Three Things I Learned In SaaS, Sports Tech & Live Events 5.22.23
Learfield Woes, Crooks and Your Business, & A John Adams Classic
Don't do bad deals. I know, I know, it sounds so simple - as most advice is. But it's one of the hardest disciplines to stay true to - as Learfield, and many others, are learning first hand. When things are good and booming, growth needs to come at all cost. Companies compete to "grab land" - buying up other companies, merging, and doing deals with big goals tied to them. On the other extreme, companies in down times give up on their cost discipline and start doing shorter term deals at lower prices - as Jason Lemkin points out here. Like anything else in business, avoid the extremes. Let your competition overpay for deals or undercut themselves. Some losses are good ones, as Learfield's competition is finding. Patience is the hardest part - when you know the math doesn't work but have to wait for competitors to learn it the hard way. We've had three competitors go bankrupt or change hands in distress just in the past five years, and that cycle will continuously repeat. https://sports.yahoo.com/learfield-losses-top-2-billion-235342487.html?guccounter=1 https://www.sportico.com/business/commerce/2023/learfield-debt-restructure-school-renegotiations-1234723296/
Budget for crooks. Even when it's your own mistake. Back when I was at StubHub in the mid-00s, we used to use discount codes we called "fan codes." It was the early days and a customer would get a discount code to save money on a purchase - the most common being $25, $50, and $100 discount codes. Only one problem: whoever was responsible for the codes didn't put any restrictions on them. So what happened? A less-than-honest ticket broker got ahold of one of the fan codes, started buying baseball tickets for free (using fan codes) then re-selling the same ticket on the site. I don't know the exact number they got away with, but it was big. We've had multiple customers cross the FBI at TicketManager and when that happens, you don't get paid. We've seen ponzi schemes, employees stealing from their companies, and outright fraud. When you're early, vet your customers and budget for the crooks.
"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study painting, poetry, music, architecture, statuary, tapestry, and porcelain." - John Adams. When talking to people my age (old - mid 40's) there is more regret in the conversations than before. People wearing the fuzzy handcuffs doing a job they don't love to make opportunity for their offspring. Adam's quote is a great one: We do what we do, or our parents did what they did, so the next generation could explore their passion. I love my job.