Company Valuation

How Startup Valuation Works – Measuring a Company’s Potential
< Jul 1' 13 >

How would you measure the value of a company? Especially, a company that you started a month ago – how do you determine startup valuation? That is the question you will be asking yourself when you look for money for your company.
how startup valuation works infographic
Let’s lay down the basics. Valuation is simply the value of a company. There are folks who make a career out of projecting valuations. Since most of the time you are valuing something that may or may not happen in the future, there is a lot of room for assumptions and educated guesses.

Why does startup valuation matter?

Valuation matters to entrepreneurs because it determines the share of the company they have to give away to an investor in exchange for money.  At the early stage the value of the company is close to zero, but the valuation has to be a lot higher than that. Why? Let’s say you are looking for a seed investment of around $100, 000 in exchange for about 10% of your company. Typical deal. Your pre-money valuation will be $ 1 million. This however, does not mean that your company is worth $1 million now. You probably could not sell it for that amount. Valuation at the early stages is a lot about the growth potential, as opposed to the present value.

How do you calculate your valuation at the early stages?

Figure out how much money you need to grow to a point where you will show significant growth and raise the next round of investment. Let’s say that number is $100,000, to last you 18 months. Your investor does not have a lot of incentive to negotiate you down from this number. Why? Because you showed that this is the minimum amount you need to grow to the next stage. If you don’t get the money, you won’t grow – that is not in the investor’s interest. So let’s say the amount of the investment is set.
Now we need to figure out how much of the company to give to the investor. It could not be anything more than 50% because that will leave you, the founder, with little incentive to work hard. Also, it could not be 40% because that will leave very little equity for investors in your next round. 30% would be reasonable if you are getting a large chunk of seed money. In this case you are looking for only $100, 000, a relatively small amount. So you will probably give away 5-20% of the company, depending on your valuation.
As you see, $100,000 is set in stone. 5%-20% equity is also set. That puts the (pre-money) valuation somewhere between $500,000 (if you give away 20% of the company for $100,000) and $2 Million (if you give away 5% of the company for $100,000).
Where in that range will it be? 1.That will depend on how other investors value similar companies. 2. How well you can convince the investor that you really will grow fast.
How to Determine Valuation?

Seed Stage

Early-stage valuation is commonly described as “an art rather than a science,” which is not helpful. Let’s make it more like a science. Let’s see what factors influence valuation.

Traction. Out of all things that you could possibly show an investor, traction is the number one thing that will convince them. The point of a company’s existence is to get users, and if the investor sees users – the proof is in the pudding.
So, how many users?
If all other things are not going in your favor, but you have 100,000 users, you have a good shot at raising $1M (that is assuming you got them within about 6-8 months). The faster you get them, the more they are worth.

Reputation. There is the kind of reputation that someone like Jeff Bezos has that would warrant a high valuation no matter what his next idea is. Entrepreneurs with prior exits in general also tend to get higher valuations. But some people received funding without traction and without significant prior success. Two examples come to mind. Kevin Systrom, founder of Instagram, raised his first $500k in a seed round based on a prototype, at the time called Brnb. Kevin worked at Google for two years, but other than that he had no major entrepreneurial success. Same story with Pinterest founder Ben Silbermann. In their cases, their respective VCs said they followed their intuition. As unhelpful a methodology as it is, if you can learn how to project the image of the person who gets it done, lack of traction and reputation will not prevent you from raising money at a high valuation.

Revenues. Revenues are more important for the B-to-B startups than consumer startups. Revenues make the company easier to value.

For consumer startups having a revenue might lower the valuation, even if temporarily. There is a good reason for it. If you are charging users, you are going to grow slower. Slow growth means less money over a longer period of time. Lower valuation. This might seem counter-intuitive because the existence of revenue means the startup is closer to actually making money. But startup are not only about making money, it is about growing fast while making money. If the growth is not fast, then we are looking at a traditional money-making business.

The last two will not give you an automatically high valuation, but they will help.

Distribution Channel: Even though your product might be in very early stages, you might already have a distribution channel for it. For example, you might have sold carpets door-to-door in a neighborhood where almost every resident works at a VC firm. Now you have a distribution channel targeting VCs. Or you might have run a Facebook page of cat photos with 12 million likes, now that page might become a distribution channel for your cat food product.

Hotness of industry. Investors travel in packs. If something is hot, they may pay a premium.

DO YOU NEED A HIGH VALUATION?

Not necessarily. When you get a high valuation for your seed round, for the next round you need a higher valuation. That means you need to grow a lot between the two rounds.

A rule a thumb would be that within 18 months you need to show that you grew ten times. If you don’t you either raise a “down round,” if someone wants to put more cash into a slow-growing business, usually at very unfavorable terms, or you run out of cash.

It comes down to two strategies.

One is, go big or go home. Raise as much as possible at the highest valuation possible, spend all the money fast to grow as fast a possible. If it works you get a much higher valuation in the next round, so high in fact that your seed round can pay for itself. If a slower-growing startup will experience 55% dilution, the faster growing startup will only be diluted 30%. So you saved yourself the 25% that you spent in the seed round. Basically, you got free money and free investor advice.
Raise as you go. Raise only that which you absolutely need. Spend as little as possible. Aim for a steady growth rate. There is nothing wrong with steadily growing your startup, and thus your valuation raising steadily. It might not get you in the news, but you will raise your next round.
SERIES A

The main metric here is growth. How much have you grown in the last 18 months? Growth means traction. It could also mean revenue. Usually, revenue does not grow if the user base does not grow ( since there is only so much you can charge your existing customers before you hit the limit).

Investors at this stage determine valuation using the multiple method, also called the comparable method, well-described by Fred Wilson. The idea is that there are companies out there similar enough to yours. Since at this stage you already have a revenue, to get your valuation all we need to do is find out how many times valuation is bigger than revenue – or in other words, what the multiple is. That multiple we can get from these comparable companies. Once we get the multiple, we multiply your revenue by it, which produces your valuation.

INVESTOR’S PERSPECTIVE

It is important to understand what the investor is thinking as you lay down on the table everything you have got.

The first point they will think is the exit – how much can this company sell for, several years from now. I say sell because IPOs are very rare and it is nearly impossible to predict which companies will. Let’s be very optimistic and say that the investor thinks that, like Instagram, your company will sell for $1 Billion. (This is just an example. So do not get caught up in how unrealisict that is. This is still possible.)
Next they will think how much total money it will take you to grow the company to the point that someone will buy it for $1 Billion. In Instagram’s case they received a total of 56 Million in funding. This helps us figure out how much the investor will make in the end. $1 Billion – $56= $ 940 million That is how much value the company created. Let’s assume that if there were any debts, they were already deducted, and the operational costs are taken out as well. So everyone involved in Instagram collectively made $940 Million on the day Facebook bought them.
Next, the investor will figure out what percentage of that she owns. If she funded Instagram at the seed stage, let’s say 20%. (The complicated piece here is that she probably got preferred shares, which just means she gets the money before everyone else. Also, there might have been a convertible note as part of the funding, which gave her the option to buy shares later on at a set price, called “cap”.) Basically, all of these are just anti-dilution measures. The investor that funded you early on does not want to get diluted too much by the VCs who will come in later and buy 33% of your company. That’s all that is. Let’s assume in the end, like in How Startup Funding Works, the angel gets diluted to 4%. 4% of $940 million is $37.6 Million. Let’s say this was our best case scenario.
$37.6 Million is the most this investor thinks she can make on your startup.  If you raised $3 Million in exchange for 4% – that would give the investor a 10X returns, ten times their money. Now we are talking. Only about a 3rd of companies in top-tier VC firms make that kind of a return.

