Helping people make money
decisions, one click at a time
Send a link to a friend
[August 09, 2017]
By Beth Pinsker
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fred Schebesta started
a digital marketing business while still in college in Australia,
working on a shoestring out of his dorm room.
After he sold that, he was able to start fresh, and later co-founded
Finder, a conglomeration of websites that help people make decisions on
purchases such as mortgages, flat-screen TVs or car insurance by
comparing data.
Schebesta, 36, spoke to Reuters about selling his first company, and why
it has been critical to his success today. He had some unconventional
advice for teaching children entrepreneurial skills.
Q: How did you first learn the value of earning money?
A: My parents were studying to become doctors when I was growing up, and
for a very long time, we lived super-frugally. There was a time where we
lived in a caravan at the back of a doctor’s office.
We re-used everything, and I hardly ever asked to buy anything. If I did
ask, it was very important. One was to buy a computer. That’s how I
learned the business I am in. I used that until it fell apart, and when
it did, I was emotionally devastated.
Q: How did you figure out how to handle your own finances and the
company at the same time?
A: I always kept some safety money and financed everything on credit
cards. I kept every dollar I could in the company I started in college.
I never had the money in my hand, but at the end of the month, I would
collect enough to pay the credit cards. It got me off the ground. Then
slowly over time, I learned how to make it into a business.
The company got into a very good place at the end. To me, that was
heaven. I got to buy some lunch every day and eat dinner – as opposed to
one meal. But it still wasn’t making a large amount of money.
Q: How did you decide it was time to sell?
A: I sold in 2007, which was a boom time, and everyone was bullish. So I
thought, it’s about time. They paid me a reasonable amount, like more
than a million dollars. That was more money than I had ever seen in my
life.
Q: How did you keep that money safe?
[to top of second column] |
Co-founder of Finder, Fred Schebesta, is seen in this undated
handout photo. Handout photo courtesy of Fred Schebesta via REUTERS
A: I took 80 percent of payment in cash and 20 percent in stock. That
stock turned into literally 2 cents. I lost all that. The people we sold
company to didn’t run it quite the same way, and that was tough to deal
with it.
The other part of the money I paid off the mortgage on my apartment and
put some into another house, and some stocks – just some conservative
banking stocks and tech companies I understand.
Q: What money values do you want to pass along to your two children?
A: I don’t want them to have jobs. I don’t think that they should trade
their time for money. I’m trying to open their minds to the fact that
you can take risks in alternative ways to getting a job.
For instance, they can get unlimited pocket money - they don't have to
work for it. But they have to pitch to me. We call it the five reasons
game. Five reasons why and five lessons they will learn from it. They
have to draw diagrams and make a presentation.
We’ll see what happens in good time. I was thinking about upgrading it –
next is PowerPoint. If they want a car, I'll need a market analysis.
Q: What legacy do you want to leave with Finder?
A: Our intention is to find a way to compare everything, so it becomes
part of humanity. You are a product of your decisions. If you’re tired
and you make poor decisions, that affects your life.
(Editing by Lauren Young and Frances Kerry)
[© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2017 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
|