只用五張幻燈片籌得200萬美元 他是如何做到的

He may sound crazy, but there’s a method to his madness. Itay Adam is already well-funded and staffed to create “the next big thing.” All that remains is to come up with an idea.

他或許是一個瘋子，不過這種瘋狂行爲看上去自有其道理。伊泰·亞當（Itay Adam）眼下既不缺人也不缺錢，只等一個好創意，就可以動手去創造“下一個大事件”。

On a memorable episode of the hit 1990s sitcom Seinfeld, NBC executives meet Jerry after his nightclub act and ask him to come up with an idea for a TV series. His friend George decides he can be a sitcom writer and comes up with the idea of it being “a show about nothing,” and it worked! Run with it.

上世紀90年代紅極一時的情景喜劇《宋飛傳》（Seinfeld）有這樣一集讓人難以忘懷：NBC電視臺高管在傑瑞結束夜總會的表演之後與他碰面，並請他爲一部電視劇出個主意。他的朋友喬治（George）覺得他可以當編劇，並想到可以把這部戲的主題定爲“一個沒有主題的節目”，之後大獲成功！就照它來吧。

Itay Adam is an outgoing chutzpah-filled Israeli, a lifelong entrepreneur and a huge Seinfeld fan. In his 22 years of online marketing, after funding many ventures, both successful and not, Adam went on (much like on Seinfeld) to raise money for a company about nothing.

心情開朗又敢作敢爲的以色列人伊泰·亞當，一輩子都致力於創業。另外他還是《宋飛傳》的忠實粉絲。在亞當從事網絡營銷的22年中，他投資過很多初創公司，其中有成功的也有不成功的，而他這次又在爲一家沒有主題的公司（很像《宋飛傳》）籌集資金。

Recently, Adam closed a seed round of $2 million with a private equity firm based in London, Brazil and Colombia. His entire pitch consisted of one simple, 40-minute, five-slide presentation. One brave man in jeans and a T-shirt, five basic slides, 18 jokes, but no product. His first slide was simply a quote taken straight out of Seinfeld: “This is a show about nothing.”

最近，亞當剛剛從一家總部位於倫敦、巴西和哥倫比亞的私募股權投資公司籌集到200萬美元的種子投資。他的整個宣傳僅包括五張幻燈片，時長40分鐘。這位勇敢的男人，身着牛仔褲和T恤，展示了五張幻燈片，講了18個笑話，不過就是沒展出實實在在的產品。他的第一張幻燈片是直接摘自《宋飛傳》的一條語錄，“這是個沒有主題的節目。”

But how did he do it? Adam explains it was all about philosophy, experience, age and passion. In fact, he even hired a professional screenwriter for his self-described 40-minute stand-up comedy act to pitch to the private equity firm, which he practiced for a week. Then he gave them the best show possible. For Adam, entertainment is everything: standup = startup.

但他是怎麼做到的呢？亞當解釋，所有的一切只關乎理念、經驗、年齡和激情。事實上，爲了吸引這傢俬募，它甚至專門請專業的編劇給他編寫了一段長達40分鐘以自述爲主的喜劇脫口秀，並且練習了整整一週。之後，他的演出或許取得了成功。對於亞當來說，娛樂就是一切：單人喜劇表演=創業。

A few days later, they signed a $2 million round with no product, just a smart and rather simple, yet very real belief: “Look,” Adam explains, “nobody knows what the next big thing is going to be, it’s all just speculation. My goal is to build a team of five to six people, all veterans with a proven track record, all over the age of 35, to create that next big thing, whatever it may be.”

