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Do you have a Venture Capital-style “VC” investment pitch? Trash it. The VC-ecosystem is in DEFCON 1 meltdown, and chasing venture money has always been a colossal waste of time. Only good things are happening here at the West Coast Finance HQ. Let me explain why.
For those who’ve never done deals inside the Hollywood ecosystem, the only way to have a box office hit is to sell the distribution rights to a studio in advance. But to do that, you need to have a great script, known actors, well-known directors, and millions in seed financing.
Basil Iwanyk (producer and owner of Thunder Road Films) and Chad Stahelski (stuntman and director) didn’t have all that lined up. No matter . . . they still got it done.
It all started when Chad and his band of martial arts experts asked themselves one question: “What are all the things we HATE about Hollywood action movies?” They made a list of everything they could think of.
Then they committed, “Our movie will have none of these things.” Their formula:
This wasn’t a rehash of a 1980s or 1990s cult classic or a cheap extension of Keanu Reeves’ role in The Matrix. And it wasn’t yet another comic/book adaptation with a built-in fan base that Hollywood increasingly relies on.
Compared to the many big-budget superhero movies, John Wick was by all means a low-budget action flick with a B-movie premise (retired assassin goes on a revenge spree after some guy kills his dog).
That’s why Iwanyk had a hard time getting any studio to pick it up after they filmed it – only Lionsgate showed any interest.
But unlike the plethora of other movies that use pre-existing source material (like Twilight and Mortal Kombat), every single John Wick movie has gotten bigger, badder, and consistently grossed more at the box office.
Notice a bunch of 3X and 4X return-on-capital here? Yeah, well, me too. That’s why I’m so into this story.
On the surface, this might seem like a heroic tale custom-fit for the startup narrative – a crazy, self-funded long shot against the odds that turned into a $1bn franchise.
But really, it’s a masterclass in understanding the dynamics of supply and demand, market positioning, deal structuring, storytelling, and governance.
Iwanyk didn’t just wake up one day and say, “I should make movies!” And he definitely didn’t have any delusions of grandeur about “changing the world” or “disrupting” anything.
He worked his way through the ranks of Warner Brothers in the 1990s where he became an “insider” to that ecosystem.
Then, and only then, did he start his own production company (Thunder Road Films) in the early 2000s using a proven playbook for producing money-making movies.
Today, Thunder Road’s films have grossed over $3.8bn worldwide. That’s the approach I took to building the West Coast Finance Ecosystem – and why I’m inviting a small group of investors to piggyback on my proven playbook for generating 3-10x returns in as little as 18 months.
After working as an advisor to more than 250 equity transactions over the past 15 years, where more than $1bn of capital changed hands, I’ve done deals in every major investment ecosystem there is, in just about every asset class you can think of, through multiple market cycles.
When I decided I was going to go out on my own and invest my own money into my own deals, I sat down and made a list of all the problems in deals that needed to be fixed (but never were), the things I hated about working with professional investors, and all the things I hated about angel groups and investor conferences.
And just like the creators of John Wick, I decided I wasn’t doing any of the nonsense I’d seen over and over again from venture capitalists, private equity firms, and hedge fund managers.
Sure – if I was getting paid to gamble someone else’s money the way fund managers do, I probably would. But because I’m investing my OWN money, I’m hyper-focused on capital preservation and am looking for a much safer path to 3x-10x returns.
On the surface, $2,500 per year just to even SEE the deal in the first place might sound strange, but when you do the math, it’s a WAY better deal than paying “2 and 20” on a 5-year fund that requires a 6-figure minimum to participate.
For example – most funds require a $250,000 minimum. But let’s assume you know someone at the fund who will let you in for $100k, and the fund will go for five years (which is pretty short. Often they are 7-10 years with options for extensions). In this example, you’d pay 2% PER YEAR on that $100k – or $10,000 in total management fees. Then, you’d pay 20% of your gross profits, which would eat further into your returns. That assumes the fund manager hasn’t snuck in a bunch of other fees on top of the normal 2 and 20.
When you become a member of IPO Factory, you can invest as little as $1,000 into any deal you’d like, with no capital commitments or lockups. This means you can invest in all the deals, some of the deals, or none of the deals I bring you. And you get to keep 100% of the upside in exchange for a fixed, annual fee.
I hate “pay to pitch” investor events where YOU are the “product” that is sold to crappy startups. In other words, the startups pay a $5K fee to come meet you and pitch their 100x nonsense.
I hate that model so much, I’ve invested more than $2m to build my one-of-a-kind, 10,000 sq/ft studio specifically designed to host high-quality investor events, with ZERO “pay to pitch” nonsense.
Every quarter, I’m hosting at least one investor event for our IPO Factory members where you’ll have a chance to:
You’ve got two choices: Do you want to be an outsider or an insider?
If you already have plenty of money and are “fine” living off guaranteed 5% returns in the money markets, and if you already have access to some amazing 3-10x investment opportunities that are on their way to public markets within 18-36 months, and if you already get to hang out with a fun group of investors and talk about making money, then please let me join YOUR group because that’s exactly what I am looking for.
But obviously, I’m building IPO Factory myself because I have access to the right kind of deals and the resources to make them work – and I’ve been doing this a long time.
You can think of it this way: if you worked hard to make your first $1-$10m in net worth as an active investor (or business owner), and now you want to work easy for your next $1-$10m as a passive investor, do yourself a favor and embrace the John Wick mindset.
See you on the inside.
-Oren Klaff