Ido Leffler - Get Big Fast and Do More Good: Start Your Business, Make It Huge, and Change the World

Text copyright 2013 by Zomi, Inc.
Foreword copyright 2013 by Timothy Ferriss
All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.

Published by Lake Union Publishing, Seattle
www.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logo and Lake Union Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.

eISBN: 9781477850282

Cover design by Faceout Studio, Jeff Miller
Author photograph by Scott Ehler Photography
Cover art Pablo Scapinachis

To our wives, Ronit and Loren, and kids, Zoe and Emi (Idos) and Ethan and Claudia (Lances), we dedicate this book in your honor.

Contents

Foreword

HOWARD SCHULTZ, FOUNDER OF STARBUCKS

H OW DO YOU BUILD A multimillion dollar global business? Well, you might start by visiting Israel and negotiating the rights to an unknown brand (Yes To Carrots) found in only sixteen stores. Then, you might use cold-calling artistry and Jedi mind tricks to get the product carried by Walgreens in its seven thousand-plus stores. Next, you might get your product into more than twenty-five thousand stores internationally and smile when you see Rosario Dawson using your goods publicly. Now, as the happy ending (of sorts), every six seconds in the United States someone buys a Yes To product!

But thats leaving out the details, isnt it? I hate business books that do that.

And thats why this book was writtento tell the detailed story of Yes Tos improbable rise, including the stupid mistakes, near-fatal catastrophes, existential crises, and fancy sales footwork. In short, the real story of entrepreneurship.

Ive known Ido Leffler, Yes Tos cofounder, for ages. I met him at a Summit Series event in Miami. His trademark hug was the first thing that caught my attention: inexplicably slow-motion and super gentle, as if he were cradling a baby panda. Of course, theres his subtle Australian accent and persuasive (and deliberately less subtle) Israeli chutzpah. Who the hell was this guy? Ive come to love him, but perhaps more important to you, Ive come to love his methods. He deconstructs problems like Sherlock Holmes with a twist of Richard Branson.

As I learned from this very book, his partner, Lance Kalish, is even more methodical. In many respects, he is to Ido what Steve Wozniak was to Steve Jobs. Thats part of the reason their partnership works. To paraphrase one of Yes Tos investors: He [Lance] is the numbers guy, and he [Ido] is the pictures guy.

In the following pages, you will learn how both of them went from selling out of a suitcase to building the second-largest and fastest-growing natural beauty brand in the United States, with almost one hundred unique products (or SKUs, pronounced skews). More specifically, you will get the inside baseball on how they:

• negotiated the rights to Yes To Carrots and what you should consider when looking for similar hidden gems,
• pitched and won their largest marquee customers, including Walgreens and Target,
• contacted impossible-to-reach CEOs and decision makers to make magic happen,
• courted and selected investors, both in the beginning and when they became massive,
• decided to be cofounders (hint: think allies over friends),
• rebounded from failed products and various disasters, and
• hired a CEO once they decided to leave day-to-day management.

I was tempted to write that this book is a beautiful example of the American dream. But thats not exactly true.

Its the Australian dream.

Its the British dream.

Its the Indian dream.

Its the [fill in the blank] dream.

Ido and Lances story is the dream of doers everywherethe dream of making something happen, of creating something meaningful from nothing.

Have you ever had a job and thought, I could do a better job than this guy, while watching your boss? Have you ever thought of an invention for solving a common problem and asked, Why hasnt someone done this yet? If so, youve found the right book.

In closing, I could say, May the wind always be at your back, but thats not how this game works.

Instead, Ill recommend that you gird up your loins (figuratively), grab a cup of coffee, and prepare for an adventure. This is just the beginning.

Enjoy the ride,

TIM FERRISS

BUENOS AIRES

MAY 2013

Introduction

H I! WELCOME TO OUR BOOK , Get Big Fast and Do More Good. Were going to explain how two schmucks built a global brand out of nothing in less than five years and, of course, how you can do it, too.

But before we do that, we need to give you a little background on who we are and how we get things done. Lots of people know Ido; hes the public face of our company, the one who wears orange no matter what and makes CNBC anchors laugh in spite of themselves. Lance is the wizard behind the curtain, happy to pull the levers when needed and just as glad to be out of the spotlight. Together, we form a strong and well-balanced partnership.

Admittedly, weve had a few disagreements during the writing of this book. One of the first was over the title. Ido wanted to call it Big, Fast, and Good, but Lance thought that sounded like a porn movie. Ido told Lance he didnt have a sense of humor, and Lance told Ido he wasnt literate enough to read a book, let alone name one. Eventually, we settled on something that was better than either of us could have come up with on our own.

Get Big Fast and Do More Good is our philosophy toward business and life. It has always been our goal to create a brand, grow it quickly, and make the world a better place in the process. Why? Well, it has to be big because a product that nobodys heard of isnt going to change the world. It has to be good because only companies that try to make the world a better place deserve to succeed. And it has to be fast because we like to move fast, and because we still have a ton of things we want to do with our lives. We love Yes To, but Ido wants to retire to Tel Aviv while he still looks good in his swim trunks, while Lance is planning on managing Manchester United at some point in the near future.

When we started, we were looking for an accelerated way to succeed in life. One option was to do what our parents wanted us to do: Pick a profession (i.e., medicine or law), stay focused, study hard, work diligently, and make as much money as possible for forty years, then retire and actually start to enjoy our lives. This approach is great. The world needs doctors and lawyers. We need doctors and lawyers all the time, in fact, whether its to mend a soccer injury (Lance) or get out of a speeding ticket (Ido). Cheers to you, MDs and JDs. Were glad you all had the focus and single-mindedness for your respective paths. Were also so, so glad we didnt.

The other way to succeedwhat we like to call the Yes To wayis less straightforward than the professional path. There are no classes, exams, or cram sessions. You dont get a grade and you dont graduate with a degree. The path is filled with questionable decisions, Hail Mary moves, and bank accounts that are sometimes down to one rent check, half a phone bill, and a kebab. It can be pretty scary, frankly.