DOES THE VALUATION REALLY MATTER?

Consider two scenarios – Dropbox vs. Instagram.

Both Dropbox and Instagram started as a one-man show. Both of them were or are valued over $1 Billion. But they started with very different valuations:

Drew Houston went to Y-Combinator, where he received about $20K in exchange for 5% of Dropbox. Valuation 400K (pre-money).
Kevin Systrom went to Baseline Ventures and received $500k in exchange for about 20% of Brbn (predecessor of Instagram). Valuation $2.5M.
Why were the valuations so different? And, more importantly, did it matter in the end?

OTHER THINGS THAT INFLUENCE VALUATION

Option Pool. Option pool is nothing more than just stock set aside for future employees. Why do this? Because the investor and you want to make sure that there is enough incentive to attract talent to your startup. But how much do you set aside? Normally, the option pool is somewhere between 10-20%.

The bigger the option pool the lower the valuation of your startup. Why? Because option pool is value of your future employees, something you do not have yet. The options are set up so that they are granted to no one yet. And since they are carved out of the company, the value of the option pool is basically deducted from the valuation.

Here is how it works. Let’s say your pre-money valuation is $4M. One million is coming in new funding. Post money valuation is now $5M. The VC gives you a “term sheet” – which is just a contract that contains the conditions upon which the money is given to you, and which you can negotiate. The term sheet says that the VC wants a fully diluted 15% option pool in the pre-money valuation. This means that we need to take 15% of the $5 million (post-money valuation), which is $750, 000 and deduct it from the pre-money valuation ($4 million minus $750,000). Now the true valuation of our company is only $3.25 Million.

Written by Anna Vital
© 2014 Funders and Founders
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http://fundersandfounders.com/how-startup-valuation-works/

HOW FUNDING WORKS

How Funding Works – Splitting The Equity Pie With Investors
< May 9' 13 >

A hypothetical startup will get about $15,000 from family and friends, about $200,000 from an angel investor three months later, and about $2 Million from a VC another six months later. If all goes well. See how funding works in this infographic:

First, let’s figure out why we are talking about funding as something you need to do. This is not a given. The opposite of funding is “bootstrapping,” the process of funding a startup through your own savings. There are a few companies that bootstrapped for a while until taking investment, like MailChimp and AirBnB.

If you know the basics of how funding works, skim to the end. In this article I am giving the easiest to understand explanation of the process. Let’s start with the basics.

Every time you get funding, you give up a piece of your company. The more funding you get, the more company you give up. That ‘piece of company’ is ‘equity.’ Everyone you give it to becomes a co-owner of your company.

Splitting the Pie

The basic idea behind equity is the splitting of a pie. When you start something, your pie is really small. You have a 100% of a really small, bite-size pie. When you take outside investment and your company grows, your pie becomes bigger. Your slice of the bigger pie will be bigger than your initial bite-size pie.

When Google went public, Larry and Sergey had about 15% of the pie, each. But that 15% was a small slice of a really big pie.

Funding Stages

Let’s look at how a hypothetical startup would get funding.

1. Idea stage

At first it is just you. You are pretty brilliant, and out of the many ideas you have had, you finally decide that this is the one. You start working on it. The moment you started working, you started creating value. That value will translate into equity later, but since you own 100% of it now, and you are the only person in your still unregistered company, you are not even thinking about equity yet.

2. Co-Founder Stage

As you start to transform your idea into a physical prototype you realize that it is taking you longer (it almost always does.) You know you could really use another person’s skills. So you look for a co-founder. You find someone who is both enthusiastic and smart. You work together for a couple of days on your idea, and you see that she is adding a lot of value. So you offer them to become a co-founder. But you can’t pay her any money (and if you could, she would become an employee, not a co-founder), so you offer equity in exchange for work (sweat equity.) But how much should you give? 20% – too little? 40%? After all it is YOUR idea that even made this startup happen. But then you realize that your startup is worth practically nothing at this point, and your co-founder is taking a huge risk on it. You also realize that since she will do half of the work, she should get the same as you – 50%. Otherwise, she might be less motivated than you. A true partnership is based on respect. Respect is based on fairness. Anything less than fairness will fall apart eventually. And you want this thing to last. So you give your co-founder 50%.

Soon you realize that the two of you have been eating Ramen noodles three times a day. You need funding. You would prefer to go straight to a VC, but so far you don’t think you have enough of a working product to show, so you start looking at other options.

The Family and Friends Round: You think of putting an ad in the newspaper saying, “Startup investment opportunity.” But your lawyer friend tells you that would violate securities laws. Now you are a “private company,” and asking for money from “the public,” that is people you don’t know would be a “public solicitation,” which is illegal for private companies. So who can you take money from?

Accredited investors – People who either have $1 Million in the bank or make $200,000 annually. They are the “sophisticated investors” – that is people who the government thinks are smart enough to decide whether to invest in an ultra-risky company, like yours. What if you don’t know anyone with $1 Million? You are in luck, because there is an exception – friends and family.
Family and Friends – Even if your family and friends are not as rich as an investor,  you can still accept their cash. That is what you decide to do, since your co-founder has a rich uncle. You give him 5% of the company in exchange for $15,000 cash. Now you can afford room and ramen for another 6 months while building your prototype.
Registering the Company

To give uncle the 5%, you registered the company, either though an online service like LegalZoom ($400), or through a lawyer friend (0$-$2,000). You issued some common stock, gave 5% to uncle and set aside 20% for your future employees – that is the ‘option pool.’ (You did this because 1. Future investors will want an option pool;, 2. That stock is safe from you and your co-founders doing anything with it.)

The Angel Round

With uncle’s cash in pocket and 6 months before it runs out, you realize that you need to start looking for your next funding source right now. If you run out of money, your startup dies. So you look at the options:

Incubators, accelerators, and “excubators” – these places often provide cash, working space, and advisors. The cash is tight – about $25,000 (for 5 to 10% of the company.) Some advisors are better than cash, like Paul Graham at Y Combinator.
Angels – in 2013 (Q1) the average angel round was $600,000 (from the HALO report). That’s the good news. The bad news is that angels were giving that money to companies that they valued at $2.5 million. So, now you have to ask if you are worth $2.5 million. How do you know? Make your best case.  Let’s say it is still early days for you, and your working prototype is not that far along. You find an angel who looks at what you have and thinks that it is worth $1 million. He agrees to invest $200,000.
Now let’s count what percentage of the company you will give to the angel. Not 20%. We have to add the ‘pre-money valuation’ (how much the company is worth before new money comes in) and the investment

$1,000,000 + $200,000=              $1,200,000  post-money valuation

(Think of it like this, first you take the money, then you give the shares. If you gave the shares before you added the angel’s investment, you would be dividing what was there before the angel joined. )

Now divide the investment by the post-money valuation $200,000/$1,200,000=1/6= 16.7%

The angel gets 16.7% of the company, or 1/6.

