My Worst Investment Ever Podcast
Business:Investing
BIO: Neil Johnson is a renowned finance expert with over 30 years of experience in investment banking, merchant banking, and research analysis in Canadian and UK capital markets.
STORY: Neil invested in an internet company building website templates when the internet was just starting. The company filed to go public, but the financiers kept delaying the process and never went public. Six months later, the company went to zero. Neil lost his entire investment.
LEARNING: Take the profit when you can. Take some money out and play with the rest. Do your due diligence.
“Try not to be overly greedy. There’s something about leaving a little on the table for someone else.”Neil Johnson
Guest profile
Neil Johnson is a renowned finance expert with over 30 years of experience in investment banking, merchant banking, and research analysis in both Canadian and UK capital markets.
He currently serves as the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Duke Royalty. He is responsible for leading deal origination, due diligence, and structuring for Duke, a $300 million alternative finance investment company listed on the London Stock Exchange.
Neil’s expertise as CEO of Duke Royalty and in his prior role as European Head of Investment Banking at Canaccord Genuity is invaluable for business owners of private companies and investors in public companies.
He has played an instrumental role in the growth and success of companies, raising over $5 billion in funding for hundreds of companies during his 19-year tenure.
Worst investment everDuring the run-up to the.com one era, when the internet was starting, Neil was a young internet analyst with some exposure to some of the high-flying stocks of the day. He learned of a company that was creating website templates. The company was looking for investors, and Neil thought it was a good investment, so he invested his savings. Neil also charged the company an investment banking fee that he was taking in stock.
Though the business had a good product, it was too early into the market, so no one paid attention. Neil was getting in at 50 cents a share. A few years later, the internet bubble enveloped the company. The founders got a call from one of the biggest internet financiers in Silicon Valley and got signed up to go public.
They did a pre-public round, so they wanted to buy all the shares they could get. They tried to get Neil to sell his shares to them at $5 a share, which was ten times more than he paid for his shares. He, however, wasn’t interested in selling his shares as he believed the company would grow and the shares would be worth a lot more.
The company filed to go public in March 2000, and now the shares were selling at $15. They kept delaying the process and never went public. They had ballooned the management team and company costs. The company had about $25 million on the balance sheet, but management blew through all of it. Six months later, the company went to zero. Neil lost his entire investment.
Lessons learnedDon’t be overly greedy. There’s something about leaving a little on the table for someone else.
Neil’s recommendationsNeil recommends investing in Duke Royalty because cash flow is king.
No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsNeil’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to continue investing in good companies, get that cash flow out to his investors in dividends, and look for new opportunities.
Parting words“Stay safe out there. Investing is never 100%; you just have to win more than you lose.”Neil Johnson
[spp-transcript]
Connect with Neil Johnson
Bryan Kramer - Be Human and Build Relationships
Andrew Stotz - 8 Benefits of Increasing the Profits of Your Business
Nathaniel Harding - One Risk at a Time
Will Roundtree - Get a Customer First
Kyle Mowery - Invest in Your Circle of Competence
Gabe Marusca – Pay Extreme Attention to Your Body
Giuseppe Grammatico - Pick the Medium That Works for You and Stick With It
Andrew Stotz - 27 Top Podcast Interviews of 2023 to Reduce Risk and Increase Return
Johan Norberg - We Have to Fight for Capitalism
Steve Faktor – How to Build Your Investment Future
Eric Simonson - Not All Real Estate Investments Are Made Equal
Kimberly Flynn - Don’t Put All Your Savings Into a Single Idea
Peter Goldstein – Check Your Emotions at the Door
ISMS 37: Larry Swedroe – Pay Attention to a Fund’s Proper Benchmarks and Taxes
Jitipol Puksamatanan – Let Time Be Your Friend
Anatoliy Labinskiy – Double-Check How Your Product Looks and Works
Therapong Vachirapong – You Need to Take Risk to Earn a Return
Carolyn McClanahan – You’ll Never Be Smart Enough to Beat the Market
ISMS 36: Larry Swedroe – Two Heads Are Not Better Than One When Investing
Luke Gromen – Start Small, Then Grow as You Learn
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Commercial Edge: Unleash the Power of People
The emPOWERed Half Hour
Aligned Money Show
Dubai Property Podcast
IBKR Podcasts
The Ramsey Show
The Clark Howard Podcast