we think we can begin exploding our revenue.We aim to surpass the 1 billion user mark within 10 yearsAbove we explained that our business’s primary internal driver is the number of users, not the revenue. So let’s consider our forecast for monthly users. We have applied Metcalfe’s law and added some of our judgment based upon our first year of experience to make the following forecast.We think we can increase our current one million users to six million by the end of year two, and then double that to 12 million by year three. By year four, we expect the network effects to kick in, and we will have increased users by five times over the prior years to 58 million.From there, we think we can more than double users in year five to 145 million. In our forecasts, we expect more than double that in year six to 360 million users and a doubling in year seven to 600 million users.The doubling will slow and happen only at year ten, at which time we expect to have broken the one billion user mark. Doubling will be hard from there, but we think by year 16, we will be at 2.5 billion users, and by year 30, we expect to have 6.4 billion users.The US$5m dream value of our businessOne year ago, our business was just a dream, but the dream of our small team was big. At the beginning of 2004, two of our founding team members put in the initial funds to cover operating costs.But a few months ago (Mid 2004), we managed to convince one angel investor to put in seed money of US$500,000 as a convertible note for a 10% stake putting the value of our business at US$5,000,000 (US$500,000 divided by 10%). That gave us the funding needed to get to work! We were excited to have someone appreciate the dream value of our business.The US$100m activity value of our businessNow, as we approach the end of 2004, our focus is on the decades ahead, not today’s profit or even revenue. Therefore we value our business based upon customer activity. Our customer downloads and software usage is extremely strong. So we believe our core focus should continue to be to gain as many users as possible to let the Network Effect work in our favor.If we can continue to get funding to finance our growth, we think that the activity value of our customer downloads and usage could be as high as US$100,000,000 by mid-2005. From there, the sky is the limit (if we can keep growing our customer base.)The US$500m revenue value of our businessEventually, we expect to start monetizing our customer experience, and it is at that time, we feel we can create massive value. By the end of our third year, we think we could generate US$4 per year from each of our customers, which would generate us US$48 million of revenue.We see many years of massive growth ahead and therefore based on just the revenue potential of our business we think we could be worth as much as US$500 million by the end of 2006. We arrive at this by multiplying revenue time a multiple of 10x. We derive this multiple based on our above forecast of massive future growth of users. Would you be interested in investing in this massive growth?Our ask: US$10,000,000 for a 10% stakeCurrently, we are looking for an investor or group of investors to put US$10 million into our business for a 10% stake. This would value our business at US$100 million. If you are interested, just let us know. Then, after we sign a non-disclosure agreement, we will share with you all the internal analyses we have done to support our conclusions in this report.Well, that’s the end of part one of this storyFrom this story, you can see that you can value an idea, activity, or revenue for early-stage companies. Ideas have value if the market size is massive and there is a reasonably high probability of success. Activity has value, particularly activity related to customers. This value derives from the fact that eventually, those users can be converted into paying customers. And that’s when revenue starts rolling in.Well, that’s a wrap. To Dan and all other listeners out there, this is my answer about how you could value a startup, especially if there is no revenue. Let me know if you have any questions (I now realize need to write part two of this story soon.) Andrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Doug Gordon is an international speaker, radio presenter, and CEO of D&S Performance Optimisation. He spent 21 years in the investment industry selling hedge funds and mutual funds B2B to global banks, institutional fund managers, and stockbrokers.STORY: In the past, Doug would follow other people’s dreams and would often be motivated by money. This got him stressed, depressed, and anxious. Eventually, he decided to follow his true purpose, and now his focus is on living his dream while helping people find their true calling.LEARNING: The more grateful you are, the more you open yourself to receiving more. Bring purpose to everything you do. “Visualize what you want in life, and be grateful for everything you have because you open yourself up to receive more.”Doug Gordon Guest profileDoug Gordon is an international speaker, a radio presenter, and CEO of D&S Performance Optimisation. He spent 21 years in the investment industry selling hedge funds and mutual funds B2B to global banks, institutional fund managers, and stockbrokers. He held positions of head of sales and marketing and sales director at two of the top fund managers in Europe. In 2012 he had a near-death experience which was the same year he did an industry record of over $1.75bn in sales in one year.Worst investment everDoug’s worst investment ever was following other people’s dreams and money rather than following