Transcript excerpt of Michael Lee-Chin recounting a 1981 venture investment in a London, Ontario water purification company (Trojan). At age 29 he invested $25,000 and helped raise additional capital (about $500,000 from friends) toward a $3 million round (the company had already raised $2 million). The investment ultimately returned about 75× (roughly 7,500%).
Questions this video answers
1981
$25,000
$3,000,000
$2,000,000
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 I said, wait a minute. Wait. 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.
