How A Kid Who Sold Snails Grew Up To Be A Successful Entrepreneur, Then Angel Investor – with Boris Wertz
Before I tell you about Boris Wertz’s successful startup and how he’s investing in other startups, I want to point you to a spot in the interview that starts around minute 18. That’s when he talks about how he always wanted to be an entrepreneur and even launched small businesses as a kid — like the one where he sold snails.
Watch that spot and you’ll see why Boris started JustBooks, the German used books market place. Later in the interview, when he talks about the hard times, you’ll also understand why he didn’t throw in the towel and get a safe job. He ended up selling his company to AbeBooks. And when AbeBooks was sold to Amazon the money helped him invest in startups. I asked Boris to tell us how he finds the entrepreneurs that he backs and what he gives them beyond money.
Boris Wertz is the Founder and CEO of W Media Ventures, an angel fund focusing on early-stage Consumer Internet opportunities mainly in the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Before founding W Media Ventures, Boris was the Chief Operating Officer of AbeBooks.com, the world’s largest marketplace for new, used and rare and out-of print books which got sold to Amazon in 2008. Boris joined the company in 2002 after JustBooks, the German company he co-founded in 1999, was acquired by AbeBooks.
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Here’s the interview.
Hey, everyone. It’s Andrew Warner, founder of Mixergy.com, home of the
ambitious upstart. And before I even introduce today’s guest, today’s
interviewee, I’ve got to explain the beard and the way that I look. I
haven’t been feeling well. It’s Monday. I had a rough weekend, and just was
in bed all morning today.
But I...
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