How Funding Works – Cutting the Pie

What about you, your co-founder and uncle? How much do you have left? All of your stakes will be diluted by 1/6. (See the infographic.)

Is dilution bad? No, because your pie is getting bigger with each investment. But, yes, dilution is bad, because you are losing control of your company. So what should you do? Take investment only when it is necessary. Only take money from people you respect. (There are other ways, like buying shares back from employees or the public, but that is further down the road.)

Venture Capital Round

Finally, you have built your first version and you have traction with users. You approach VCs. How much can VCs give you?   They invest north of $500,000. Let’s say the VC values what you have now at $4 million. Again, that is your pre-money valuation. He says he wants to invest $2 Million. The math is the same as in the angel round. The VC gets 33.3% of your company. Now it’s his company, too, though.

Your first VC round is your series A. Now you can go on to have series B,C – at some point either of the three things will happen to you. Either you will run out of funding and no one will want to invest, so you die. Or, you get enough funding to build something a bigger company wants to buy, and they acquire you. Or, you do so well that, after many rounds of funding, you decide to go public.

Why Companies Go Public?

There are two basic reasons. Technically an IPO is just another way to raise money, but this time from millions of regular people. Through an IPO a company can sell stocks on the stock market and anyone can buy them. Since anyone can buy you can likely sell a lot of stock right away rather than go to individual investors and ask them to invest. So it sounds like an easier way to get money.

There is another reason to IPO. All those people who have invested in your company so far, including you, are holding the so-called ‘restricted stock’ – basically this is stock that you can’t simply go and sell for cash. Why? Because this is stock of a company that has not been so-to-say “verified by the government,” which is what the IPO process does. Unless the government sees your IPO paperwork, you might as well be selling snake oil, for all people know. So, the government thinks it is not safe to let regular people to invest in such companies. (Of course, that automatically precludes the poor from making high-return investments. But that is another story.) The people who have invested so far want to finally convert or sell their restricted stock and get cash or unrestricted stock, which is almost as good as cash. This is a liquidity event – when what you have becomes easily convertible into cash.

There is another group of people that really want you to IPO. The investment bankers, like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, to name the most famous ones. They will give you a call and ask to be your lead underwriter – the bank that prepares your IPO paperwork and calls up wealthy clients to sell them your stock.  Why are the bankers so eager? Because they get 7% of all the money you raise in the IPO. In this infographic your startup raised $235,000,000 in the IPO – 7% of that is about $16.5 million (for two or three weeks of work for a team of 12 bankers). As you see, it is a win-win for all.

Being an Early Employee at a Startup

Last but not least, some of your “sweat equity” investors were the early employees who took stock in exchange for working at low salaries and living with the risk that your startup might fold. At the IPO it is their cash-out day.

© 2014 Funders and Founders
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http://fundersandfounders.com/how-funding-works-splitting-equity/

10 Millionaire Tips

How to Become a Millionaire by Age 30

GRANT CARDONE CONTRIBUTOR
International Sales Expert
JUNE 4, 2014

Getting rich and becoming a millionaire is a taboo topic. Saying it can be done by the age of 30 seems like a fantasy.

It shouldn’t be taboo and it is possible. At the age of 21, I got out of college, broke and in debt, and by the time I was 30, I was a millionaire.

Related: I Had Been Fired and Evicted, and Still Retired at 27

Here are the 10 steps that will guarantee you will become a millionaire by 30.

1. Follow the money. In today’s economic environment you cannot save your way to millionaire status. The first step is to focus on increasing your income in increments and repeating that. My income was $3,000 a month and nine years later it was $20,000 a month. Start following the money and it will force you to control revenue and see opportunities.

2. Don’t show off -- show up! I didn’t buy my first luxury watch or car until my businesses and investments were producing multiple secure flows of income. I was still driving a Toyota Camry when I had become a millionaire. Be known for your work ethic, not the trinkets that you buy.

3. Save to invest, don’t save to save. The only reason to save money is to invest it.  Put your saved money into secured, sacred (untouchable) accounts. Never use these accounts for anything, not even an emergency. This will force you to continue to follow step one (increase income). To this day, at least twice a year, I am broke because I always invest my surpluses into ventures I cannot access.

4. Avoid debt that doesn’t pay you. Make it a rule that you never use debt that won’t make you money. I borrowed money for a car only because I knew it could increase my income. Rich people use debt to leverage investments and grow cash flows. Poor people use debt to buy things that make rich people richer.

5. Treat money like a jealous lover. Millions wish for financial freedom, but only those that make it a priority have millions. To get rich and stay rich you will have to make it a priority. Money is like a jealous lover. Ignore it and it will ignore you, or worse, it will leave you for someone who makes it a priority.

6. Money doesn’t sleep. Money doesn’t know about clocks, schedules or holidays, and you shouldn’t either. Money loves people that have a great work ethic. When I was 26 years old, I was in retail and the store I worked at closed at 7 p.m. Most times you could find me there at 11 p.m. making an extra sale. Never try to be the smartest or luckiest person -- just make sure you outwork everyone.

7. Poor makes no sense. I have been poor, and it sucks. I have had just enough and that sucks almost as bad. Eliminate any and all ideas that being poor is somehow OK. Bill Gates has said, "If you’re born poor, it’s not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake."

8. Get a millionaire mentor. Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.

9. Get your money to do the heavy lifting. Investing is the Holy Grail in becoming a millionaire and you should make more money off your investments than your work. If you don’t have surplus money you won’t make investments. The second company I started required a $50,000 investment. That company has paid me back that $50,000 every month for the last 10 years. My third investment was in real estate, where I started with $350,000, a large part of my net worth at the time. I still own that property today and it continues to provide me with income. Investing is the only reason to do the other steps, and your money must work for you and do your heavy lifting.

10. Shoot for $10 million, not $1 million. The single biggest financial mistake I’ve made was not thinking big enough. I encourage you to go for more than a million. There is no shortage of money on this planet, only a shortage of people thinking big enough.

Apply these 10 steps and they will make you rich. Steer clear of people that suggest your financial dreams are born of greed. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes, be ethical, never give up, and once you make it, be willing to help others get there too.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/234454

A Life Story of My Uncle, Benny Subianto

A life story of my uncle, Benny Subianto, that always remind me that my journey is STILL ALWAYS long way to go.
Stay Humble, Focus The Aim and Keep Working Hard.

FORBES ASIA 11/20/2013 @ 4:00PM |

Benny Subianto, Master Networker With a Trustworthy Reputation

This story appears in the December 2, 2013 issue of Forbes Asia.

By Gloria Haraito (FORBES INDONESIA)

“My reason to become an entrepreneur is simple. I wanted to keep going to the office even at 71,” jokes “Benny” Subianto in the course of a rare interview at just that desired perch, a spacious suite overlooking south Jakarta.

