Imagine being one of the big drivers of new customers for a fintech startup you love.
You’re there pretty much at the beginning.
You wear the hat. Proselytize to the customer.
Send tons of customers you paid to acquire over to them.
Then, when that startup sells for a $1 billion – you got exactly nothing.
Even though you’d been trying to convert your marketing agreement to an equity stake because you knew how much value you were driving.
That’s the true story Adam Mesh just shared in this video conversation I had about his experience as brand ambassador for TastyWorks.
And about his decision to sell his business last year to the fintech Tifin.
After Tasty announced their exit Kristi, the CEO told him, “I’m sorry we were already in the talks.”
He was happy for them.
But the whole experience burned a painful truth into Adam’s heart.
“I opened a lot of accounts for them…. when they sold for a billion dollars it became clear to me my audience was worth more to other people than it was to myself.”
That’s when he realized he needed to do something different.
Fortunately, in this market, the opportunities for trader educators and publishers are falling from the sky right now.
Adam found himself in talks with Ian Rosen about selling one of his great domain names.
That conversation rolled into Ian’s company financial answers buying Adam’s entire business. Adam & I discussed his reasons for selling – and spoiler alert – the biggest reason is the change to finally capture the full value of his audience.
Every entrepreneur & executive in a financial publishing, trader education, or financial media company needs to hear Adam’s story.
Why?
Because the question:
How do we capture a greater share of the value of our customers?
Is an existential the industry is facing.
I mean existential precisely as in “concerned with our existence” because it represents a life-or-death issue for the industry.
Fintech’s are coming for us.
They’re coming for our customers.
They’re coming for our revenue.
They’re coming for our businesses.
The trader education & subscription financial publishing industries will not look the same in five years as it does today.
Not by a long shot.
Adam’s decision to sell his business and join the Tifin & Financial Answers ecosystem is worth understanding.
Hopefully my conversation with Adam will offer some useful insight as you navigate this industry.
Best,
John Newtson
