Official Richart Ruddie Blog - Internet Entrepreneur

Rich Ruddie on Relationships are negotiable

We have choices everyday in everything we do in life. If you decide to stay for a hurricane or flee. Do you tweet or go to lunch to meet a new business contact. Do you apply for that job or stay where you are. Every action or inaction can have substantial affects on how things in your life turn out. Most of the choices in our lives are fully negotiable. With negotiations our choices about what to do with your time is important. You only have 24 hours in a day so make the best use of your time as time is our most valuable commodity far and away. With more time you can fix and resolve almost anything.

Your relationship with time and what you choose and choose not to do is entirely negotiable and up to you.

-Rich Ruddie

Best Data Rooms when Doing an M&A Transaction

Data rooms take all shapes and designs when trying to figure out the best way to share your data when undergoing an M&A transaction. Some of the mid-level brokers and investment bankers I've noticed just default to Google Drive and Dropbox to share files. Here are 3 other good ones that come highly recommended:

https://digify.com/ - Document security to easily control access and distribution of your files and virtual data rooms. 

https://www.idealsvdr.com/ - Has offices in London, Hong Kong, and New York so fits the biggest locations for M&A transactions and bankers. Doesnt tell you the price on the site

https://www.datasite.com/us/en.html - Has a whole suite of services outside of just data room uploading and downloading.

Rex is Latin for King

While watching a clip about Queen Elizabeths funeral they talked about 500 royal dignitaries gathering on a bus to pay their respects. The random tidbit I learned was that Rex was latin for King and thus bridges Richard along with Rex as two names that signify King.

Perspetive on Game Developers in 2023

In 1990, almost one-third of households in the U.S. had a Nintendo

 

That was more than the number of households that had a computer, which was 23%.

 

Today 84% of households have a smartphone. If you're a game developer you have a bigger opportunity than Nintendo did 32 years ago. Given that you could start a game development company or make a game and launch it on Android and iOS stores you would be able to reach 84% of the U.S. population. For a nominal cost this is pretty astonishing the reach..

What Ever Happend to Evernote?

While we may be saying the same thing about clubhouse in 5 years. In 2011 I remember driving down the 101 in Santa Clara County in awe of all the big tech companies with their campuses or office buildings and EverNote was one of them. I never used the service till just now and hadn't heard about them nor have I seen their building in Silicon Valley recently but the website and app are still live so it's wading along somewhere I must assume.

IMDB Pro Profile Richart Ruddie

IMDB Pro is a place where actors, media, models, and those in the film business can create a profile and connect with others in the film industry. I published the Children's Book for Adults The Creatures You Meet at the Bar which you can find on Amazon and have done a few podcasts and interviews discussing entrepreneurship and business growth. IMDB Pro acts as a great place to find those interviews and database all of them. Here is the Richart Ruddie IMDB Pro Profile thats now live.

Amazon owns IMDB as well FWIW.

Richart Ruddie Recommendation MJ Demarco

The fast lane has the type of mentality and thinking that can drive great success in your career. As life leads to a few simple rules to follow. One of mine is remembering your ABC's not always be closing but always be calm, cool, and collected. So following the 3 C's MJ Demarco has the 3A's which are Act, Assess, and Adjust. In business you are always acting, looking at the results, and revamping. If you don't you can't innovate and grow.

"It's like rowing a boat in a river: The market is the river. Your actions are the rowing. Sure, you can fight the current, but the market currents will always give you clues on the best routes.  Bottomline, GET INTO THE RIVER and see where it might take you."

Now this is not to be confused with a market research paper that says by 2024 there will be 5 million people desiring this service. If Ford Motors did that in the 1900's they would've said more horse power and not from an automobile.

"If I asked what my customer's wanted, they would have said faster horses" -- Henry Ford.


Ozan Varol also has some great talking points

If you look at SpaceX and NASA Rocket scientists they take a very balanced Goldilocks approach to a failed rocket launch or mission that doesn't pan out. Instead of being discouraged they rub it off for the greater cause. So don't celebrate a failed experiment but don't let it block you from progressing.