He helped build Astra, now the country’s largest business group, from its earliest days. He was the president director of two of its largest companies, Astra Agro and United Tractors, over the course of 26 years. He has since started his own firms, managing many of them through his holding company, Persada Capital Investama. (And he is No. 37 on our list of Indonesia’s 50 Richest.)

But the outstanding characteristic of Subianto’s career has been his closeness with other tycoons who were to rise strikingly in Indonesia’s recently robust recovery from the troubled days after Asia’s 1997-98 financial crisis.

As a partner and investor in their ventures, he uses his mastery of networking and reputation for trustworthiness. His criterion for investments isn’t always profits, he says–sometimes he goes for what he calls “helping a friend” projects.

Whatever the circumstances, the man long known by his nickname–Subianto is his only formal name–is credited with keeping a cool head. “I have known Benny over 30 years, and I’ve never seen him get angry,” says Djojo Boentoro, president director of an affiliated palm oil firm, Dharma Satya Nusantara, who met him when they worked together at Astra.

It would be understandable if 2013 would have been cause for investment agitation. A decline in coal prices hit Subianto’s key stake, in Adaro Energy, whose stock price drop accounted for most of a $230 million drop in his wealth, knocking him off the billionaires roster. The commodity-based Indonesian economy has slowed after its recent brisk rise, as cycles in the country will come and go. Cool heads plug on.

One clue to Subianto’s approach is on a bookshelf in his office–a row of works about his inspiration, Warren Buffett. “I admire Buffett for his expertise in stock investing and his knowledge of compound interest, which makes him one of the richest men in the world. Unfortunately, I learned about these techniques late in life, while Buffett got started earlier,” he says, laughing.

Much as Buffett will invest in businesses but leave the founders in place (as long as they are performing), Subianto is happy to hold a minority stake when others are adept at boosting return.

Last year he enjoyed $26 million in dividends from some 17 different companies in which he has a stake–more than his total net worth back in 1998, when he figures it was a mere $20 million. (So he’s got good at compounding, obviously.) “He prefers to become an investor in an established company,” notes Johannes Suriadjaja, president director of property firm Surya Semesta Internusa, who did his first business deal with Subianto 21 years ago.

Subianto’s start came, appropriately enough, through a friendship. The son of a small-time sugar and rice trader, he got an engineering degree and followed his college pal Theodore Rachmat to then small Astra International.

He was a salesman for its heavy equipment division, and Astra in 1969 was on the cusp of fast growth, soon to become a distributor for Toyota, followed a few years later with distributorships for Honda and Xerox. Today Toyota is the bestselling brand in the country, and selling them is a core business for Astra, now controlled by Hong Kong’s Jardine Group.

Subianto graduated into management (he didn’t leave Astra until 2002), and in 1988 got a financial stake. Astra founder William Soeryadjaya, who is also Rachmat’s uncle, needed help in getting a loan. Subianto obliged, and in return got a 5% stake in Astra Agro. He sold it in 2004 for a modest gain.

The Adaro Energy investment, by contrast, would become a major score. Using one of his own companies, coal contractor Dianlia Setyamukti, as a vehicle. Subianto joined other investors, notably William’s son Edwin Soeryadjaya, to buy control of Adaro for $46 million in 2005. Today Adaro sports a market capitalization of about $2.5 billion (even after the drop from depressed coal prices), and Subianto has a 12.4% stake, easily his most valuable stake in a public company, and he also sits on its board.

Two other key holdings are in palm oil producer and rubber processor Triputra Agro Persada and crumb rubber producer Kirana Megatara, both leading companies of the Triputra Group. Subianto founded the Triputra Group with his pal Rachmat in 2002. Subianto serves as president commissioner of both and holds stakes that, combined, are worth $280 million (it shifts along with the price for crude palm oil and rubber). Rachmat’s stakes in Adaro, Triputra and other firms has made him worth $1.9 billion.

Subianto’s success in Indonesia’s cozy business culture doesn’t end there. Note the ties with Johannes Suriadjaja of Surya Semesta: That connection originated when Johannes’ father, Benyamin Suriadjaya, the brother of William Soeryadjaya, wanted to sell back his shares in the Astra Group.

In the negotiations Subianto represented Astra, Johannes his father. Johannes recalls how Benny treated him and his father fairly in the deal, and by 2008 he was glad to return the favor by offering him an 8% stake in Surya Semesta, today worth $30 million.

The company is now on a fast growth path, expanding into industrial parks and hotels. It has 1,000 rooms in four hotels and plans to add 4,000 rooms in the next five years. It also plans to more than double its existing land bank of 1,400 hectares.

Subianto says such opportunities are like catching a bus: “If a bus stops near you, you should jump inside it.”

 

 

 

 
Luisa Kroll, Forbes Staff

My beat: How folks make, keep and spend fortunes. 

Indonesia's revival encountered a speed bump as its economy grew by under 6% in the third quarter of 2013, its slowest pace in nearly four years. Hurt by sluggish demand for its exports and weak prices of commodities, such as coal, Southeast Asia's biggest economy was also hit by a plummeting rupiah (down 19% in the past year) and the central bank's consequent attempt to rein in inflation. Unfazed by the slowdown and weaker currency, Lippo Group Chairman Mochtar Riady, through his two sons--Stephen, who heads operations in Singapore, and James, who's in charge of Indonesia--pressed ahead with an ambitious expansion both at home and overseas. In restoring a fortune badly dented by the late-1990s financial crisis, he moved into the top ten of FORBES ASIA's list of Indonesia's 50 Richest for the first time. Riady lost a much-publicized battle to acquire control of Singapore firm to Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, but snatched the U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, the tallest building in California, for $368 million last March. The deal was inked by Singapore-listed property arm Overseas Union Enterprise (OUE). In July OUE raised $476 million in an IPO of its hospitality trust and plans to do a similar listing of its commercial portfolio. Lippo is also expanding into health care, retail and setting up a chain of cinemas, banking on rising demand from the middle class that remains Indonesia's mainstay. The Riadys are one of 18 Indonesian tycoons who have added to their fortunes this past year. The biggest dollar gainer was Anthoni Salim, another busy dealmaker who added $1.1 billion to his wealth and moved into the top three for the first time. He unseated Susilo Wonowidjojo, who fell on clove cigarette woes and was one of 21 who lost ground. Six people lost their billionaire status while three moved into the 10-figure club, bringing the total to 29, down from 32 a year ago. The Hartono brothers held on to the No. 1 rank for the fifth year in a row. For the first time FORBES ASIA tracked 50 richest in Indonesia, 10 more than last year, worth a combined $95 billion. Without the additions, Indonesia's wealthiest would have eked out a tiny 1.1% gain. The full list included three newcomers and seven names who'd fallen off in previous years. The richest new entrant is Jogi Hendra Atmadja, the head of the nation's largest food processor, Mayora Group, whose shares have soared in the past year.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesasia/2013/11/20/benny-subianto-master-networker-with-a-trustworthy-reputation/

8 Things The World Most Successful People Have In Common

8 Things The World’s Most Successful People All Have In Common

I’ve posted a lot about the strategies of very successful people: artists, scientists, business leaders…

Looking back, what patterns do we see?

1. Busy Busy. Never Stop Working.

What did they all have in common? A relentless pace of work.

