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#192May 3, 20211:23:12

Rewind #1: How to Sell a Failing Company for $100 million

The early days of the Facebook app platformScaling and pivoting a mobile gaming companyRaising venture capital from Andreessen HorowitzThe psychological toll of saving a failing business

About This Episode

In this 'rewind' episode, Sam Parr introduces the very first interview Shaan Puri ever recorded for the podcast, featuring entrepreneur Suleiman Ali. The episode chronicles Suli's journey from a Microsoft engineer to a serial entrepreneur who sold TinyCo for over $100 million and co-founded Native Deodorant, focusing on a high-stakes pivot that saved his company from the brink of bankruptcy.

Episode Description

Suli Ali is one of the most interesting founders we’ve had on the pod. Suli and his brother Moiz have started and sold $300m worth of companies. They’ve also invested in hundreds of big-name startups, thousands of real estate deals, and much more more. He built small, silly apps. Like a Facebook app survey where you voted “most likely to wear a bunny costume”. Yet...it turned into a huge success. How? When he sold his first company, it was doing $85 million in revenue and $15 million in profit. In this episode, we discuss his journey from making $76k a year at Microsoft to selling his first company for $100,000,000+. --------- * Want to be featured in a future episode? Drop your question/comment/criticism/love here: https://www.mfmpod.com/p/hotline/ * Support the pod by spreading the word, become a referrer here: https://refer.fm/million * Have you joined our private Facebook group yet? Go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/ourfirstmillion and join thousands of other entrepreneurs and founders scheming up ideas. ---------

Show Notes

  • * 8:05 - Shaan predicted this podcast would be successful...he was right!
  • * 9:55 - Suli’s parents encouraged him to start a company...and why that’s important.
  • * 24:25 - Meeting Naval - is he legit?
  • * 27:25 - Getting grilled by Keith Rabois
  • * 41:25 - Listen to Suli’s confidence and how he explains starting stuff and how he deals with downs.
  • * 1:02:25 - Risking his life savings to make his company work (then selling it for $100m).

Key Takeaways

1

Look reality in the face: Avoid the trap of 'getting high on your own supply' by actively looking for metrics that prove your business is failing rather than only seeking confirmation of success.

2

Maniacal persistence in partnerships: To secure the Family Guy license, Suli called every possible contact—including board members and former CEOs—until the licensor agreed to the deal partly out of fear of who he might call next.

3

Overestimate risk at your peril: Skilled professionals often overestimate the danger of quitting a job, ignoring that failing at a startup often makes you more valuable to major companies like Microsoft than if you had stayed.

Guest Graveyard Mentions

MA

Moiz Ali

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Featuring

Hosts

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Sam Parr

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SP

Shaan Puri

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Quick Stats

Duration1:23:12
Guests0
Ideas Discussed0
Topics4

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