What is your exit strategy?

The performance of ExchangeDefender and Shockey Monkey have been a fascination for many of my friends and partners and to be honest I’m the one that’s least surprised by it: which is why I’m always shocked when people ask me the following question:

Vlad, What is your exit strategy?

Cold. Feet first. Wrap me in dollar bills and stick me into a Corvette and roll that bitch off the cliff loaded with explosives and blow the motherfucker up before I hit the water.

Then collect life insurance.

Yes, I want to keep on making money even in the afterlife. Why? Because that is what I do.

I have this conversation with people all the time and it’s very, very, very simple.

Back when I started Space G (which became what you see today) I had many friends that moved to the Silicon Valley to be the .com millionaires. I f’d up and went to college. We all make mistakes. But funny thing happens when you’re broke: You learn to respect the value of money. You become weary of borrowing it, you become suspicious when someone wants to give it to you and you learn that nothing ever comes easy. Ever ever. Even Ana Nicole Smith had to work for her $ and look where it got her.

Business has a simple premise: Make more than you spend. Keep the difference or reinvest.

For the first few years I reinvested aggressively – everything I had (not just financially) went into it. It taught me a few things:

1. More or less, financial rewards are proportional to the effort.
2. Business world is not fair
3. Some people are scumbags – trust is earned
4. Given the chance, most will take advantage of you
5. There is no crying in business but there is always another day

I have lost so many deals and so many customers have fired me that if I cried over every one of them I would have drowned by now. I’ve been screwed by so many people that I could put Peter North to shame. It is what it is though – just like there are people out there that have to clean toilets – it’s a job. Just like everything else, I just try to be a little bit better the next day, the day after that, next month and next year.

I am in no position to offer advice – I’m rich and employed – find someone that isn’t either and have them coach you. I cannot tell you what to do beyond explaining what we do at ExchangeDefender and what works and doesn’t work for us. I don’t know your risk tollerance, I don’t know your work ethic, overall ethics and morals, I don’t know your skill level or willingness to succeed. But you do.

So instead of asking others what they plan to do – ask yourself what you’re willing to do and where you are going with your business. Everything else will fall in line.

Maybe someone rich and desperate and bad at math will come along and swoop your business. In the event that doesn’t happen, a huge chunk of your monthly revenues will continue to go into your pocket. Just keep stacking it.

….

Here are comments from my Facebook friends:

Julian Wilkinson Heart attack working hard doing what I love.

Tom Wyant Sell out to one of my sons so he can support me until I die at the age of 107.

Not for attribution: Screwed to death in a traditional harem.

Ed Mana The front door to my office.