his heart and what was truly meant for him. He found himself doing what other people said he should be doing instead of following his true mission in life. This made Doug stressed, depressed, and anxious because his gut told him he was meant to take a different path, but he kept ignoring it. Eventually, Doug listened to himself and got on track. Now he is doing what he loves most and has aligned what he loves doing and helping people. Doug focuses on adding value to people rather than focusing on how much money he will make out of it. He believes he’s found his true purpose, and he is living it.Lessons learnedMany people hold onto past influences from parents, teachers, preachers, etc. You need to move past this to live your true purpose.The people that come into our lives mirror back the areas that we serve. Suppose you can utilize that reflection of what you see in them as a way of self-improving yourself and understanding that they’re coming into your life to help you grow, evolve, learn, and then eventually, hopefully, teach someone else as well. In that case, it will make life so much easier.Focus on what you want rather than what you don’t want. This will give you the energy to focus and go in that direction.Andrew’s takeawaysYou don’t need money to be happy. Family, friends, and healthy life can bring happiness.No matter what you are doing, bring purpose to it.Actionable adviceGleam your light every day. Have gratitude for everything you have because you open yourself up to receive more. Learn something new every day because when you’re learning, you’re growing. Exercise to honor your body every day and have that awareness of where you are and what you’re looking to achieve. Then meditate to visualize your goals and visualize the steps, procedures, and processes in place to achieve those goals.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsDoug’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to get his TV show up and running and bring on some inspirational people that can add as much value to people. He also wants to continue adding as much value to his clients as possible and to make them align with their true selves to complete their true mission in life.Parting words “Go out and enjoy your life. Remember to focus on what you want, rather than what you don’t want.”Doug Gordon [spp-transcript] Connect with Doug GordonLinkedInTwitterWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Joy Abdullah helps B2B service business owners, CEOs, and their teams to create emotive impact and influence using organic marketing.STORY: Joy was out of work in 2018, and he did everything he could to get another job without success. He was driven into a joint business venture with a friend out of fear of being financially unstable. The two didn’t quite think through the business model, and two years later, Joy was burned out and couldn’t run the venture anymore.LEARNING: Success comes from understanding your customer’s needs, not from what you know or your expertise. Hone in on what your market wants instead of chasing revenue. “If you’ve recently lost your job, stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’re more than a title; you’re more than a designation.”Joy Abdullah Guest profileFrom his 30 years of experience in various leadership roles across Southeast Asia, Joy Abdullah learned the importance of people in the success of an organization.And when it comes to giving our attention, people are influenced by the content, technology, and value that a brand communicates.As a business humanizer, Joy helps B2B service business owners, CEOs, and their teams to create emotive impact and influence using organic marketing.Worst investment everIn October 2018, Joy had been job hunting for 10 months and was on the verge of giving up. He had prepared a three-page resume, applied to every job ad he could, and asked for referrals from literally everyone he could think of. Yet 10 months later, he still had no job, and his savings were dwindling.Out of fear of acute financial pressure, Joy was driven into a collaborative venture in business and corporate strategy targeting corporates and mid-sized organizations and the SME groups. The venture was with a friend who was similarly out of work and living in Singapore.The business venture was quite erratic. So they had to keep pushing to get the venture to stabilize. They’d have a couple of good months then a few bad months, then back to the top again. This was the scenario till March 2020, and at this point, Joy was absolutely burned out and got out of the venture to pause and rethink the business model.Lessons learnedWhen starting a new business, take into account your environment. Do a simple SWOT audit because people are not behaving and doing work the way you’ve been used to.It’s not what you know or your expertise that will make you succeed. It is understanding who has a need that you can solve.If you want something to be done, don’t give with the intent of getting it. Instead, make people understand what is going to make them look good and feel good.Andrew’s takeawaysHone in on what your market wants instead of chasing revenue.Actionable adviceEnhance your self-awareness. Understand your mindset, how your beliefs and habits impact your behavior, which affects your decision-making, and your self-leadership.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsJoy’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to turn 30 companies to be humans in their marketing in the B2B world. He also hopes the family will be together physically in one location soon for just a fortnight as it has been over three years since that last happened.Parting words “Remember, the other person in front of you is just as human as you with fears, worries, hopes, and aspirations. Do unto them as you would have them do unto to you.”Joy Abdullah [spp-transcript] Connect with Joy AbdullahLinkedInTwitterYouTubeAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

