MIT Blackjack Star Sells Multiple Companies to Virgin, Yahoo & Twitter | Jeff Ma
Jeff Ma is best known as a former member of the MIT Blackjack team who won millions in the mid 1990’s. Jeff's success was the basis of the main character of a New York Times bestselling book, “Bringing Down The House”, and the highly successful movie “21”. Because of his focus on data and analytics, Jeff's success at the blackjack table translated well into his prolific entrepreneurial career.
Today Jeff and I discuss how his experiences at the blackjack table helped him build valuable companies and how he knew when to pick up his chips, leave the table and cash out.
Jeff is best known as a former member of the MIT Blackjack team who won millions in the mid 1990’s. Jeff's success was the basis of the main character of a New York Times bestselling book, “Bringing Down The House”, and the highly successful movie “21”. Because of his focus on data and analytics, Jeff's success at the blackjack table translated well into his prolific entrepreneurial career.
Jeff and his teams built and sold Circle Lending to Virgin, Citizen Sports to Yahoo, and finally, tenXer to Twitter. Jeff has worked as a consultant to the San Francisco 49ers, the Portland Trail Blazers and a major sports apparel brand, helping them to make better decisions using data and analytics. His most recent book, "The House Advantage: Playing the Odds to Win Big in Business" was a business bestseller and draws on his unique experiences at the table and in the sports world creating a truly accessible work about business analytics. Jeff is passionate about how data and better visibility into one's performance can make people better.
In this week's episode Jeff discusses how his experiences at the blackjack table helped him build valuable companies and how he knew when to pick up his chips, leave the table and cash out. A few highlights:
In this week's episode Jeff discusses how his experiences at the blackjack table helped him build valuable companies and how he knew when to pick up his chips, leave the table and cash out. A few highlights:
(10:00) ... losing $100K in 5 minutes at the blackjack table
(15:45) ... the analogy of blackjack to startup life and building a business - hanging around long enough to sell your company is no different than a card counter having enough chips to catch a hot streak.
(27:00) ... why getting congratulated at the beginning of a founder journey may be the wrong message to send. Raising venture capital shouldn’t always be the celebratory moment it often is for entrepreneurs
(43:00) ... acquisition values, and why they're often misreported and misunderstood in the media
I hope you enjoy my conversation with Jeff Ma.
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This episode is brought to you by Exitwise: https://www.exitwise.com
Exitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.
How Does It Work:
1. Schedule A Call: Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.
This episode is brought to you by Exitwise: https://www.exitwise.com
Exitwise helps business owners create the exits they deserve by assembling the best teams of industry specific, M&A experts, who will help maximize the sale of each business.
How Does It Work:
1. Schedule A Call: Schedule a call with one of our M&A Advisors and we'll walk you through the entire process of selling your business, from market valuations to M&A expert fees and from due diligence to the signing of your purchase agreement. We're here to answer any questions you may have.
On this call, we'll want to learn about the history of the business, your financial performance, your management team and listen to your thoughts and requirements for selling the business so we can make sure to find the best M&A experts to help maximize your exit.
2. Review Top Experts: Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.
2. Review Top Experts: Once we've had a chance to process all your business information, we'll share with you, our top choices for investment bankers, M&A attorneys, and tax accountants to help maximize the sale of your business.
We’ll present each M&A expert’s transaction history, estimated valuation range for your business and their fee structures. Then we’ll talk through the pros and cons of each choice to help you prioritize and make the best decisions.
3. Negotiate & Hire: Finally, when we've narrowed it down to your top choices, we'll negotiate your engagement letter with each M&A expert to make sure fees and terms are fair for everyone. We know what to look for and we know how to keep everyone incentivized for your optimal outcome.
Once your M&A experts have been selected and you’re ready to move forward, we’ll collect signatures and get everyone to work.
