Interview
What He Did After He Sold His Company – The Ryan Scott Interview
on Nov 5, 2008 - 4:00 PM PSTThe full program
This is an audio program. Listen and/or download here.
A few lessons from this program
What would you do if you built a tremendously successful internet company and sold it?
I interviewed Ryan Scott to find out what he did after he sold Netcreations, the email list management company that he co-founded. (Curious about how Netcreations was built? Listen to this this interview.)
Ryan is now an angel investor and the CEO of Causecast, an interactive community for people and brands that want to leave a positive impact on the world. Here’s some of what I learned about his post-sale journey:
“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous”
Isn’t this the part most people dream of: throwing great parties, buying fun toys, hobnobbing with celebrities? Ryan got to enjoy it all. There was a part of him that did that to overcome some lingering insecurities from when he was a nerdy kid.
Eventually, he says, the “Rich and Famous” lifestyle wasn’t for him because most of the people it attracted were either after something or just wanted to be around that environment.
Igniting the entrepreneurial need
After being disenchanted with the easy life, Ryan refocused on what got him started: the need to build something. I think there are two kinds of entrepreneurs: The “wannabes,” who try to build companies so they never have to work again. And the “real” entrepreneurs, who build companies even when they don’t have to work.
If you download my interview with Ryan to learn how to build your own success, notice how many times he repeats that he wants to build something that lasts.
Angel investing
He also started investing in companies like Tesla Motors, Mahalo, and Intent.com.
I asked Ryan how he made his investment decisions. He said he looked for ideas that have legs and can leave an impact on the world.
H also said that he considers the personality and reputation of the entrepreneur behind the company. Will s/he crumble in a crisis? Do people think s/he is a jerk? Is s/he someone Ryan would want to work with? (Peter Pham has more on that.)
The power of celebrities
The “aha moment” that led Ryan to create his newest startup, Causecast, came when he realized that celebrities are powerful attention magnets. They make it easier to draw traffic to a web site. I always forget about the power of celebrities because I’m much more interested in business stars than movie stars, but the rest of the world doesn’t think that way. Ryan realized that there was an opportunity to work with celebrities to pull together a big community that supports causes.
(Thank you Sloane Berrent for putting this interview together.)
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November 6th, 2008 at 7:59 am
A really long interview, almost 1 hour of my time, and the day has only 24 hours. You should make these interviews more compact, and choose only a few well chosen questions from where we can get the most wisdom.
I really liked that Ryan also talked about his life outside the business area, because from there you can also learn some important things.
November 6th, 2008 at 2:22 pm
M!hai, I know what you mean about long interviews. I’ve edited others down, but I don’t know what I would cut from this one. There is too much value in what Ryan was willing to share for me to edit any out.
November 7th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
Andrew,
good interview, according to my good friend Tom Hopkins, “All that money can do is give you opportunities to explore what will make you happy.” In Ryan’s case, after spending money living the rich & famous lifestyle, he realized that building something greater than himself, was his true joy. great story.
November 10th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
Great interview Andrew! My brother and I would love to talk to you about “Finding Your Niche in a Saturated Market” – we are young entrepreneurs who did just that and making great things happen. Our concept is completely centered around lifestyles. Please check our website and my personal blog at:
http://www.iLoveONO.com
http://www.TheTeaChick.com
November 10th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Deep: Thanks. Ryan’s always been a guy who builds things. Check out the beautiful site he’s building over at http://Causecast.org
November 10th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Phuong: I’ll email you directly.
November 19th, 2008 at 2:32 am
[...] to stay in touch with people is to invite them to events. Sloane told me that when she first met Ryan, she invited him to a Heal the Bay event. He couldn’t make it to the event, but he made a her a [...]
February 5th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Like Ryan many peopleare flipping sites for profit.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:18 am
Berlinda, I don’t think of Ryan as a flipper. He’s very committed to what he’s working on.
May 26th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
I laughed when I saw the 2 kinds of entrepreneurs, and there's no better way to learn if you're into the lifestyles of the rich and wanna be famous than to live in Los Angeles. Determining which is for you, can save you lot's of time. Excellent job with this interview.
May 31st, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Well put about “lifestyles of the rich and wannabe famous.” LA really is
full of them.
You've known Ryan Scott for years. I hope this helps you get to know him
better.
May 31st, 2009 at 10:09 pm
Well put about “lifestyles of the rich and wannabe famous.” LA really is
full of them.
You've known Ryan Scott for years. I hope this helps you get to know him
better.
June 26th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
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