What It Takes to be Financially World ClassToday I want to talk to you about what it means to be Financially World Class.Many years ago, the management team of the business I co-own in Thailand, CoffeeWORKS, made it through the tenth year of an annual (and massive) quality audit done by one of our multinational customers. Our customer congratulated us for having World Class quality, the feeling among our management team and all employees was ecstatic. Since that time, we have maintained that World Class level of quality in CoffeeWORKS.Is CoffeeWORKS Financially World Class?As I drove home from the celebration at the factory, I asked myself, “How would we know if our company was Financially World Class?” I felt a bit disappointed with myself because I should have had the answer long ago. After all, as a financial analyst, I had already developed various tools to evaluate the stocks I was either recommending or owning.Developing a measurement to meet many requirementsSo at that time, I set out to develop a tool that could meet the following requirementsIt had to be ONE measure that definitively assessed whether a company was Financially World ClassIt had to be a measure that, if improved, could be shown to increase the value of the businessIt had to be able to stand up to rigorous scrutiny from finance academics and professionalsIt had to be clear whether a company was moving up or down in that rankingIt had to be able to be used by both sophisticated financial analysts as well as company managers who knew nothing about financeIt needed to be robust enough that we could use it in CoffeeWORKS for the assessment of management performanceIt needed to be a financial measure that would bring the management team together instead of pitting them against each otherIt needed to be able to be used for any company in the worldThe World Class Benchmarking scorecard was bornAbout seven years ago, I developed the World Class Benchmarking scorecard that met all of the above criteria, and I rolled it out to the CoffeeWORKS management team. Now, we update it every month, and at that time, we review the company’s financial performance. Though we are not Financially World Class every month, the whole management team now thoroughly understands when we are not, and as a result, they then make more informed decisions.The World Class Benchmarking scorecard is based on scienceIn creating the scorecard, we did a lot of academic-style testing of various measures. From that testing, we could calculate the percent increase in the company’s value from improving the ranking. This is why the scorecard is also so handy for picking stocks.So, besides using the scorecard to help management teams, we also use it daily in A. Stotz Investment Research to evaluate the financial performance of any company in the world. We regularly perform an internal assessment of many thousands of companies worldwide, and internally we designate some as World Class Companies.What is a World Class Company?What follows is our internal process of identifying World Class Companies. We start with a universe of 26,000 firms worldwide across ten sectors: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Health Care, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities.To determine a World Class Company, we focus on one measure, Profitable Growth. This is a composite of two measures that matter most regarding share-price performance: Profitability and growth relative to global sector peers.We consider the “World Class Company” status within each sector; in other words, there is no one World Class Company in the world; instead, there is only a World Class Company at the top of each sector.Started with 26,000 companiesOnly 60 companies out of 26,000 (or 0.2%) made it to this final round. The companies that constituted the universe were listed on any stock exchange during 2019-2021 and had a market capitalization of at least US$50m as of 29 May 2021.Each company that achieved this designation has maintained itself in the top four deciles for profitability and growth relative to sector peers of similar size for at least ten quarters. These companies have also shown a net profit for the past three years on a quarterly or semi-annual basis. In addition, the winners had the highest Profitable Growth score based on their past 12 months of reported results as of 29 May 2021.World Class Companies from around the worldThe developed world hosts 41 of this group of 60 World Class companies, which is natural considering the size and maturity of developed markets. Twenty companies come from the Americas, but interestingly twenty companies also come from Asia. Eighteen of the twenty companies came from the US. Ten companies come from Asia; excluding Japan, nine came from Western Europe. Australasia and Japan each contributed six.World Class Companies from all sectorsIt is interesting to note that outside of the economic area of North America, the next largest region was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) which has contributed eight. Scandinavian companies seem to do quite well, contributing five.Nearly 17% of all 26,000 listed companies are Consumer Discretionary companies, and in our universe, the sector has produced 19 World Class companies. The Industrials