My Worst Investment Ever Podcast
Business:Investing
BIO: Guillermo Cornejo is the CEO of Riders Share, the Airbnb of motorcycles he started while attending grad school at UCLA.
STORY: Guillermo had an insurance company handling claims for his customers. When he realized the insurance company had a 50% profit margin, he decided to start his own insurance business. This became a costly and challenging venture because he had no experience handling claims.
LEARNING: Don’t underestimate the value of experience.
“The startup path or raising capital is overrated.”Guillermo Cornejo
Guest profile
Guillermo Cornejo is the CEO of Riders Share, the Airbnb of motorcycles he started while attending grad school at UCLA. Before that, he worked in analytics roles for GM, Nissan, and Hyundai. He grew up in Peru and enjoys anything that makes your heart race.
Worst investment everGuillermo launched his company in 2018, and it grew immensely. The company booked over a million dollars in rentals within the first year. Guillermo was on top of the world.
The company was working with an insurance partner with pretty good rates but was providing terrible service to Guillermo’s customers. It took many months to handle the claims. When Guillermo looked at his company’s history of accidents and measured the cost of paid-out claims and how much he had paid the insurance company in premiums. He found the insurance company was making a 50% margin in profits. This got Guillermo thinking he should do it himself.
Guillermo raised some capital and used most of it to set up an insurance company. This was an expensive venture (millions of dollars). The more the company grew, the more bad customers it attracted—from risk-takers to fraudsters trying to steal his motorcycles. On top of that, he realized how difficult it was to handle claims, and just like the insurance partner, it took him months to pay out claims.
Lessons learnedDon’t overestimate your skills, abilities, and knowledge. Work with advisors and connect with more experienced people who have done it before. They will help you understand how much you don’t know and then try to fill that gap.
Guillermo’s recommendationsGuillermo recommends reading Factfulness: Ten Reasons We’re Wrong About the World--and Why Things Are Better Than You Think, co-authored by a previous guest on our podcast, Anna Rosling Rönnlund.
No.1 goal for the next 12 monthsGuillermo’s number one goal for the next 12 months is to double his company revenues while remaining profitable.
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Connect with Guillermo Cornejo
David Kass – Don’t Invest in a Company Unless the CEO Owns a Large Stake
Christopher Panagiotu – Go With Your Gut, but Verify
ISMS 29: Larry Swedroe – The Shiny Apple is Poisonous and Information is Not Knowledge
ISMS 28: Stocks for the Long Run
Folarin Daniel Adeboye – Business and Friendship Can Never Mix
Dana Anspach – Loving a Product Is Different From Running a Business
ISMS 27: Larry Swedroe – Familiar Doesn’t Make It Safe and You’re Not Playing With the House’s Money
Manisha Thakor – Invest in Your Financial Health and Emotional Wealth
Richard Smith – Anything Valuable Is Hard
David Perry – Bet on the Person, Not the Idea
Tom Wall – If You Make Some Money, at Least Take Half off the Table
Rick Warner – Be Careful When Investing in Banks
Mohit Tater – You Don’t Know What You’re Getting Into Until You Are in It
Vorathep Srikuruwal – Walk That Property Before You Buy It
Phil Bak – Be Slow to Jump Onto Bandwagons
Jack Schwager – Never Stay in a Position That Violates What You Believe In
Sampark Sachdeva – Don’t Be Afraid to Take the Plunge
ISMS 26: Larry Swedroe – Are You Subject to the Endowment Effect or the Hot Streak Fallacy?
Vishal Bhardwaj – Do Not Let Emotions Run Your Business for You
Harjeet Khanduja – Work Smarter Not Harder
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