The Tale of Two Investors: The Business Plan

Kevin Ryan is the founder and CEO of Gilt Groupe, a fancy, one stop internet shop that offers over 3.5 million members elegant merchandise, stylish fashions, home decor, delicatessen food. They also have Jetsetter.com that offers discounted but luxurious travel to places like treehouse hotels in Kenya or iceberg hotels in Europe and activities like white water rafting in the Colorado. He is an angel investor in Theladders.com. Not to mention, the founder of a network of affiliated Internet companies, one of which is The business Insider under the AlleyCorp and he is the chairman. Kevin is a Yale graduate and has a MBA from INSEAD. Given his economic and business mindset Kevin Furthermore, he doesn’t particularly believe in writing business plan and for good reason. He acknowledges his way of thinking is flipped. Kevin basically feels if you know your business or market you do not need to develop a business plan for it.  Kevin Ryan further explains that everybody has an idea, so it is about your execution of the idea that creates success.  Essentially nothing is new under the sun. He explains before Google exploded on the Internet search engine front there were several other search engines. They had to execute that idea differently. Kevin likes to focus on the employee development and the constant execution of idea. If the execution of an idea needs to be modified then modify it. He feels it’s about recognizing that you have a good idea; whether is it a specific enough market and having good people behind you. He eschews business plans that just focus on the financials and fails to tackle the in outs of the specific market.

However, Daymond John, of the angel investor show, Shark Tank or the FUBU fame, may have a different opinion on business plans and its usage. Hailing from Brooklyn, New York and with only a high school degree, Daymond founded the fashion urban brand FUBU and turned it multi billion-dollar global company. He suggests that the best-laid plans are a good business plans. On Daymond website’s Power Journal page, he gives an analogy, explaining that a business plan is a “roadmap, personalized just for you, that is going to guide you from where you are now, to where you want to be.” It will help you to not only fully understand your company but allow you to get you foot in the door and giving others a glimpse into what you are trying to create. According to him a good plan includes all the necessary contents; description of the business, products and services, structure and management, an analysis of the market, and financial documents. Daymond John seems more core and structure with his approach to business plans and starts up.

I find it ironic that two different men with two entirely different educational backgrounds but both financially successful have such different standpoints or views on writing and reviewing business plans. I agree with both of their methodologies but it seems it is best to find a middle ground. Essentially, write up a business plans but know the in and outs of your plan and focus on your market. I think both men could testify to that. 

If you want to watch the video in its entirety, click, The business Insider.