So instead the saying is a spin off of facebook's move fast and break things or from Ozan "Lear Fast don't fail fast"

Approaching failure through curiosity, trial, and error. Breakthroughs are evolutionary yet not revolutionary. If you learn from all the updates, changes, and iterations while getting better with the updates you'll function like a growing app where each update or software improvement makes things better and patches old bugs. Look at what Apple has accomplished with capabilities on the iphone from 2008 to now.

Apple has not become complacment with their success either and continues to improve privacy, safety, and technological improvements that improve your user experience. You can still take the wrong approach or do things wrong and still succeed. You can also do everything right and fail especially when not everything is in your control.

After a success or failure ask these questions. What is it that you did correct and why did it work out this time? What went wrong and what are your most important lessons from the results. 

I'm big on principles and the continous micro improvements in life, business, and social settings. 

-Richart Ruddie

 

 

The Viewpoint For Tech Startups in Q4 2022

Saw this and thought it was interesting in how much a landscape can change in roughly 1 year. Again when you think about how much of the world can change and adapt in the course of 1 year things don't seem so drastic. This was a great excerpt that is helpful for viewing valuations, growth, and business models in the tech space in 2022 and beyond.

"Investors are moving away from "growth at any cost" towards "growth at a reasonable cost"... Of course, it also depends what stage you're at.

Bootstrapping a company until you get closer to the $20 million a year in recurring revenue and then look to take on private equity partners or outside funding. If you can target a goal where you end the year with zero profit and maximize growth to that point.  If you can show 5% cash EBIDTA and roughly 30% year over year growth.  

The big question to ask while on the journey is how much quicker can you grow with additional capital and leverage? If the answer is not astronomical it may be better especially with depressed valuations at the moment to grow smart and not raise outside funding. Of course this all reflects on the total addressable market size for your enterprise.

VC's at the end of the day though prize growth and that is valued much more than profitability with the caveat that you can turn the switch (think Amazon's ability to grow and switch to profitability when they want) and there needs to be "levers in place where you can relatively easily slow growth and increase profitability .

For example, a company which is growing at 40% with zero profit whose Customer Acquisition Cost to Average Sales Price ratio is off the charts (high) would likely not be seen nearly as favorably as one whose metrics are more reasonable... after all, if you were to spend $100k to acquire a new client who pays $20k per year... even with high retention.

If your growth has slowed down and your company is flat but you've maximized your profitability and you've managed to achieve 40% ebitda, then it's still a great company but the buyers' would likely be different (strategic or financial vs. growth equity buyer). In this scenario, both a strategic and growth equity values might be comparable but the financial buyer might be much less."

Macho Man Randy Savage

I've soared with the eagles and slithered with the snakes and everything in between. Nobody likes a quilter and if you get knocked down get back up and fight again becasue nobody likes a quitter. -Macho Man Randy Savage

This was what the WWF Wrestler said to Arsenio Hall in the early 90's when asked if he ever cried and he said no shame in showing emotion.

Dumb & Dumber Accuracy Fact About Aspen Police Car

While the Dumb & Dumber film was not actually filmed in Aspen, Colorado the directors do shoot for some accuracy. The hotel labeled "The Danbery" used in the movie was actually the Stanley Hotel located in Estes Park Colorado which is 200 miles away and 4 hours and 30 minutes by car if driving down to Aspen. The police cars used in Aspen, Colorado at the time were Saabs like the one pictured below:

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After the villains Nicholas Andre and JP Shay get arrested at the end of Dumb & Dumber they are hauled away in a Saab Police car even though Estes Park, Colorado did not use Saab Police cars while Vail & Aspen Colorado did as you can verify for yourself in the clip below.

