This was actually a good watch. It teaches entrepreneurs a few important lessons:
1- Don't waste time trying to raise capital unless the money is crucial to your survival.
2- Persistence is almost the single most important quality of successful entrepreneurs.
3- A deal is never truly a deal even if it is on paper. Sometimes the guys across the table will make it so difficult you wish you never signed a deal with them.
4- If a partner cannot make his mind in x days, move forward and when they come back, respectfully turned them down.
5- (Repeating 2) Never ever quit. "Be water" and adapt to the market.
While I agreed it was a good watch, instead I found it taught me what not to do and what to watchout for.
What struck me was how he often talks about the future as the obvious, when in fact, he doesn't know. "Everyone knows that Chinese cars are going to flood the US market". I guess that's what some call entrepreneurial optimism or being a visionary, but to not admit that your vision won't pan out doesn't win me over.
There were a couple scenes of him saying, it's his way, or the highway. Table pounding, everyone's-an-asshole, I make the final decision. In fact, they start off arguing about the logo. That doesn't inspire any sense of leadership, and doesn't make me want to help him achieve his vision.
It struck me also that his company didn't make anything. So when a single deal fell through, they went under as well.
He does have good qualities, like persistence and making arguments for how a deal might benefit the other side, but in the end, it seemed like he'd be a person really hard to work for and with. Life's too short to deal with that, and there are plenty of other entrepreneurs.
I agree. They do not necessarily talk about the making of a company, essentially because there was no company. Only people trying to raise money for it.
I'm using a US proxy - in China - and somehow Hulu is still blocking me: 'Sorry, we are unable to stream this video. Please check your internet connection and try again.' How does Hulu know?
I'm in the middle of this still, but it's a pretty interesting look at Malcolm Bricklin, who brought the Subaru and the Yugo to the USA. He's at retirement age, working on his latest venture.
Great movie. It is so sad to watch the old man bumble with the Chinese, though. He is incredibly clueless about how they do business. The Chinese take their time, and even a successful deal with the Chinese rarely results in a signed contract.
I haven't finished it yet, but the only thing that could possibly save him with the Chinese is his age.
Real quickly I just want to say I hope this comment didn't sound ageist. I didn't mean that he is less talented because he is old, only that I really wondered if he understood a post-WWII China instead of modern China.
I've just tried via this and it didn't work. The message is that "based on the IP address we notice you are trying to access Hulu via an anonymous proxy...". Any other ideas? Anyone seen this film anywhere else?
This guy seems to have a knack for crappy little cars:
1965 - Started selling the Subaru 360, which was named most unsafe car in America. Then was selling Subaru franchises(back then Subaru was worse than Daewoo)
1970s - Started his own sports car company, that had horrible sales and was forced to close.
1980s- Started selling Fiats(crap in the 80s).
1980s- Started selling Yugos. And we all know how great they were.
1- Don't waste time trying to raise capital unless the money is crucial to your survival.
2- Persistence is almost the single most important quality of successful entrepreneurs.
3- A deal is never truly a deal even if it is on paper. Sometimes the guys across the table will make it so difficult you wish you never signed a deal with them.
4- If a partner cannot make his mind in x days, move forward and when they come back, respectfully turned them down.
5- (Repeating 2) Never ever quit. "Be water" and adapt to the market.