Our Future Podcast
00:25:40 · Simran Sandhu, Michael Sikand
[00:25:40] S1: Well, about like Bloomberg... Because every [00:25:41] S0: all of these data players are building an AI feature. Yeah. Or they're building a GBTU interface for natural language. [00:25:47] S1: Sure, sure. No, I hear you. I think, again, if we go back to Bloomberg though, right? It is like, it is kind of that playbook as well. It's yes, they were a software and a data provider, but they also had their own media company. And before you know it, like the software provider is pulling from journalism that Bloomberg, the media company is doing. So vertically I remember Bloomberg [00:26:06] S0: was like, yeah, every article I put out, it sold more terminals. If only if only every company could be a media company, bro. [00:26:13] S1: Own your distribution, kids. I think that's we're telling you. [00:26:15] S0: Yeah. And if you wanna build out some media, come to the boys, Mike and Simi. [00:26:20] S1: I think two other learnings that can be applied here, and this is more so from Bloomberg than I would say Rogo, but sell before the product is out. I think that's so important. We used to talk a lot about that, but you don't want to spend, you know, a year or two years, whatever that looks like, developing out a product and at the ass end of it, realize like there's no customers for this. And I think that's what Bloomberg did really, really well. He was out selling the terminal before that thing existed. This was like back in the eighties. [00:26:47] S0: Right? Yeah. What he would do is he would just like deliver coffee at age 40. [00:26:50] S1: Yeah.
00:26:50 · Simran Sandhu, Michael Sikand
[00:26:50] S1: Yeah. [00:26:51] S0: I think the thing about Bloomberg is he made 10,000,000, but he always had such a chip on his shoulder. And as a result of that, he never had the... This preppy, pretentious nature of a banker. Like, he was always willing to almost self flagellate, right, to to get deals. And it's like he just kind of was able to put his ego to the side even though he's done all this stuff, and he built one of the best businesses in modern history. Yeah. He was always able to put his ego aside and get back to the sales tactics that work for people like you and I, which is very scrappy stuff. [00:27:20] S1: Well, I think people get this wrong, which is like when they think they're an owner or a CEO, they're just like sitting on their ivory tower shouting down commands from the bottom. But actually, as an owner, that... It's the complete opposite. You gotta be able to do the work that no one wants to do, right? Like the... [00:27:37] S0: Well, you you also read Schwarzman's biography, right? Absolutely. And and when they launched that firm, they put out the ad in the Wall Street Journal and nobody called. Yeah. Nobody called. And just because he was Mike Bloomberg and was a partner at Lehman Brothers, what does that mean? You're gonna buy a software from this guy? Like, there's just no translation. [00:27:50] S1: He wasn't at Lehman Brothers, I don't think. [00:27:52] S0: I think he was at Lehman, yeah.
00:27:52 · Michael Sikand, Simran Sandhu
[00:27:52] S0: I think he was at Lehman, yeah. [00:27:53] S1: No, he was at Bear Stearns. It was like one of the other like... No, they shut down. It wasn't Lehman or it wasn't Bear Stearns, but yeah, he was definitely at one of those legacy banks. [00:28:05] S0: Salomon Brothers. [00:28:06] S1: Salomon Brothers. That's right. Yeah. So definitely like so funny that the learnings from three, four decades ago are still very relevant today. I think the other unique learning here is that building out software now, I realize it's cheaper than it's ever been. But at the end of the day, like don't be afraid to make it an agency that then develops into software business. Again, with Bloomberg, he was doing consulting. That was how he was getting money in the door. And then they funneled that money into the software in what is now the Bloomberg terminal. You know, again, that said, they were doing consulting for big banks at the time. So these were like six bigger contracts, the value in selling into finance. But, yeah, definitely like we see that so much, maybe even if it's on a smaller scale, but a tried and true model. [00:28:55] S0: Yeah. For sure. I mean, you know, and I know we talk about, like, going to the most profitable industry, but oftentimes, the most profitable industries have the longest sales cycles. So Yeah. He was saying he talks to CTOs and CDOs and the chief information security officer and CSOs, like all this stuff. It's And hard to get these deals through with these massive players, especially with a software package of this size.
00:28:55 · Michael Sikand, Simran Sandhu
[00:28:55] S0: Yeah. For sure. I mean, you know, and I know we talk about, like, going to the most profitable industry, but oftentimes, the most profitable industries have the longest sales cycles. So Yeah. He was saying he talks to CTOs and CDOs and the chief information security officer and CSOs, like all this stuff. It's And hard to get these deals through with these massive players, especially with a software package of this size. [00:29:12] S1: Well, I think that pretty much wraps up another episode of our future podcast. A blast to do this in person, man. We don't get to do this enough. But if you like what you heard today, give us some feedback. And if you didn't like what you hear, also still give us some feedback and subscribe wherever you listen to this. And we will catch you again next week with another episode of Our Future podcast. Stay frosty. [00:29:33] S0: Stay frosty. Good doing business with you, [00:29:35] S1: bro. Yes, sir.