幾天之後，他們就200萬美元的融資達成協議，即便沒有產品，僅是一個明智的、非常簡單但很真實的信念，“瞧，”亞當解釋說，“沒有人會知道下一個大事件將會是什麼，這一切都只是推測。我的目標就是創建一個由五六個人組成的團隊，所有這些人必須經驗豐富、成績過硬、年齡均在35歲上下，他們將去創造下一個大事件，不管最後會怎樣。”

“When you ask the common entrepreneur who is his role model is,” Adam continues, “ I bet most of them will say Steve Jobs or Bill Gates. Mine is Bob Parsons, the founder of GoDaddy. He turned a boring domain registry into one of the sexiest services online today. Hell, buying a 30-second commercial with 90% of what’s left in your company’s bank account is what I call an ‘all in’ move. Sometimes, that’s the only way to make a dramatic change — for better or for worse. Status-quo is a b****.”

“當你問那些普通的創業者，他的榜樣是誰，”亞當繼續說，“我敢打賭，其中，很多人會說是史蒂夫·喬布斯（Steve Jobs）或者比爾·蓋茨（Bill Gates）。我的榜樣卻是GoDaddy公司的創始人鮑勃·帕森斯（Bob Parsons）。他把一家平淡無奇的域名註冊公司改造成爲當今網絡最具吸引力的服務之一。見鬼，把你銀行裏的錢拿出90%去買一條30秒的廣告就是我稱之爲的‘全力以赴’。有時候，那是進行巨大轉變的唯一方法，無論結果好壞。維持現狀是可恥的。 ”

Experience Over Youth

更看重經驗，而不是年輕

Although his thinking is logical, Adam’s ideas are bucking the trend — especially in startups that tend to hire mostly young people.

雖然亞當的思維條理清楚，不過他的想法卻是特立獨行，尤其是對於通常喜歡聘請年輕人的初創公司。

“Most startups hire 20-year-old kids who are willing to work day and night at the office,” Adam says. “I don’t believe in that. I’d much rather hire an older, more experienced employee to work a regular eight-hour workday and who will get more done in that time than an inexperienced 20-year-old kid would in week!”

“大多數初創公司都願意僱20來歲的小屁孩，他們願意在辦公室夜以繼日的工作。”亞當說，“我就不信這個邪。我寧可去找個年紀稍大，經驗更豐富的員工，每天工作8個小時，他們在這段時間可以完成的工作，比20來歲的毛頭小子用一週時間完成的工作都要多！”

He cites the example of single mothers, explaining how they come to work at 8 a.m. sharp, make their cup of coffee, sit at their work stations and don’t get up till 3 p.m. when they have to leave to go pick up their kids. In those seven hours, they manage to get more work done than most other employees simply because they need to be more efficient with their time. Those are the types of workers Adam is looking for.

他列舉了單身母親的例子，並解釋他們如何在早上8點整來工作，衝咖啡，坐在辦公室，直到下午三點該去接他們的孩子的時候，纔會離開。在這七個小時，他們要比其他員工完成更多的工作，完全是因爲他們必須充分利用自己工作時間。這正是亞當正在尋找的員工。

Team First, Then Product

團隊第一，產品第二

After a career of marketing more than 1,000 different products, Adam decided that he would not build a single web page unless he was backed with the right money to build the right team to research, test, and find the “golden angle.” Now that his venture has been generously funded, Adam has assembled the best team he can find: a handpicked team of hard-working, experienced and passionate people who want to build things. For Adam, at the end of the day, it’s all about the team. As for what that team will create, well, that remains to be decided.

在成功營銷1000餘種不同的產品之後，亞當下定決心，除非能先獲得一大筆資金去創建一支給力的團隊，來研究、測試和尋找“黃金角”，否則的話，哪怕是連一個簡單的網頁他也不會動手製作。由於他的初創公司獲得了一筆可觀的資金，亞當已經組建了他能夠找到的最優秀團隊：由一羣吃苦耐勞、經驗豐富、充滿熱情和想要闖出一番名堂的員工組成，這些人都是由他精心挑選的。對於亞當而言，到頭來，成敗都取決於這支團隊。那麼關於這支團隊將會創造些什麼，好吧，讓我們拭目以待。

Looking For Funds In All The Wrong Places

尋找資金要反其道而行之

Adam did share one very key insight he picked up along the way: Stop looking for funding where everyone else is looking. Seek your money where the VCs seek theirs.

