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Living 6 Months At a Time from Dot Com Bust to IPO
Patrick Byrne
In his twenties, Patrick Byrne had one question on his mind: If I am going to live for the next 6 months, what should I do today? After surviving cancer 3 times, Patrick found that thinking 6 months ahead forced him to fill his days with meaningful activity.
This lesson carried through Patrick’s entire life and has given him courage to achieve what seemed impossible at times.
In 1999, Patrick invested and became the CEO of a company, which was then called D2 Discounts, with a vision to create an online discount store. The company was in desperate need of money in order to achieve his vision. So 6 months before the famous Dot Com Bust, Patrick pitched the Overstock.com idea to 55 Venture Capitalists. Nobody wanted to invest in his idea, and then Dot Com Bust came.
In the 12 years since then, Patrick took Overstock.com from $500,000 revenue a year to $1.1B with a successful “Dutch Auction” IPO in 2002 (less than 3 years after he took over). Before Overstock, Patrick worked with his dear friend Warren Buffet, leading a company that Buffett invested in.
Patrick Byrne, the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Overstock.com, will get on his soapbox on February 24th, 2012 to share with us the challenges, hurdles and issues he had to deal with as he built Overstock.com He will touch on and answer the following questions:
1. What is it about you experience with cancer that gave you courage in your professional career?
2. You pitched the Overstock.com idea to 55 VCs about 6 months before the Dot Com Bust, a time when money was practically handed out to anybody. Why didn’t they want to invest in you?
3. When the dot-com implosion came, did you have to shut down Overstock.com?
4. What was the turning point for Overstock.com?
5. You did not choose the traditional route to going public. Why? Because you don’t like Wall Street?
6. While traveling in Asia, you saw that many local craftsman make amazing products but have no way to sell them. Tell us about the process of how you launched Worldstock to help this situation.
7. What was it like to work with Warren Buffet? Sum him up for us.
8. If you have one piece of advice for an inspiring entrepreneur, what would it be?
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February 24, 2012 @ 12:00 PM
Format: Our talks usually last one hour. Food and refreshments are provided at each talk. If you have questions or comments, send an email to rsvp@zurb.com
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