Brandon Mullins
The Mullins Properties, LLC
Conductor, Inc.
April 14, 2008
» Disney Announces Slate of 10 Animated Pics Through 2012
“The Walt Disney Studios unveiled a diverse and ambitious slate of 10 new animated feature films from Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios to be released through the year 2012 at a New York press conference held today by Dick Cook, chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, and John Lasseter, chief creative officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios.”
Pixar has always held my attention as a company, if for nothing more than the incredible transformation and business development it has endured since its inception in 1979. Acquired by Steve Jobs in 1986 from George Lucas for the sum of $5M, to being acquired in 2006 by Walt Disney Company for $7.5B (making Steve Jobs the largest sharedholder of Disney with 7%), Pixar’s first five feature-film releases have grossed $2.5B alone.
An interesting tidbit smuggly buried within the context of the article is the note: “Starting later this year with the release of Disney’s (Bolt), all Disney and Pixar animated features will be presented in state-of-the-art Disney Digital 3-D(TM). Additionally, newly converted 3-D versions of the beloved classics, Toy Story and Toy Story 2, are set to debut in 2009 and 2010 respectively.”
I have always believed that home-based 3D viewing by kids or adults will be a widly successful market as soon as the technology evolves and allows for cheap manufacturing of high-quality 3D shows, movies, etc. to be viewed on household televisions. And I am talking about the quality level of Disney’s in-park 3D shows at Disney World.
A couple of years ago I was in discussion with a UCLA Berkeley professor on this 3D technology and began doing prelimary research on how far away the technology (and the market) was for home-based 3D involvement. The answer? Pretty far away.
April 13, 2008
Comments Quote posted at 11:51
April 12, 2008
Angel Investing 101
This past Thursday night I had the opportunity to attend a very informative lecture on Angel Investing, put on by David Rose, at the newly located 92nd Street Y on Hudson Street in lower Manhattan. David Rose has his hands in many various ventures, all streaming through the hub of Rose Tech Ventures. He serves as Chairman of the Board at New York Angels, the leading investment consortium in the New York region. He is CEO & Founder at Angelsoft, a software tool that allows Angel investors to collaborate and discuss together potential investment opportunities for improved deal flow efficiency (now powering 200+ Angel groups throughout the United States).
Okay, enough plugging of David.
While the lecture served mainly as a refresher course for me (I’ve been reading about the process of Angel Investing since I was about 5), it was definitely worth the one hour of my life it consumed. And the free alcohol didn’t hurt, either.
I recommend the book Angel Investing if this Angel investment shinanogins interests you.
Here are some interesting notes:
1. 600,000 new small businesses are formed every year in the United States
2. Where does funding come from?
- 350k get funding from themselves (58.3%)
- 200k get funding from friends & family (33.3%)
- 50k get funding from Angel investors (8.3%)
- 1200 get funding from VC firms (0.2%)
3. Typical Angel investor profile:
- 57 years of age
- Masters Degree
- 15 year entrepreneur
- 2.7 ventures funded
- 9 years of active investing
- 10 angel investments
- 2 exits or closures
- 10% of their wealth resides in Angel investments
4. The Startup Funding Food Chain
- You —> up to $25k (possible bootstrap)
- F&F —> $25k to $100k (pre-seed)
- Angels —> $100k to $250k (seed / start-up)
- Angel groups —> $250k to $2M
- VC funds —> $2M +
5. Angel group stats (per year):
- 7.3 investments per group
- 4.5 new investments
- $1.9M total invested
- $265,926 per round (average)
- $386,963 per company
- $33, 236 invested per angel investor / per deal
- view 30 to 40 business plans per month
6. What do Angels look for? (1% of companies looking for funding get it)
- Great entrepreneur (“betting the jockey, not the horse”)
- integrity, passion, experience & skills, domain expertise, committment, leadership, vision, “change the world” attitude, realistic, coachable & able to listen
- Scalable business models
- an unfair advantage
- external validation
- low investment requirements ($750 to $1.5M)
- reasonable valuation ($750 to $3M pre-money)
7. Secret Economics of Angels (example scenario)
- $1M spread out over 10 deals
- Investor wants a 3.8x total return on those 10 deals (25% annual return)
- typical 5 to 7 year hold on the deals (until successful exit)
- 5 deals = 0x return
- 2 deals = 1x return
- 2 deals = 3x return
- lost money on 9 out of the 10 deals in total
- the last 1 deal must return a 30x ROI to make up for the other lossed deals for a combined 3.8x return for investor
- always shoot for making Angels a 30x ROI on your dea
If you’re still awake after reading the above, or even if you just scrolled down to this portion of the post, I again recommend picking up the book “Angel Investing” (no I am not getting paid for this endorsement) for much more detailed info on the topic.
March 23, 2008
Fortune Small Business
Comments Quote posted at 11:57
March 15, 2008
» Misadventures in logical reasoning -- and lessons learned from the Spitzer scandal (Salon.com)
“It’s possible to eliminate recreational activities that people have engaged in privately for thousands of years simply by making it illegal and then imprisoning the people who do it. Thus, we criminalize prostitution and drugs to ensure that nobody does those things.”
This is a thought-provoking, logical mini-article that looks at the Spitzer situation and the types of laws which allowed it to happen.
People sometimes think that if you are morally opposed to something, that it should be illegal. Unfortunately, the costs of creating and enforcing such laws are extremely high.
In additional to the financial cost, you pay for such laws with your rights. When you say that such-and-such unseemly behavior should be illegal, you are also asking for a larger, more powerful government. You believe individual citizens have too many rights.
“But in this case, at this moment, we have to give up this right! People simply cannot be allowed to ________ their own __________ any longer!”
via jakob lodwick
March 10, 2008
Craig Ferguson
Comments Quote posted at 05:50
» Facebook Is Extending Its Network to Blood Donations
Yes, this is probably as bad as it sounds.
“Facebook, the vast and expanding social networking Web site, is about to confront users with a serious new question: What’s your blood type?”
Link posted at 05:46
March 9, 2008
Welcome to my Blog: You’re Welcome
:: drumroll ::
“The blogosphere is pleased to have the honor of welcoming and introducing Brandon Mullins, the Manager of Business Development at LinkExperts, and Founder of BookMesh, to Tumblr’s idiot-proof blog publishing tool.”
(ed note: I should probably attempt to use Tumblr before titling it “idiot-proof.” Otherwise, this could be quite an embarrassment.)
If I was important or halfway relevant to society, that’s how that introduction would have played out.
I’ve decided to post an eclectic mix of everything Brandon here, including but not limited to: personal life, business life, everyday observations, rants, rages, moments of joy, family & friend dealings, current affair issues, political commentary, and so forth. Basically, a blender full of completely unrelated topics of my life in NYC..
Me, a southern-born native for the entirety of his life, moving to NYC? Apparently so, considering that I accepted the incredible position of Manager of Business Development for LinkExperts, located in Manhattan. I am beyond excited for the opportunity to help continue their already strong and steady positive trajectory towards success.
So, this blog is dedicated towards my family and friends (or even stalkers) who would like to stay abreast and informed with my journey into “the city.” I have no idea what this blog holds in store for me and my postings, but they are sure to be brute, honest, and downright entertaining at all times. Check back for my first posting of a picture of a crazy woman in a subway station (that’s bound to happen within the first 5 minutes of entering the city).
Enjoy, and you’re welcome.
Cheers,
Brandon Mullins
