The Founders Lounge

How This $300M Founder Sold His Luxury Lifestyle Startup to a Bank - Alex Macdonald | E80

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Episode notes

Alex Macdonald is a  Co-Founder of Velocity Black, which was acquired by Capital One for a reported $297M. Now he’s a Co-Founder and CEO of Sequel - an investment platform for the world’s best athletes. He’s also an angel investor in 40+ companies.

We talk about: - One of Alex’s first jobs: buying distressed companies for $0 - How Alex got the idea for Velocity Black - What it takes to build a company worth $100s of millions - Growth strategy of one of the fastest-growing startups in Europe - How to achieve a successful exit - Is it easier to start a hard company? - Dinner with the Pope, meeting Taylor Swift, missions to the space station - Building an investment platform for the world’s best athletes - Acquiring ultra-successful individuals as customers - Alex’s comprehensive methodology for hiring A-players - How to foster high performance in the company - Working hard vs work-life balance - The importance of focus - The #1 book that changed Alex’s life - A powerful (selfish) principle Alex lives by

Links:

- Alex on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexfmac/ 

- Alex on X/Twitter: https://twitter.com/alexfmac 

- Alex’s newsletter: https://alexfmac.substack.com/ 

- Velocity Black: https://velocity.black/ 

- Sequel: https://www.joinsequel.co/ 

- Alchemy: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alchemy-Science-Conceiving-Effective-Logical/dp/006238841X

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