Ep1: Bill Lewis – Importance of Knowing Product-Market Fit Before Making Any Financial Investment
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Guest profile
Bill Lewis is the founder and leader of Linacre Digital Media. He holds a degree in Business Strategy, Leadership and Merger, Acquisition and Operations Strategy and Globalization from Harvard Business School. He started his career as a Senior Financial Analyst at Forbes Europe Division. Throughout his career, he worked for more than a dozen companies including KPMG, British Airways and was the co-founder of Temasys Communications. Born as a technologist he has evolved into a leader and boardroom titan. He has helped many entrepreneurial businesses including some Fortune 200 companies.
In this episode, Bill shares his painful investment story of loss and his takeaways from the experience. You may relate to his story, or have lived one of them, but most importantly learn from it.
“Find a way of getting a hands-on exposure to a new business model and a new business environment before you commit financial investment.”
Bill Lewis
Topics Covered:
00:57 – Bill’s entrepreneurial and investment background
02:44 – Bill describes the circumstances that led him to his worst investment ever
04:08 – Bill shares his worst investment story
05:44 – Qualities of the American company that Bill invested in
06:20 – Type of investment Bill made
07:35 – Why product-market fit is so important
08:10 – Signs of failure and how he knew the business is not working out
09:08 – 3 Takeaways from Bill’s investment experience and his actionable advice
11:39 – Andrew summarizes the critical learning point from Bills experience
13:33 – the Crash of 2008: Chapter 2 of investment failure for Bill
15:28 – Andrew shares the CFA’s standard of ethics
Main Takeaways:
- Lesson 1: Find a way of getting a hands-on exposure to a new business model and a new business environment before you commit financial investment.
- Lesson 2: If you are going to enter into a commercial agreement with someone who allegedly has the product and the experience, you need to make sure that they have some skin in the game.
- Lesson 3: Have a committed and loyal staff. Employees are so much more than paid workers – they are ambassadors for your brand and everything that your business stands for. As members of your company, they must be acquainted with the products or services that you offer.
Connect with Bill Lewis:
Andrew’s books
- How to Start Building Your Wealth Investing in the Stock Market
- My Worst Investment Ever
- 9 Valuation Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
- Transform Your Business with Dr.Deming’s 14 Points
Andrew’s online programs
- Valuation Master Class
- Women Building Wealth
- The Build Your Wealth Membership Group
- Become a Great Presenter and Increase Your Influence
- Transform Your Business with Dr. Deming’s 14 Points
Connect with Andrew Stotz:
About the show & host, Andrew Stotz
Welcome to My Worst Investment Ever podcast hosted by Your Worst Podcast Host, Andrew Stotz, where you will hear stories of loss to keep you winning. In our community, we know that to win in investing you must take the risk, but to win big, you’ve got to reduce it.
Your Worst Podcast Host, Andrew Stotz, Ph.D., CFA, is also the CEO of A. Stotz Investment Research and A. Stotz Academy, which helps people create, grow, measure, and protect their wealth.