“Sooner or later,” Pritchett writes, “the great men turn out to be all alike. They never stop working. They never lose a minute. It is very depressing.”

In a study of general managers in industry, John Kotter reported that many of them worked 60 to 65 hours per week–which translates into at least six 10-hour days. The ability and willingness to work grueling hours has characterized many powerful figures… Energy and strength provide many advantages to those seeking to build power.

When Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi studied geniuses for his book Creativity, he realized something fascinating about IQ.

No one who changed the world had an IQ under 130 — but the difference between 130 and 170 was negligible.

As long as you were past the 130 IQ threshold, it was all about how hard you worked.

(More on the work habits of geniuses here.)

2. Just Say No. FOCUS!

Warren Buffett once said:

The difference between successful people and very successful people is that very successful people say “no” to almost everything.

And that’s what gives them the time to accomplish so much.

In Creativity, Csikszentmihalyi makes note of the number of high achievers who declined his request to be in the book.

Why did they say no?

They were too busy with their own projects to help him with his.

Achievement requires focus. And focus means saying “no” to a lot of distractions.

3. Know What You Are. Concentrate on Your Strength.

In his classic essay Managing Oneself, Pete Drucker is very clear: ignore your weaknesses and keep improving your strengths.

In identifying opportunities for improvement, don’t waste time cultivating skill areas where you have little competence.

Instead, concentrate on—and build on—your strengths.

This means knowing who you are, what you are and what you are good at.

Harvard professor Gautam Mukunda, author of Indispensable: When Leaders Really Matter, says this is key for leaders:

More than anything else, “Know thyself.” Know what your type is. …Think about your own personality… For instance, if you are a classic entrepreneur, you can’t work in an organization. Know that.

4. Build Networks

Nobody at the top of the heap goes it alone. And those at the center of networks benefit the most.

Paul Erdos is the undeniable center of the mathematics world. Ever heard of “six degrees of Kevin Bacon”? Paul Erdos is the Kevin Bacon of math.

This is no exaggeration. In fact, it’s barely a metaphor — it’s just fact.

How did he become the center of the math world?

He was a giver.

I’ve posted a lot about networking and as great networkers like Adam Rifkin advise, Paul Erdos gave to others. He made those around him better.

Via The Man Who Loved Only Numbers: The Story of Paul Erdos and the Search for Mathematical Truth:

He knew better than you yourself knew what you were capable of…
He gave the confidence that many of us needed to embark on mathematical research.

5. Create Good Luck

Luck isn’t magical — there’s a science to it.

Richard Wiseman studied lucky people for his book Luck Factor, and broke down what they do right.

Certain personality types are luckier because they behave in a way that maximizes the chance for good opportunities.

A. By being more outgoing,
B. open to new ideas,
C. following hunches, and
D. being optimistic,
lucky people create possibilities.

6. Have Grit. Perseverance. Never Give Up.

Intelligence and creativity are great but you can’t quit when the going gets tough if you really want to accomplish anything big.

That’s grit. Perseverance. And it’s one of the best predictors of success there is.

The best predictor of success, the researchers found, was the prospective cadets’ ratings on a noncognitive, nonphysical trait known as “grit”—defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.”

Researchers have found that grit exists apart from IQ and is more predictive of success than IQ in a variety of challenging environments:

Defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, grit accounted for an average of 4% of the variance in success outcomes, including educational attainment among 2 samples of adults (N = 1,545 and N = 690), grade point average among Ivy League undergraduates (N = 138), retention in 2 classes of United States Military Academy, West Point, cadets (N = 1,218 and N = 1,308), and ranking in the National Spelling Bee (N = 175).

Howard Gardner studied some of the greatest geniuses of all time. One quality they all had in common sounds an awful lot like grit.

…when they fail, they do not waste much time lamenting; blaming; or, at the extreme, quitting.

Instead, regarding the failure as a learning experience, they try to build upon its lessons in their future endeavors. Framing is most succinctly captured in aphorism by French economist and visionary Jean Monnet: “I regard every defeat as an opportunity.”

7. Make Awesome Mistakes. Failure is essential. Do A Lot of Experimenting.

Losers like to hear that because it makes them feel better about their past mistakes. Winners use it to go make more mistakes they can learn from.

Always be experimenting. In his excellent book Little Bets, Peter Sims explains the system used by all the greats:

The mindset is what makes a big difference. The willingness to spend 5 to 10% of your time doing experiments will, over the long run, really open up that part of you that can be more creative and entrepreneurial, and yield, hopefully, some new opportunities that you hadn’t thought of before trying something.

You must wrestle with your ideas. Dissect, combine, add, subtract, turn them upside down and shake them. Get ideas colliding.
Successful creators engage in an ongoing dialogue with their work. They put what’s in their head on paper long before it’s fully formed, and they watch and listen to what they’ve recorded, zigging and zagging until the right idea emerges.

How do you start? Do like the greats and keep a notebook.

8. Find Mentors

You cannot go it alone. It can be hard to learn from books. And the internet makes it difficult to separate truth from fiction.

You need someone who has been there to show you the ropes. A Yoda. A Mister Miyagi.

Yes, 10K hours of deliberate practice can make you an expert but what makes you dedicate 10K hours to something in the first place?

As Adam Grant of Wharton explains, the answer is great mentors:

Why would somebody invest deliberate practice in something? It turns out that actually most of these world-class performers had a first coach, or a first teacher, who made the activity fun.

(More on finding the best mentor for you here.)

Sum Up
Eight things you can do to be like the best:

1. Stay Busy
2. Just Say No. Focus on what you do!
3. Know What You Are. Focus on What You Are Good At.
4. Grow Networks. Be in the Center
5. Create Good Luck. Always be Open. Follow Hunch.
6. Have Grit. Perseverance. Never Give Up.
7. Make Awesome Mistakes. Do A Lot of Exprimenting
8. Find Mentors

http://www.businessinsider.com/8-things-the-worlds-most-successful-people-all-have-in-common-2013-12?IR=T&utm_content=bufferc6670&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Economic Buzz MNC Business TV for "Culinary Entrepreneurship"

This is MNC Business Economic Buzz
Live On Air November 17th, 2014

On Monday evening, November 17th, 2014, I was invited and interviewed by MNC Business TV. We talk a lot about Culinary Entrepreneurship.

Indonesia's food and beverage sector has flourished especially in the country major city like Jakarta. Given their hectic lofestyles, urban dwellers and workong parent families spend less time cooking with dining out showing sustainable growth as result. Surely this is good for business.

While young consumers in Indonesia larger cities, frequently socialise in chained cafes and restaurants, adult consumers are increasingly dining out both for business meeting or simply for pleasure.

In addition, family and festival gatherings are now typically also take place in restaurants and outdoor eating place.

Franchising is a common business strategy for entrepreneurs looking to establish and expand their culinary outlets.
Culinary entrepreneurs have opted to enter the market through partnerships or through franchising.

The population of Indonesia is obviously a promising market for the culinary business. However, the question arises whether local entrepreneurs are keen enough to see this opportunity and build a market of their products.

So far foreign food franchise outlets still dominate the food industry in Indonesia. In the middle of this tight market competition, there are still at least more growing local culinary businesses with various specialties.

