A speaker recounts a personal early-career venture investment in 1981: they discovered a water-purification firm (Trojan, in London, Ontario) using ultraviolet technology, helped raise capital (company was raising $3 million; $2M already raised), personally invested $25,000 and helped raise roughly $500,000 from friends, and ultimately the investment returned about 75× (a "75 bagger"). The anecdote illustrates venture-capital lessons (don’t invest more than you can afford to lose) and cites public-health motivation (thousands dying from impure water).
Questions this video answers
1981
$25,000
$3,000,000
$2,000,000 from a venture capital firm
About $500,000
Chapters
I read an article in the Wall street journal that 6,000 people were dying every day because they were drinking water that was impure. I'm drinking from a garden hose in my backyard. We were all drinking from garden hoses, okay? And maybe some of us still are. And I'm saying, well, this is ridiculous. I have to do something about this. And it took me several months, and I found a company, a water purification company, believe it or not, in London, Ontario. And I approached them. I learned about their business very quickly and said, do you need any capital? And they said, as a matter of fact, we're raising $3 million. The company had revenue, and what they had was this ultraviolet technology and patents, and they were building small units for cottage country, and cottages in Ontario would have well waters or lake water, and they would use this ultraviolet technology to sterilize, purify the water. It's the only way you can deal with some issues, like Giardia, for example, which is drinking impure lake water. And six months later, you get a terrible stomachache and a whole bunch of other issues. And so Trojan said to me that, well, we're raising 3 million. We've raised 2 million from a. From a venture capital firm. And I said, can I help you raise the other million? They said, sure. And I called a bunch of friends, and I raised about half a million dollars for them. And I'm 29 years old, and I put in $25,000. So first rule in venture capital, do not invest more than you're prepared to lose. It cannot affect your lifestyle, cannot affect your three square meals or a roof over your head. So I invested $25,000 and approached some friends who put in $25,000. And I approached some very wealthy families that may have been worth 100 million. And they said, they're putting in $50,000. And they said, wait a minute, wait a minute. You're worth a thousand times, you know, 10,000 times what I'm worth. Why are you only putting 50? He says, because we're not going to worry about this investment because you're going to watch it for me anyways. Bottom line is, and this is like 1981, Trojan went on to become the best investment that I've ever made. It was like a 75 bagger, which means 75 times your money.
