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Note: This post was originally published on moyehia.com
"Where there is a will there is a way.” - Samuel Smiles
I’m not the sharpest tool in the shed, but I'm the most resourceful. I’m not afraid to solve problems unconventionally. I find a way to “make it work,” as Tim Gunn says.
I used my Egyptian American ethnicity, not mediocre ACT score, to gain admission to the University of Michigan and then SEO Career program, which eventually landed me a prestigious internship in Lehman Brother’s investment bank.
I used my Lehman Brother’s internship, not failed trading test, to gain employment at Optiver, one of the world’s largest proprietary trading firms.
I used my offer from DreamIt Ventures, not slew of half-baked startup ideas, to convince Avand to quit a 6-figure annual job and join me on an adventure where he ultimately made less than 6-figures cumulatively over 3+ years.
I used my relationship with DreamIt, mainly Jesse Pickard and Jameson Detweiler, two of the program’s most successful alums, to gain acceptance into the world-renown, 500 Startups.
I used my friendship with Andreas, Amir, and Stefano, not my nonexistent salary, to travel the world from Monaco to Boracay in style. I stayed in The Ritz Istanbul, where I discovered the opulence of a pillow menu, the Boscolo Budapest, where I was introduced to Team Ferrari and their harem of “night butterflies,” as the concierge described them, and Hotel Arts Barcelona, where I caught a glimpse of Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, in the lobby.
In case you’re wondering, I’m really not that posh, best evidenced when I drank out of the finger bowl at a romantic dinner with Amir in Barca. #etiquettefail At best, I’m an average student, trader, starter, and traveler, but still manage to finagle my way into elite institutions be it schools, companies, accelerators, or hotels. After a recent stroll in Logan Square with a gal from OKCreeper, I mean Cupid, I was reminded how “finding a way” can take many forms.
I’m still kicking myself for not taking a picture so bear with me. Imagine a dozen Mexican men playing volleyball… on a grass field, in a park, with a net fashioned from orange, plastic, construction fence, and six kids strategically standing where the out of bounds lines should be. Did I mention the soccer ball, modified underhand bump #breakyawrist, and pot of money, which I assume players contributed to to make the game more competitive? And competitive it was. As a summer beach volleyball league champion #humblebrag, I can honestly say that these gents held their own. This ragtag, gaggle of shirtless Mexicans reminded me of The Replacements. It’s no surprise that this hard working, dream-driven people has done more with less and had a greater economic impact both domestically and abroad than any other ethnic minority.
Shawn Riegsecker’s first office was a single-room in Chicago’s River North. Launched in 2001, post tech bust, Shawn operated out of another company's server room which he rented for ~$100/month. His office doubled as a server room and his bedroom; he had a pillow and blanket and slept under his desk dozens of nights. He maxed out his credit cards at 29.5% interest, was 2 months behind on rent, and had enough money to last 90 days. He couldn’t afford hotel and airfare, and instead, worked until midnight, slept at his office, and drove through the night for client meetings in Minneapolis, Cleveland, and Detroit. And he’d have it no other way. “If the recession hadn’t happened, there’s no way I could have ever started Centro. The recession killed off all competition.” Today, Centro employs 500+ people, rakes in some $250 million in annual revenue, and has been voted No. 1 on Crain's Chicago Business' Best Places to Work for four years in a row.
After maxing out a binder full of credit cards and racking up tens of thousands of dollars in charges, Brian Chesky decided to turn boxes of Cheerios and Captain Crunch into political schwag, labeling them "Obama O's" and "Captain McCain." With a hot glue gun, Chesky and his cofounders built the boxes and stuffed them with cereal. "It was like origami in my apartment," he said. After landing a spot on a national TV show and selling out of all 1000 boxes at $40 per box, he honestly thought that he may be in the cereal business. The initial capital offset some of the cost of their apartment rental company, Airbnb, now valued at $10 billion.
“The economy tanked, we ran out of money, and still didn’t have the “right” model. The whole team of ten had already gone more than two months without any pay, vendors were waiting for payment, and still no funding in sight. Thanks to the disastrous economy, the real estate market collapse, and my unwavering (some say foolish) personal support of the business, my prior seven figure personal net worth had been reduced to $30K, which I had stocked away in cash in a safety deposit box. Already on the brink of personal bankruptcy, I said “F&%* it”, and brought all $30K in one day (in cash) and handed it out in envelopes to the entire team evenly to get us through the next six weeks.” Just over one year later Zozi is on track to build what TJ Sassani believes will be at least a $100 million company.
Gary Hoover dreamt of being a successful book publisher with mass distribution in stores. He spent millions of his own and investors’ money publishing a reference guide, printing 100K in 1990 and then 60K books in 1991 for distribution, only to receive 65K and 40K copies, respectively, back from bookstores. Out of money, his partner Patrick Spain had an out-there idea of turning their physical guide into an online resource. It was 1992. They traveled from Austin, TX to their original backers, a wealthy family in the Mission Hills neighborhood of KC, where they were invited to have dinner. At the conclusion of a pleasant evening Gary and Patrick asked for another $60K after having spent the family’s entire investment to date. In a ploy more for dramatic effect than anything else they said, “BTW, we only bought one-way tickets (which was true) and we’ll have to stay with you indefinitely until we get the funds,” said Patrick. As ridiculous as it sounded, it was far from a bluff, Gary and Patrick were broke. “The family wrote checks on the spot and have backed every subsequent startup I’ve been involved with.” After IPO’ing in 1999, Hoovers was bought by Dun & Bradstreet for $119 million in 2003.
Jim Cramer, John Paul DeJoria, and Kevin Hong slept in their cars for months at a time. Kevin actually shared the bed of a van with another co-founder. Gail Goodman took investment in what she describes as an “atrocious down round,” that saw her company’s valuation cut by a whopping 80%. Steve Dinelli turned down a 6 figure job and toiled for years running a fledgeling, mobile-ordering startup which forced him to move in with his parents.
Today, Jim Cramer is worth some $100 million and John Paul DeJoria $3 billion. Kevin Hong is VP of BD of the venture-backed, Dealflicks. Gail is CEO of Constant Contact, which boasts a billion dollar market cap, 600K+ paying customers, and is arguably the most successful company to tackle SMB. Steve turned a $5 investment in blackhat software into a multi-million dollar Facebook ads business.
A few months ago, I was on Oak Street Beach. I saw a gaggle of middle school girls stringing beach towels together to form, you guessed it, a makeshift volleyball net. I was reminded of the Mexi-cans and remembered to take a picture this time.
Find a way.
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