Culinary business owned by Indonesians are gaining acceptance by consumers. Not just because of the products flavor that suit Indonesian's taste, but also their sense of Innovation that has led them to success.

The owners of popular local culinary brands were relatively also young when they first started their businesses.
They generally started their culinary business by using street carts.

However, now their efforts have evolved in many ways. They now have loyal customers, large number of employees and turnovers of even billions of Rupiah monthly.

Thw journeys of the young entrepreneurs in Indonesiam culinary business are long winding and full of challenges. Thus, what the successful culinary entrepreneurs enjoy today can be said to be the sweet fruits of their unyielding Spirit of Entrepreneurship.

Successful entrepreneurs in culinary believe that starting a business should be based on Courage and the Creative Spirit.
This is the time for Indonesian culinary business to rise by making local entrepreneurs mastering in their own country.

The same thing applies to local entrepreneurs who are expected to increase their competitiveness and innovation so that their products can be proudly consumed by Indonesians and the International market.

Doing business in culinary, for me, is really enjoyable. There are lots of work to analyze and understand people expectation, and of course try hard to meet the expectation by keep innovating new products.

For early entrepreneurs who have lack of experience, franchising food and beverage business is a good option where the market is huge and the business model system is already proven.
Later on, culinary entrepreneurs can challenge themselves to be more sensitive in understanding market / consumer. Culinary entrepreneurs should put attention to several things when they want to start culinary business:

1. The market or consumer's trend and expectation. What is the today's trend? Because we need to answer this specific as the culinary basic idea.

2. The food type needs to be the answer of the consumer's expectation and lifestyle. Therefore, explore and innovate to answer that.

3. Building the Brand. Building culinary business is not just buildind a good menu restaurant. But also building a Brand that consists of:
a. Engaging Food Taste Innovation
b. The experience of eating the restaurant. Including ambience and location.
c. The emotional assets where people should be having such good bonding with our brand. Even top of mind.

4. Location and how to reach the customers. Location is very important. If not, no one will come. No matter how good your product is.

Some old Culinary Food brands are now gone. Never been heard. This is because the brand failed to adapt to the market from time to time.
Yes we need to maintain the product authenticity but for sure we need to always adapt with the today's market and lifestyle. Otherwise, the brand will be left out.

Never ending innovation in culinary business is very advisable. To be follower will not be good for the business. Because consumers always look for the most authentic brand. The original.

K-Food Indonesia today do 3 main type of business:

1. Buying local franchise food brand and develop several outlets. We started with brand Bakso Kota Cak Man. And now we have 4 outlets.

2. Becoming Master Franchisor for local culinary food who needs help in developing the business. We are now working on Sour Sally Mini brand and have 6 franchisee outlets so far.

You can go to www.soursallymini.com for franchise information and contact us via email : info@soursallymini.com

3. Developing our own brand and innovation which later to be franchised. We have 2 brands at the moment:
A. Marlous The Premium Martabak
B. Sate Blangkon - Sate Buntel Khas Solo

For more information for franchise investment, can contact email : info@kuliner-nusantara.com

7 Lessons from Warren Buffet

 
7 Things Warren Buffett Can Teach You About Leadership

Warren Buffett shares words of wisdom from decades of experience, success, and failure.
BY TRAVIS WRIGHT

 
The "most successful investor of the 20th century" has a thing or two to teach you about being a great leader. Warren Buffett is a famed philanthropist, business magnate, and sharklike investor. As the CEO and biggest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway and someone who consistently ranks among the richest people in the world, he's smart, business savvy, and slick, even into his 80s.

However, the "Oracle of Omaha" is also a notoriously frugal spender and reveres value investing. Having pledged to donate 99 percent of his wealth, he's proof that sometimes old-school techniques work. If you're an up-and-coming leader (or just want to be), check out what Buffett can teach you about leadership, wise moves, and humility.

1. On Risk

"Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing," says Buffett, which means you can do one of two things. Either you can be a big risk taker and gambler, or you can learn what you need to do, play it a little slower, and minimize your risks. Obviously the latter approach is best, but it doesn't lead to instant gratification. Put those multimillion-dollar fantasies on the back burner long enough to get in control of your risk factor.

2. On Reputations

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently." This is especially true in the digital era, when, if something's in writing or on video, it's forever. You can even take a screencap of a Snapchat, so be diligent when building your reputation--online and off.

Remember Congressman Anthony Weiner tweeting pictures of his genitalia? Yeah, don't be that guy. His reputation is toast.

3. On Who You Surround Yourself With

"It's better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours, and you'll drift in that direction." Birds of a feather flock together, and you're probably not in the position to be anyone's mentor yet. If you surround yourself with better people, they'll inspire you to do better yourself.

As I tell my children, "If you want to soar like an eagle in life, you can't be flocking with the turkeys."

4. On Hindsight

"In the business world, the rearview mirror is always clearer than the windshield," quips Buffett. Of course, this is true in every other aspect of your life, too. Stop focusing on that rearview mirror, though, after you've gleaned the necessary lessons from it. Move forward, even if that direction isn't quite as streak-free.

5. On Stupid Mistakes

"I bought a company in the mid-'90s called Dexter Shoe and paid $400 million for it. And it went to zero. And I gave away about $400 million worth of Berkshire stock, which is probably now worth $400 billion. But I've made lots of dumb decisions. It's part of the game."

No successful person is mistake-free, and that's a good thing. Each stumble is a chance to learn and a warning when you're tempted to do something similar in the future.

6. On Knowing When to Quit

"Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks." In other words, ditch the stubbornness and know when to call it quits. Not every project is worth saving.

7. On Frugality

Buffett is legendarily frugal. He lives in the same house in Omaha, Nebraska, that he purchased in 1958 for $31,500. He is well known for his frugality, which includes enjoying McDonald's hamburgers and cherry Coke, and his disdain for technology, such as computers and luxury cars. Despite a net worth measured in billions, Buffett earns a base salary of $100,000 a year at Berkshire Hathaway. It's a salary that has not changed in 25 years.

Today, many top leaders take as much as they can and live as extravagantly as possible. More leaders should take a page from the book of Buffett.

Listen to the Wisdom of the Oracle of Omaha

These words of wisdom come from decades of experience, success, and failure. Why make the same mistakes somebody else has already made all over again if you don't have to? With the likes of Buffett doling out advice by the shovelful, take advantage of it--then spend that saved time putting his words into practice.

It's certainly worked for Buffett.

Read More
COPYRIGHT 2014 MANSUETO VENTURES

http://www.inc.com/travis-wright/7-things-warren-buffett-can-teach-you-about-leadership.html?cid=sf01002

50 Signs That Entrepreneurship Fits For You

Entrepreneurs are a unique group of people. Not only do they think differently; they act differently. They draw on personality traits, habits and mind-sets to come up with ideas that straddle the line between insanity and genius. But just because you’re an original thinker and came up with an idea to replace gasoline in cars doesn’t mean you’re cut out to be an entrepreneur.

If you ever wondered if you were an entrepreneur, check out the following list. You may not have all these traits or skills, yet if you have some, this is a pretty good indicator that you have what it takes.

