Start It or Scrap It

How This One Networking Insight Changed Everything for Us | Ep. 26 | Start It or Scrap It Podcast

Michael Terkanian and Mr. Gummi Episode 26

Welcome back to Start It or Scrap It, the podcast where business ideas meet expert critique.

In this episode, we break from the usual format—because one of the ideas we found wasn’t just interesting... it was good. Good enough for us to say: let’s consider buying it.

Here’s what you’ll learn in Episode 26:

* The decision-making process behind investing in a small business
* Common traits of business ideas worth funding
* The reality behind "first-mover advantage" in AI
* Why company culture is more important than technical talent
* The hidden cost of bad hires and bad clients
* Tactical sales psychology that closes more deals

⏱ Timestamps:
00:00 – Intro
07:00 – What makes a business actually investable  
11:20 – AI startup bubble: will it pop?  
15:45 – Building vs. buying: what we look for  
18:40 – Bad hires and toxic culture  
24:00 – Sales mindset: ask better questions  
30:30 – Our business buying philosophy  
36:00 – Deep dive: What we loved/what gave us pause  
42:15 – Culture fit: aligning values with performance  
48:40 – How we stress-test a pitch before buying  
55:05 – Negotiation tactics: structuring a deal  
01:02:20 – Lessons from failure
01:10:55 – Why we passed on a seemingly great AI idea  
01:18:30 – Your toughest purchases 
01:34:43 – Final takeaways

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