sector accounts for the most number of all companies listed in stock markets worldwide, and from our universe, we have selected 13 that is World Class. Andrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Christina Demetriades works as a personal leadership coach, trainer, and coach/mentor supervisor. Through her work, she empowers and motivates people to succeed in their goals and to enjoy a fulfilling, meaningful career and life consciously.STORY: Christina suffered a severe back issue that left her bedridden and wholly dependent on others. When she got better, all she wanted was to live life. She met a man whom together they built an adventurous life. Christina got so immersed in the relationship that she lost herself. Her priority was her boyfriend. Everything was about him and not her. When they broke up, she was so empty after giving her all to him.LEARNING: The most valuable relationship you have is with yourself. Be an independent person and bring value to your relationships. “Imagine what you could do and what your life could be like if you were your best cheerleader.”Christina Demetriades Guest profileChristina Demetriades works as a personal leadership coach, trainer, and coach/mentor supervisor. She works with individuals and groups alike globally. Through her work, she empowers and motivates people to succeed in their goals and to enjoy a fulfilling, meaningful career and life consciously. A firm believer in each person’s ability to lead themselves effectively in any context, she guides her clients in developing leadership skills towards personal and professional self-actualization. Her motto is ‘Lead your life. Lead your career. Lead your community.’Worst investment everChristina was 27 years old when she suffered a severe back issue which kept her in bed and immobile for about three months. As a result, she was bedridden and wholly dependent on her family and friends. Eventually, she was able to avoid extensive surgery, and she was able to regain mobility.Coming out of these circumstances, Christina was so enthusiastic about life. She was now all about living, going out, socializing, and exploring. During this time, she happened to meet an old acquaintance. They started chatting, and the night just flew by.The two got together and went on to date for one and a half years. That one and a half years were full and adventurous. Christina was having the time of her life, and slowly she started losing herself in this relationship.Christina invested herself so much in this relationship. She took all her partner’s issues and made them her own. She prioritized all the problems he was facing on a very personal and familial level. Even with things that were none of her business, she was still invested in helping him fix and solve problems, some of which he wasn’t ready to resolve.Because of investing herself so much in the relationship, Christina forgot to love and take care of herself. So when the relationship ended, she came out empty and had to relearn how to love herself.Lessons learnedThe most valuable relationship we have is with ourselves.Being friends with ourselves is central to finding happiness.Give to yourself what you would give to a best friend or a loved one.Everything we experience in life, through our relationships with those around us, loved ones or not, carries a wealth of opportunities for us to learn, grow, become wiser, and evolve.Andrew’s takeawaysEvery relationship has one thing in common; you are in it. And so, you need to bring more to each relationship that you have.Be an independent person and bring value to your relationships.Actionable adviceBe your own best friend, give yourself whatever you need. Listen to yourself, support yourself, even laugh with yourself and cry with yourself. It’s fine.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsChristina’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to get to know herself on a deeper level. She also wants to be a good mum.Parting words “Go out, live your life and remember to be a friend to yourself.”Christina Demetriades [spp-transcript] Connect with Christina DemetriadesLinkedInFacebookInstagramWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Weldon Long is a successful entrepreneur, sales expert, and author of the NY Times Bestseller, The Power of Consistency-Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals.STORY: Weldon started his first business a year after he got out of prison. The business grew very fast, and within no time, Weldon began to buying out other bigger companies. In the process, he accumulated so much debt and had to find the best way out of it to avoid bankruptcy.LEARNING: You cannot cheat, lie or borrow your way out of financial trouble. You’ve got to sell your way out of it. “Never give up on anyone. But don’t forget, that includes yourself.”Weldon Long Guest profileWeldon Long is a successful entrepreneur, sales expert, and author of the NY Times Bestseller, The Power of Consistency-Prosperity Mindset Training for Sales and Business Professionals. In 2009, his business was selected by Inc Magazine as one of America’s fastest-growing privately held companies.Today, Weldon Long is one of the nation’s most powerful speakers and a driven motivator who teaches the Sales and Prosperity Mindset philosophies that catapulted him from desperation and poverty to a life of wealth and prosperity.Weldon is honored to have served some of America’s finest companies, including Comcast, The Franklin Covey Organization, The Home Depot, Fed Ex, Tom Hopkins International, Wells Fargo Bank, Owens Corning, and Farmers Insurance.Worst investment