亞當要分享的核心觀點是：在尋找資金時，不要隨大流。要到風投去尋找資金的地方籌錢。

“Everybody looks for funding in the same old places, with the same old VCs,” Adam shakes his head. “Open your mind and look elsewhere. Be unique. If you’re building a product that’s unique, the place where you seek funding should be unique, too. Ask yourself where those VCs get their money and go there.”

“所有籌集資金的人，走的都是同一條老路，總是去敲那幾家風投的門，”亞當搖頭說，“放開你的思想，去別處尋找。做到獨一無二。如果你正在打造一款獨一無二的產品，那麼你獲取資金的地方也應該是獨特的。問問你自己，那些風投會在哪裏獲得資金，又會投向何處。”

Adam raised his funding from a private equity based in South America. According to Adam, South America is loaded with money and is seeking new opportunities.

亞當從一家總部位於南非的私募股權投資公司籌到過錢。據亞當說，南非那個地方不差錢，而且正在尋找新的機會。

“Follow my advice,” Adam adds. “If you want money from investors, give them a great show! Hire a screenwriter if you have to, just like I did. Make sure you’re putting on a great act with your pitch! For me, watching a lot of Louis C.K. stand-up comedy performances turned out to be a great investment.”

“就按照我的建議，”亞當又說，“如果你想要從投資者那裏獲得資金，就給他們演出好戲！如果不得已，那麼和我一樣，聘請一位編劇。確保你將要上演的好戲，與你的宣傳保持一致！我看了許多路易斯·C.K.（Louis C.K.）的脫口秀喜劇電影，而這最後變成了一項了不起的投資。”

BetaPopcorn – Entertaining Internet

BetaPopcorn——網絡娛樂

Adam has one definite thing to say about his not yet defined company — it will be entertaining. According to Adam, if you can entertain, you are providing a service that is in-demand, plain and simple. In his view, if a product is not entertaining, it has no justified validation.

對於他這家還沒有明確主題的公司，亞當有一樣事情是確定的——它將是有趣的。亞當說，如果你可以娛樂大衆，那麼你就是在提供一款受歡迎、簡單明瞭的服務。在他看來，如果一款產品無法取悅大衆，那麼它就會失去了成立的根本。

Adam makes a valid point. Nowadays everything new aims to simplify our lives rather than make them harder. Expectations for new products are high, and they must work with us, not against us. If you manage to build something that makes people’s lives easier (Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc.), you’ve managed to entertain.

亞當的這個出發點是有道理的。當前，所有新興事物旨在簡化我們的生活，而不是讓它們更復雜。大衆對新產品期望很高，而它們必須要順着大家的意，而不是唱對臺戲。如果你成功打造了讓人們生活變得更加輕鬆的東西，比如Facebook、Twitter、谷歌（Google），你已成功地帶給了別人歡樂。

Adam calls his new think tank BetaPopcorn because when you think “entertainment” you think of popcorn, where he and his “dream team” will seek out the next big thing, whatever that may be, and then go out and build it.

亞當之所以稱其新智庫爲“BetaPopcorn”，是因爲如果你想到“娛樂”，你就會聯想到“爆米花”，而他和他的“夢之隊”將挖掘出“下一個大事件”，無論它是什麼，然後努力並實現它。

Itay Adam may not have an idea, product or concept yet, but he does have a team, a direction and a unique vision — plus $2 million in his pocket — which is a lot more than most other startups can say.

伊泰·亞當現在或許還沒有一個創意、產品或者概念，然而他還有一支團隊、一個方向和一個獨一無二的願景——再加之他口袋裏的200萬美元——這不是大多數其他初創公司可以具備的。