Profitability kept MicroSolutions alive for eight years

Transcript

From the transcript The Diary Of A CEO publishes with the episode.

1. 8:35

   You know, oftentimes we hear about people becoming wildly successful, billionaires, because they came up with some tech idea. It was their first thing, like a Zuckerberg. Right. And it becomes this huge success. And they're like 25. Right. So sometimes when we're like 32... We missed the boat, right? Yeah, we missed the boat. But then when I read your story, I think you were like 31 years old, 32 years old, and your first business was sold for $2 million, which is a... Well, it sold for five.

2. 8:59

   I netted two. You netted two, okay. What is the big misconception that young people these days have about what it takes, whether it's in terms of sacrifice or time or patience or compounding skills? Because they are incredibly impatient, I think. Yeah, I mean, I was just as impatient, but... I think it really depends on your personal circumstances. Like, I had nothing to lose. I was broke. You know, I had gotten fired from a job.

3. 9:24

   So starting microsolutions was an easy choice. I was living six guys in a three-bedroom apartment, didn't have my own bedroom. So it was like, why not? Why not? And I remember being terrified and thinking, okay, I've been in business one month. That's a win. Three months, six months, nine months. I have $15,000 in accounts receivable. You know, I'm on my way of moving out of this shithole I live in.

4. 9:46

   So it really depends on your personal circumstances. But I always tell young entrepreneurs, like, if you're broke and you've got nothing to lose, You know, even if you're working a job, like I was working as a bartender and, you know, go out and do what you got to do and start what you've got to start. I think one of the big misconceptions is, A, you have to raise money. And B, if you do raise money, hitting big sales numbers is like the ultimate end-all be-all as opposed to being profitable.

5. 10:15

   For Microsolutions, our entire eight-year existence, we were profitable every single month. I mean, we made sure that we sold enough and kept our costs in line so that I was going to be able to stay alive and keep on moving forward. And I think kids today, they hear the stories about the Zuckerbergs and, you know, Sam Altman, and it's like billions of dollars by the time you're, you know, 12. And they think, okay, that's the way I'll do it.

6. 10:42

   They went out to Silicon Valley and they raised all this money. And they don't even realize that the greatest number of successful people aren't the billionaires, right? It's the people that have made a few million, 5 million, 10 million, 25, 50, a hundred million dollars. There's a multiple number of people in that, those set of circumstances. And I'm not saying it's easy to get there, but But it's doable, right?

7. 11:06

   It's not a Silicon Valley dream. It's the American dream.