1. You come from a family of individuals who just couldn't work for someone else. Your parents worked for themselves. Though this isn't true for every entrepreneur (myself included), many have a family history with one or both parents having been self-employed.

"My parents are not entrepreneur, but my uncle is. So I guess, yeah, got this point for me"

2. You hate the status quo. You’re a person who is always questioning why people do the things they do. You strive to make things better and are willing to take action on it.

"O yes I do"

3. You’re self-confident. Have you ever met an entrepreneur who was pessimistic or self-loathing? After all, if you don’t have confidence, how can others believe in you?  Most entrepreneurs are very optimistic about everything around them.

"Well I guess I am. Overconfident most of the time actually :)"

4. You’re passionate. There will be times when you spend an excessive amount of time and do not make a dollar. It’s your passion that will keep you going.

"I am sure I am very passionate in what I do everyday :)"

5. You don’t take no for an answer. An entrepreneur never gives up -- ever.

"Yes. Although sometimes still learn knowing when to stop or when not to give up"

6. You have the ability to create unlikely partnerships from out of nowhere because of your ability to connect the dots. People tend to gravitate toward you because you are likable. Many times this is because of your passion. 

"Yes. Most of my friends told me that"

7. You spend more time with your co-founder than your spouse or significant other.

"My wife is my way to get inspiration and enlightment"

8. You dropped out of college like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg.

"No I did not :)"

9. The daily commute to your office is from the bedroom to the living room.

"Yeah for sure hehe"

10. You were always a lousy employee and probably have been fired a lot. Don't worry; you're not alone. I personally have been fired several times in my life. Don't take it as a sign that you're a bad person. Sometimes it's in your DNA.

"I was and I was not. But for sure not a really good-mark student"

11. You’ve always resisted authority; that's why you've had a problem holding down a job.

"I got this with my last job"

12. You believe that there is more than one definition of job security: You realize that your job is safe as long as you are in control as opposed to relying on a boss who could ruin your career after one swift mistake.

"Job security is when we keep creating business and keep planting businesses"

13. Most of your wardrobe consists of T-shirts; some you probably got at SXSW. Others display your company's name or logo.

"Nope, i like to look formal in business matter"

14. You have a competitive nature and are willing to lose. You always know that you can do something better.

15. You check GitHub when you wake up in the morning.

16. You ask to be paid in game tickets, shoes or whatever else you love. There are just some things that are better than money, right?

17. Your idea of a holiday is a working day without anything interfering with the tasks you really need to get done.

"Oh my God, yes this is very true to me!!" 😊

18. You’re unemployable, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Life skills are more valuable than the office politics commonly found at 9-to-5 gigs.

"I am tested myself that and yes, i dont want to go back as employee"

19. You work more than 60 hours a week; yet you earned more money at an hourly job when you were in high school.

20. You want to be in control and in command of your own company. You typically like overseeing most things that go on at your company.

"Of course I do"

21. You see opportunities everywhere. For example, you walk into a building and are curious about its worth or the companies inside.

"Yes it is so me"

22. The word “pitch” no longer has an association with baseball.

23. Your take a personality test, like one offered by the Enneagram Institute, and end up with a result calling you a "reformer type," someone purposeful, self-controlled and perfectionist.

24. You recognize that the best seats at your favorite coffee shops are those closest to power outlets.

25. You’re a logical thinker with ideas about how to correct problems and the overall situation.

26. Speaking of problem solving, have you checked to see if there's an app for that? Perhaps you've already begun to create a business model and the software architecture to see if it’s feasible.

"Exactly what I am working on right now!"

27. You’re a people person. You have no problem communicating with people.

"Yes, I enjoy with people"

28. You regularly quote Steve Jobs mainly to keep yourself from falling to pieces.

"My God , are you reading my mind or been watching me doing it? Yes!"

29. You sold stuff as a kid like at a lemonade stand. Heck, when there were class sales, you were probably one of the top sellers.

"Well I rent my comic books when I was in Junior High"

30. You get more SMS alerts from people you follow on Twitter than from actual friends listed in your address book.

31. You’re a self-starter, meaning you don’t give up on a project until it’s completed.

32. No matter what you do on a daily basis, you always think of it in terms of delivering a return on investment.

33. Your dress code is shabby chic and your suit is just collecting dust. You prefer T-shirts and jeans over a suit any day.

"No I am not"

34. You’re unrealistic. As an inventor or innovator, you kind of have to be this way.

"He he .. yeah"

35. You think outside of the box. If not, what will change?

"We are challenged everyday to think outside the box"

36. You’re a charming and charismatic person.

"I think I am ;)"

37. Rules don’t apply to you. We’re not talking about breaking the law. Instead, you believe in efficiency and will bend rules to make things run smoothly.

"It means we have to be creative ;)"

38. You realize that you can’t do everything alone. You have an idea and can promote it but also know that you’re not skilled at every task of running a business.

39. You’re very opinionated. That's another reason you got fired a lot.

40. You’re unpredictable. As an entrepreneur, you know how quickly things can change. Thankfully, you're ready and willing to make adjustments.

"Very. Sometimes I think; whether I am inconsistent person or being flexible / adaptive"

41. You enjoy being with a group but don't relish much being alone. You probably get most energetic when working with groups of more than four people.

"True!"

42. You’re determined. You have to make the impossible possible.

"True although often difficult to fins people who can understand and support"

43. You have the support of your friends and family. These are the people who get you. And they’ll be there to support you along the way.

44. It’s normal for you to take a nap under your desk to catch up on sleep. After all, getting eight hours of sleep sometime between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. is antiquated.

45. You’ve done the market research. You know that just because you have an incredible idea doesn’t mean that it’s profitable. But you’ve already looked into whether customers will make the purchase.

46. You surround yourself with quality people -- not leeches who will bring you down.

"This is my homework"

47. You’re a bit out there. Having the ability to create something out of nothing takes a mad-genius type of person. Remember, people thought Albert Einstein was insane before he proved the theory of relativity.

48. Did you ever ask your family, friends or significant other to send you a calendar invite so that you could talk for all of five minutes?

49. You believe that your time is worth more than money.

50. During your most recent rant about growth hacking, your spouse or boyfriend (or girlfriend) totally understood what you were saying.

Even if you don’t have all the above traits right now, you’ll probably develop more of them over time. After all, being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle, not a job or hobby.

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/232451

Young Millionaire Attitude

How To Become A Millionaire By Age 30

GRANT CARDONE, ENTREPRENEUR
NOV. 13, 2014, 3:08 PM 276,704 13
financial times wealth luxury
Flickr / Financial Times

Getting rich and becoming a millionaire is a taboo topic. Saying it can be done by the age of 30 seems like a fantasy.

It shouldn't be taboo and it is possible. At the age of 21, I got out of college, broke and in debt, and by the time I was 30, I was a millionaire.

Here are the 10 steps that will guarantee you will become a millionaire by 30.

1. Follow the money. In today's economic environment you cannot save your way to millionaire status. The first step is to focus on increasing your income in increments and repeating that.

My income was $3,000 a month and nine years later it was $20,000 a month. Start following the money and it will force you to control revenue and see opportunities.

