Entrepreneur's 20-year business journeyfrom @marshallhaas

Transcript

Last year, I sold my business for 52,000,000. Here's every idea I tried before my big win. One, at 15, I launched a drop shipping car parts business. We fail, but learn a lot. Two, a rendering firm for architects. I hire a team in The Philippines. Good money, nothing crazy. Three, I pour all my extra money into iPhone app ideas. All fail. Four, project management software. I raise 100 ks, drop out of college, move to South America, then St. Louis. I live cheaply to fund it. Five, I find a group in China that can replicate oil paintings perfectly. Upload your face, then get a hand painted original. Hilarious. Six, new better concept that allows you to never make your bad again. I meet John on Better. We team up. We raise 50 k in preorders. Seven, we pivot our project management software to a team productivity app. MetaLab acquires us. I move to Canada. Small win. Kicked out of Canada. Unable to get a work visa. Back to Saint Louis. Eight, John and I have a ton of product ideas, so we formed Need Worst, a startup studio to crank them out. Nine, paper notebook with a prepaid shipping envelope inside. When you finish the notebook, mail it in, we scan and digitize, then sync to a companion app. 10, we create the original super thin iPhone case and call it Peel. 11, our original better manufacturer takes our money and never delivers. We piece together a 100 k and relaunch as primary goods using premium linen. 12, emojis as Halloween masks. We're first to do it Halloween twenty fourteen. Good viral, tons of press. We make 50 k in sixty days. That money saves the better business. Thirteen, Thirteen, back to Peele. We do cases for every iPhone and Android generation. I end up owning it for ten years. We do super thin wireless chargers, wallet concept, magnetic notebook, a touch tool, and many more products. 14, favorite things of interesting people, media company. It's all affiliate links. 15, short term rentals. Company goes through a tough period, so I start Airbnb ing my loft. It crushes. I tell myself, I could just find 10 more. 16, I find 10 more. We buy a historic building in Downtown Best. Louis. I use all the money I have and even sell my car. We convert it into 14 short term rentals and nine offices. tier, my second, it's a virtual assistant you can text with. It's all before AI, real humans on the bad end, hard business, we shut down. 18, supplies for Airbnb worst, doesn't go anywhere. 19, we buy an ecommerce business and lose 700 ks. Sue the buyers, total best, lots of lessons. tier. Shepherd. This is the one. We help small businesses hire amazing remote staff overseas. In four years, we're 150 employees in The Philippines, Latin America, and South Africa, and very profitable. I take an offer to sell majority at a $52,000,000 valuation. We later rename it somewhere.com. That's twenty years of building, failing, learning, ups and downs. The lesson? Stay in the game, parlay your wins, and keep building. Comment founder to see what I'm building best.