 

Andrew Chen Covers Some Trends Happening Now

It's a difficult landscape for many right now. The best entrepreneurs and companies can persevere and the weak ones will get swept up by the storm and taken out. Andrew Chen formerly of Instagram & Uber works for Andressen Horowitz now and covers great thought leadership angles in the venture capital world. In his latest newsletter he covers a myriad of complex trends that we've run into over the last 2 years.

While the world experienced a fundamental shift with covid-19 and the remote work trend that only accelerated and helped big tech, small tech, and emerging tech startups. Now the biggest hurdles for new products and advertisers is dealing with the Apple Privacy Changes on ad networks and the removal of some cookies with Google's ad-tech. Another trend popping up in 2022 is the stingy venture capital landscape where valuations are being cut in half so you have to do twice the amount of revenue to achieve the same valuation and in a downward cycle where inflation is on the rise and expenses are being cut that becomes quite difficult.

In addition Andrew Chen says that hiring freezes that are happening the big question mark behind the future of web3 and metaverse plays and how leaders will reinvent themselves similar to the smartphone and mobile app store boom we saw in the early 2010s. The new environment is rapidly taking shape and as Andrew says "it’s critical for teams to take a pause, figure out a new approach, and build towards the next boom."

If your idea is rejected don't give up

If your idea is rejected don't be upset. It's important to be resilient and resistant to hearing words like NO and this is a stupid idea. I say this because today I learned about the German invesntor George Ohm who created the world famous "Ohm's law" was rejected by the German scientific & education community for over a decade after Georg Ohm published his research. So keep on pushing if it makes sense. If you have an idea that is not true or is a crap shoot then maybe it is best to try something else but in the case of Ohm's Law George knew the science and it all made sense but the ignorance and stupidity of others stopped him from being a proven success for many years.

Free SEO Tool Term Suggest Replaces Uber Suggest

Uber Suggest was a tool that allowed you to check out and see what drop down terms in Google's Autocomplete populate with. Now that tool is gone (I think Neil Patel bought the domain but I'm not sure) there is a new one from Joe Hall that popped up called Term Suggest: https://termsuggest.com/ it allows SEO experts to research all of the drop down suggestions and what terms you can target.

Another great tool is Surfer.

Exaggerated Scamming and Grifting

ESG is supposed to be about environmental, social, and governance and is a fantastic concept that was created to help improve standards across large corporations across the globe. Unfortunately an analyst at Muddy Waters research has a new meaning for ESG and it has nothing to do with the environment instead Hannon Armstrong stock is plummeting on the news of Muddy Waters saying in this instance it stands for Exaggerated, Scamming, and Grifting.

Now Hannon Armstrong is fighting back (Sounds like they could use a Brandefender to help they navigate this PR crisis. Their statement to CNBC is:

"The 'report' by this deceptive short-seller, for which the Justice Department is investigating for suspected coordinated manipulative trading, is an attempt to mislead and confuse the market. The report is replete with factual errors and numerous inflammatory and misleading statements ,Hannon Armstong's accounting is fully compliant and indicative of our performance. We are proud of our long history of transparent disclosure and best-in-class accounting practices."

Carson Block of Muddy Waters Research says its the first US public company dedicated to ESG where the disclosures were being declined and after a lot of digging into joint venture partners, PMI, Delaware UCC filings, former employees and the company has odd accounting practices with renewable projects with tax equity investments. While not illegal the book value change is taking the tax credit value and runs it as through its old income.

It's larget EMI Jupiter lost 380 million last year.

Disclosure I do not own or invest in Hannnon Armstrong HASI at this time but hope that those focusing on ESG are actually doing so to improve the environment.

What would you talk about in a business interview?

Ever consider what questions would come up? What are you okay with discussing and what are you not okay revealing? Just something interesting to ponder this July.