2. Don't show off — show up! I didn't buy my first luxury watch or car until my businesses and investments were producing multiple secure flows of income. I was still driving a Toyota Camry when I had become a millionaire. Be known for your work ethic, not the trinkets that you buy.

3. Save to invest, don't save to save. The only reason to save money is to invest it.  Put your saved money into secured, sacred (untouchable) accounts. Never use these accounts for anything, not even an emergency. This will force you to continue to follow step one (increase income). To this day, at least twice a year, I am broke because I always invest my surpluses into ventures I cannot access.

4. Avoid debt that doesn't pay you. Make it a rule that you never use debt that won't make you money. I borrowed money for a car only because I knew it could increase my income. Rich people use debt to leverage investments and grow cash flows. Poor people use debt to buy things that make rich people richer.

5. Treat money like a jealous lover. Millions wish for financial freedom, but only those that make it a priority have millions. To get rich and stay rich you will have to make it a priority. Money is like a jealous lover. Ignore it and it will ignore you, or worse, it will leave you for someone who makes it a0 priority.

6. Money doesn't sleep. Money doesn't know about clocks, schedules, or holidays, and you shouldn't either. Money loves people that have a great work ethic. When I was 26 years old, I was in retail and the store I worked at closed at 7 p.m. Most times you could find me there at 11 p.m. making an extra sale. Never try to be the smartest or luckiest person — just make sure you outwork everyone.

7. Poor makes no sense. I have been poor, and it sucks. I have had just enough and that sucks almost as bad. Eliminate any and all ideas that being poor is somehow OK. Bill Gates has said, "If you're born poor, it's not your mistake. But if you die poor, it is your mistake."

8. Get a millionaire mentor. Most of us were brought up middle class or poor and then hold ourselves to the limits and ideas of that group. I have been studying millionaires to duplicate what they did. Get your own personal millionaire mentor and study them. Most rich people are extremely generous with their knowledge and their resources.

9. Get your money to do the heavy lifting. Investing is the Holy Grail in becoming a millionaire and you should make more money off your investments than your work. If you don't have surplus money you won't make investments. The second company I started required a $50,000 investment. That company has paid me back that $50,000 every month for the last 10 years.

My third investment was in real estate, where I started with $350,000, a large part of my net worth at the time. I still own that property today and it continues to provide me with income. Investing is the only reason to do the other steps, and your money must work for you and do your heavy lifting.

10. Shoot for $10 million, not $1 million. The single biggest financial mistake I've made was not thinking big enough. I encourage you to go for more than a million. There is no shortage of money on this planet, only a shortage of people thinking big enough.

Apply these 10 steps and they will make you rich. Steer clear of people that suggest your financial dreams are born of greed. Avoid get-rich-quick schemes, be ethical, never give up, and once you make it, be willing to help others get there too.

This article originally appeared at Entrepreneur. Copyright 2014.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-i-became-a-millionaire-by-30-2014-11?IR=T&utm_content=buffer36581&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Warren Buffet Important Quotes

10 Brilliant Quotes From Warren Buffett, America's Second-Richest Person
NOVEMBER 13, 2014

Whether it's ketchup or ice cream or more recently batteries, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is a powerhouse, managing a stable of more than 80 businesses. Its stock trades at more than $210,000 per share.

And if Berkshire Hathaway is legit, then Buffett -- the company's charismatic leader -- is the real deal in business. At age 84, the man has a net worth of $66.8 billion, according to a recent report. Yes, you read that right. Billion. (Actually, it looks like he might be worth even more now...)

Buffett is the second wealthiest individual in the U.S., behind Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates ($81.5 billion) and ahead of Oracle's Larry Ellison ($47.3 billion).

Buffett is as brilliant in business and investing as he is inspiring. Here are 10 of his best quotes, collected from his many letters to Berkshire shareholders and elsewhere around the web. Enjoy.

1. Give your mind some clarity and thinking
“I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think. That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”

2. Never forget thy business basics.
“Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”

3. Know what you're getting into, before you get into it.
"It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price."

4. Be smart -- and realistic.
"I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

5. Don't fake it till you make it.
"After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out."

6. Always know who you're dealing with.
"You can’t make a good deal with a bad person."

7. Act with honor and integrity.
"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently."

8. Value what's most important.
"Too often, a vast collection of possessions ends up possessing its owner. The asset I most value, aside from health, is interesting, diverse, and long-standing friends."

9. Hit the brakes when you need to.
“The most important thing to do if you find yourself in a hole is to stop digging.”

10. Be bold. Be confident.
“I always knew I was going to be rich. I don't think I ever doubted it for a minute. ”

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/239763

AIESEC INDONESIA Youth Leadership Conference November 2014

Yesterday, November 14th, 2014, we were invited as AIESEC Alumni to share our experience to all AIESEC New Members.

There were 2 questions from the audience that I think we all should always remember:

1. How AIESEC has impacted to your life?

2. What do alumni want and expect to the next generation?

These are two good questions.

1. AIESEC has impacted to our mindset. The mindset that will last until we die. It is the mindset that we are as individual should be part of solution to our surroundings. We must become an agent of change.

Ali Zaenal Abidin, President of AIESEC Indonesia 2005-2006, said, "it is not who we want to be, but what we want to do and contribute that matters".

2. We, alumni, have spent years in working environment and we found that the Indonesian generation is getting less struggle, less persistence.
We want the next generation to become generation who are Die Hard.
The generation who will Do The Best to any challenge comes across. Show your quality first, then you can earn later.

Viva young Indonesian!

34 Provoking Questions To Ask Yourself

34 Thought Provoking Questions To Ask Yourself

1. What can I do today to reach one of my goals?
2. When am I most productive?
3. How can I heal a relationship?
4. What one thing can I do today to pamper myself?
5. What are 5 things I am grateful for in my life?
6. What one thing can I do today that will make a difference in someone else’s life?
7. What is my best quality?
8. What do I really want to do for a living?
9. Do I really still want them in my life?
10. What can I do to earn an extra $10 today?
11. How long do I watch television for on an average day?
12. Do I really need all of my ‘possessions?’
13. When was the last time I read a good book?
14. When was the last time I said ‘No’ to Someone?
15. Does it really matter what someone else thinks about me?
16. What do I want to achieve this year?
17. What is the next big outcome I want to achieve?
18. What can I do to make myself feel happy?
19. When did I last push the boundaries of my comfort zone?
20. What are my values in life?
21. What advice would my future self give me in 30 years time?
22. What career would I love to be doing?
23. What steps can I take today that will move me toward my ideal career?
24. What does my perfect day look like, from when I get up in the morning until I go to bed at night?
25. What Beliefs are holding me back in life?
26. What good habits would I like to have in my life?
27. How can I break a bad habit?
28. Who am I most inspired by?
29. What qualities do the people I admire share?
30. Are my dreams really just dreams or can I make them a reality?
31. What would happen if I let go of…………..?
32. What do I really like about my job?
33. What one thing would I do differently if I had another chance to live it over?
34. What one thing am I going to do today after reading these questions?

http://www.stevenaitchison.co.uk/blog/34-thought-provoking-questions-to-ask-yourself/