everWeldon got out of prison in 2003, and all he wanted was to turn his life around for the sake of his 10-year-old son. So he knocked on doors looking for a job. Finally, he got one as a heating and air conditioning salesman. He turned out to be really good at it and worked for a year saving everything he earned.Weldon started his heating and air conditioning business a year later and hired an operations expert as he knew nothing about heating and air conditioning. All he knew was about sales and marketing, customer service, and risk management. Together, they grew the company very quickly.Throughout 2006 and 2007, Weldon consolidated about five of the larger older companies in town. He took on a lot of debt to do that because he had to borrow a lot of money from the bank. While he had so much debt, he also had these companies that were thriving.Unfortunately, the housing crisis and the recession of 2008 hit, and with his debt record, Weldon’s companies went bust. Weldon took on a lot of debt by buying so many companies and extended himself very precariously financially, but luckily he managed to get through it and avoid bankruptcy.Lessons learnedYou cannot cheat, lie or borrow your way out of financial trouble. You’ve got to sell your way out of it.Learn how to sell at great margins.Actionable adviceDon’t give up no matter how bad it seems or feels or no matter how hard you tried and perhaps came up short. There’s no such thing as failure as long as you understand each setback is a learning opportunity.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsWeldon’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to spend more time with family and work less. Businesswise, he recently launched an app called Rehash Leads, so his focus is to grow it.Parting words “Your thoughts are things; think about what you think about.”Weldon Long [spp-transcript] Connect with Weldon LongLinkedInFacebookTwitterWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever PodcastFurther reading mentionedStephen R. Covey (2004), The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal ChangeChris McChesney, Sean Covey, Jim Huling (2012), The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important GoalsAndrew Stotz (2015), Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsWeldon Long (2009), The Upside of Fear: How One Man Broke the Cycle of Prison, Poverty, and Addiction

BIO: Patt Soyao is currently the Managing Director and founder of Icon Executive Asia, an executive solutions firm that focuses on executive search and executive events that services a roster of high profile and high net worth clientele.STORY: Patt won the chance to run an event for a high-level multinational. The event would cost him about $100,000, but he had $5,000 only. His former business partner got him someone to lend them the money, but he’d have to pay back $30,000 in interest. This was equivalent to his profit. Patt had no choice but to accept the deal since he already had a contract with the multinational.LEARNING: Have enough funds to run your business before you start. Be careful when borrowing money from friends. “If you’re going to be a business owner, turn that thought into tangible things. Make things exist.”Patt Soyao Guest profilePatt Soyao is currently the Managing Director and founder of Icon Executive Asia, an executive solutions firm that focuses on executive search and executive events that services a roster of high profile and high net worth clientele. He is also the Chief Strategy Officer and Cofounder of Shoppertainment Live, the leading live stream shopping network in the Philippines.Check out his podcast Job Defined, which is all about debunking job descriptions through interviewing actual professionals who are doing that job right now.Worst investment everPatt had an events business that did a lot of high-level productions for multinational companies. The business was great. The only catch with working with multinational clients is that they have terms that require payments to be made 60 to 90 days after you bill them.Patt won this huge project, and after doing his cost estimates, he’d require more than $100,000 to run it. The business barely had $5,000 in the bank. Patt’s previous business partner told him that she would find a financer who could finance the event.Just a few weeks before the event, the lady told Patt that she found someone who could lend him $100,000 but at an interest rate of 10% per month. Because this particular client would be paying in three months, that meant Patt would have to pay an interest of $30,000. That was basically all the profit he would be making from the project.Patt was distraught, but he had nowhere else to get the money that fast. So he agreed to take the deal.Lessons learnedFigure out where your financing will come from before you get into business. Have that runway before you start doing business.Be careful when borrowing money from friends. Ask yourself if you are ready to risk the friendship.Andrew’s takeawaysYou can always go back and ask to get out of a contract if it is not working for you.Sometimes it is better to walk away from a deal if it is going to sink your business.Actionable adviceKnow your numbers but at the same time, think bigger. Understand when money is involved; you have to manage the cash flow and how long you can survive without making sales.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsPatt’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to scale his live stream shopping business so that it’s not just surviving but thriving in the pandemic.Parting words “Ups and downs are normal. So just keep on keeping on.”Patt Soyao [spp-transcript] Connect with Patt SoyaoLinkedInFacebookPodcastWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast

BIO: Michael Maher is a musician turned business owner. He runs his own Amazon Managed Services Agency called Cartology, and he loves it.STORY: Michael’s e-commerce business was not doing so well, and he thought putting in more money would help. So he went to a cash advance merchant and blindly got $14,000. Unfortunately, only a day after signing the loan papers, he realized he had gotten himself into a horrible deal.LEARNING: Money doesn’t solve all problems; sometimes, the solution is to sit through your problems and find the cause. Seek help from a trusted friend or community. “There was always time to solve any issue I was facing. But I didn’t notice that at the moment because I was so panicked on trying to fix it.”Michael Maher Guest profileMichael Maher is a musician turned business owner. Yes, he once dreamed of being a Rockstar and even dropped out of college to pursue that. But reality set it. Now Michael runs his own Amazon Managed Services Agency called Cartology, and he loves it. He now spends his time helping his clients translate their brand story into highly engaging product listings and artfully utilizes Amazon’s Advertising Platform to insert their brand into the conversations consumers are having with them.Worst investment everMichael started selling back in 2010 when he was working a job that he hated. He was able to build an e-commerce business while working this other job. He finally quit and went into entrepreneurship full time and launched on multiple channels, including eBay, Amazon, and Sears.The business owner without any business skillsMichael was not a trained business person. His college degree was in Asian Studies. So he built this business not knowing anything about it. He got an accountant friend to teach him some finance basics.Doing whatever it took to succeedMichael had this desire to grow his business and almost desperate to take whatever means possible. He had this idea of what he thought success looked like, and the success of his business was very closely tied to his self-worth. So if his business wasn’t succeeding, he wasn’t succeeding.A couple of years into his business, Michael didn’t have the cash he needed; it was tied up on credit cards, inventory, paying himself and other people. So he placed immense pressure upon himself to get his business to perform.The worst deal everMichael thought that pumping in money into the business would help. So he started researching places to get money. And, of course, the easiest places to get money are cash advance merchants. Michael went ahead and locked in on one and got an advance of $14,000. Unfortunately, while he did a pretty good job researching the merchants, he did not examine the deal itself.The deal was terrible. Michael had to pay monthly payments and tons of interest upfront. It was the day after he signed the papers that he realized he had made a colossal mistake. After he reread the terms and conditions, he realized that it was a terrible deal.Lessons learnedSometimes you just need to sit through your problemsSometimes you can’t get out of your own crap; you’re just stuck in it. Just sit in it and look at what you are doing and where the problem is. Find a solution slowly instead of acting so quickly.Money doesn’t solve all problemsWhen you’re having problems in your business, putting in more money will not necessarily make the problems go away. The solution is to find out what is causing these problems.Andrew’s takeawaysJoin a community of fellow entrepreneursWhen you’re an entrepreneur, it can be very lonely because you have no one to share your fears and struggles with. Find a community that you can be part of to help you tackle these difficulties instead of trying to do it all by yourself. Your problems won’t go away, but you can use your community as a resource.Go to your trusted friendWhen you face challenges, you need to explore all the options to overcome them. The best way to do that is to find someone you trust, sit down, and talk about your challenges.Actionable adviceRunning a business can be very stressful. So now and then, take a step away from that, take a breather, sit in a park and journal or walk around, think, talk out loud, pray, whatever it is that you want to do, and just try to gather yourself. Secondly, find someone who you trust, be honest with them and ask for their help. Then listen, don’t just ask for help; listen to what they say if you trust them.No. 1 goal for the next 12 monthsMichael’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to be able to help more people. The goal is to double his clients. Michael is also about to launch a podcast and a blog that he intends to use to be seen as a trusted source of information. He wants to help people create real honest growth.Parting words “Take your time, people.”Michael Maher [spp-transcript] Connect with Michael MaherLinkedInFacebookWebsiteAndrew’s booksHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketMy Worst Investment Ever9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid ThemTransform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 PointsAndrew’s online programsValuation Master ClassHow to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock MarketFinance Made Ridiculously SimpleBecome a Great Presenter and Increase Your InfluenceTransform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 PointsConnect with Andrew Stotz:astotz.comLinkedInFacebookInstagramTwitterYouTubeMy Worst Investment Ever Podcast