Inspired Futures Foundation - follow up

Thank you to everyone who came out on August 17^th in support of the Inspired Futures Foundation 1^st Annual Summer Fundraiser @ Bijou Nightclub & Lounge. It was an amazing night shared with so many great people including lots of friends. We didn't have the numbers I was necessarily hoping for when we started planning back in March but getting 125 people on our very first fundraiser should definitely be considered a big success. There are many people to thank and hopefully you know who you are - I'm grateful for each of you. Several individuals on the host committee were especially helpful in spreading the word and inviting their friends & business colleagues through Facebook & email blasts which is extremely inspiring for me to see.

If you missed the fundraiser or never had a chance to purchase a ticket, please feel free to make a donation @ http://bit.ly/pvymqk

Special thanks to the Host Committee, JADA, Bijou, DJ Massive, all the incredible sponsors who donated auction & raffle items, Stuff Magazine and of course our honorees - Partner for Youth with Disabilities & Cradles to Crayons for being amazing charities.

We have already started planning our next Inspired Futures fundraiser which will probably take place on Saturday, October 22nd - most likely a Halloween dress up party. It might be Boston's only Halloween Charity Fundraiser which means another incredible evening for a good cause.

You can keep tabs on the Inspired Futures Foundation on our website @ www.inspiredfutures.org

We also have a Facebook page @ www.facebook.com/inspiredfutures

Last but not least, if you're really savvy with the social media you can follow us on Twitter @ www.twitter.com/inspired_boston

I appreciate all the support and uplifting thoughts and words of encouragement I received these past 3 months - hosting a fundraiser is no easy task and 10 times the work I thought it would be but many valuable lessons were learned which should make every future event that much better.

If you would like to get involved with the Inspired Futures Foundation going forward or have suggestions for us, please feel free to contact me at jonah@inspiredfutures.org or 617-818-1529

Here are some pictures, however there are many more available at www.facebook.com/InspiredFutures

Inspired Futures Foundation 1st Annual Summer Fundraiser

Pictures from the Inspired Futures Foundation 1st Annual Summer Fundraiser

How did Mark Zuckerberg retain so much equity in Facebook?

From Lee Hower of NextView Ventures...

How did Mark Zuckerberg retain so much equity in Facebook????

The valuation jumps from round to round were orders of magnitude until Facebook hit a $15 billion valuation, resulting in tiny dilutions accompanying each financing.

Note also that with every financing, the Silicon Valley echo chamber thought the investors were nuts to offer such rich valuations. It's now clear the echo chamber was wrong every time; the investors were quite savvy, as a matter of fact.

I don't know exact numbers, but I believe Facebook's equity sales to investors were roughly:

Sep 04 -- 10% sold for $500k. ($5mm valuation -- Peter Thiel, Angels)

May 05 -- 12.7% sold for $12.7mm. ($100mm valuation -- Accel)

Apr 06 -- 5% sold for $27.5mm. ($550mm valuation -- Greylock, Meritech, Founders Fund)

Oct 07 -- 1.6% sold for $240mm. ($15b valuation -- Microsoft)

Nov 07 thru Apr 08 -- 0.9% sold for $135mm ($15b valuation -- Li Ka-shing and European Founders Fund)

May 08 -- no dilution; took $100mm in venture debt from Triple Point Capital

May 09 -- 1.3% sold for $200mm. ($15b valuation -- Digital Sky Technologies)

Jun 10 -- 0.8% sold for $120mm (a blended $14b valuation -- Elevation)

Jan 11 -- 3% sold for $1.5b ($50b valuation -- thank you Goldman Sachs!)

Feb 11 -- 0.1% sold for $38mm ($52b valuation -- really, KPCB?!)

Following my passion

After spending 10 years in the wealth management industry working for some great companies alongside some great people (most notably my father at Morgan Stanley & Smith Barney for 6 years) I decided in April 2011 to put it all behind me and follow my heart. For the past several years I knew the wealth management industry wasn't the right place for me since I lost the passion and no longer enjoyed the work. The only real time I enjoyed this business was at Smith Barney working with my father, it really helped build a solid relationship between the two of us and I learned an incredible amount about the financial services industry from a 30+ year veteran. These past few years I stayed in wealth management & fiduciary services industry because I was doing well, making alot of great connections around Boston, building my client book of business and getting a bi-weekly paycheck. However, at some point in your life and your career you need to look in the mirror and ask yourself, "am I really happy". I did that and the answer was a resounding "NO" which meant something needed to change. Over the course of 3 months I met with 12 of the top private banks & multi-family offices in Boston thinking that maybe I should stay in the business but move to a different firm. I knew many months prior to looking around that I had outgrown my company and needed a more robust platform of products and services to offer my high-net worth clients. Going to a private bank or multi-billion family office would have solved that problem but at the end of the day, I wanted to be an entrepreneur and build something substantial for myself, my family, the community, and the consumer. I want to be remembered when I'm dead but before that happens I want to do something remarkable, change lives, create something special, put people to work, get involved with charities and most importantly provide for my family and loved ones. This was not going to happen as long as I stayed in the wealth management industry. I didn't care about managing someone else's wealth, I wanted to create my own wealth. Then came April 29th when I woke up and basically said to myself, "today is the day" so I spontaneously printed up my resignation letter, waited until 2pm in the afternoon then walked into my office and took everyone by surprise. I don't regret that decision for one minute and probably never will - the time had come to be an entrepreneur and follow my heart.