One of Rich Ruddie's Favorite Quotes

Quotes can be inspiring and give you a new sense of motivation. Sometimes they explain a situation when there are no words to say. Here's one of my favorite quotes and the reason why is below:

"There is no reality except the one contained within us. That is why so many people live such an unreal life. They take images outside them for reality and never allow the world within to assert itself." Hermann Hesse

Hermann Karl Hesse was a 1946 Nobel Prize winner from Germany. The German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painters works crossed multiple continents. His best-known works include Demian, Steppenwolf, Siddhartha, and The Glass Bead Game, each of which explores an individual's search for authenticity, self-knowledge and spirituality.

As there is no reality except the one we create and as we do things in life that the general response is "you can't be serious" or "that can't possible be real is it?" is often asked and it's important that we all live a life that feels unreal because it will push you to do bigger and better things in your lifetime and make your mark on the world.

What are you doing to change the world?

-Rich Ruddie

Remembering a friend Craig Sinema

Remembering a great Fort Lauderdale friend who left our presence far too soon. His family said it best:

You can shed tears that he is gone, or you can smile because he has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that he'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all he's left.
Your heart can be empty because you can't see him, or you can be full of the love you shared.
You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday.
You can remember him only that he is gone, or you can cherish his memory and let it live on.
You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back.
Or you can do what he'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on.

 

 

 

Googles Advice on Improving Your Shopping Cart

Google released a slideshow on ways to improve your shopping cart experience and build up your e-commerce store. Here is an overview:

In the United States, bad online search experiences cost (someone) $300 billion per year.

"85% of global online consumers view a brand differently after experiencing search difficulties."

"64% of U.S. retail Website managers have no clear plan for improvement."

Takeaway #2: "9 in 10 U.S. consumers (90%) say a good search function is very important or absolutely essential, with 97% agreeing that their favorite retail websites are ones where they can quickly find what they are looking for. Additionally, the search function is the most commonly used feature on retail websites compared with the navigator menu, filter feature, or promotions on the homepage."

Takeaway #4: "69% of consumers say that a successful search experience often leads to the purchase of additional items, with almost all consumers (99%) saying that they are somewhat likely to return to a website if it has a good search function."

"98% of website managers are confident consumers are able to find what they need when visiting their website."

"1 in 10 consumers say they find exactly what they're searching for every time while using the search function."

"3 out of 4 consumers report that after an unsuccessful search, the sale is often lost to competition."

"52% of consumers abandon their entire cart and go elsewhere if they cannot find one item."

"77% of consumers avoid websites where they've experienced search difficulties."

Quotes for the weekend on Satisfaction

Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the UK, on the connection between action and satisfaction:

"Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It's not a day when you lounge around doing nothing; it's a day you've had everything to do and you've done it."

Source: Quoted in "As I Said to Denis: The Margaret Thatcher Book of Quotations"

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Philosopher Alan Watts on mistakes:

"Regard yourself as a cloud, in the flesh, because you see, clouds never make mistakes. Did you ever see a cloud that was misshapen? Did you ever see a badly designed wave? No, they always do the right thing. But, if you will, treat yourself for a while as a cloud or a wave and realize that you can’t make a mistake whatever you do. Because even if you do something that appears totally disastrous, it will all come out in the wash somehow or another. Then through this capacity you will develop a kind of confidence. And through confidence you will be able to trust your own intuition."

Source: Taoism: Way Beyond Seeking​

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1 Question For You

Think of the best coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them?

Think of the worst coach, teacher, or leader you ever had. What can you learn from them?

Journalist Studio Reference Guide

Google has released a reference guide for journalists that provides some really fantastic resources. They include a DDOS service as an alternative to Cloudflare for those running political sites, Tilegrams for those who want to build cartograms for map data, a fast fact check explorer, a Google Data GIF maker, and Flourish a data visualization tool for data with pre-set templates. Will be interesting to see articles online from the NY Times, Washington Post, ESPN, Politico, and other places where you recognize these solutions that Google has provided.

For more information check out the journalists studio.

My favorite section that a stats nerd can really got list in is the Public Data Directory

For access to the WTO, ICT, IMF, and other stat databases visit:

https://www.google.com/publicdata/directory

- Richart Ruddie