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Jeff Bezos: 60 Meetings to Raise One Million Dollars

By Jeff Bezos · Investing · 1 min read

Bezos sold 20% of Amazon for $1 million. 22 angel investors at $50,000 each. First question in every meeting: what is the internet?

Key Points

22 angel investors, $50,000 each, at a $5 million valuation
The common question: what is the internet? This was 1995.
He told everyone there was a 70% chance they'd lose their investment

The common question was: what is the internet?

The Raise

Bezos: To raise the first million dollars, I sold 20% of the company at a $5 million valuation. A million dollars to 22 angel investors, roughly $50,000 each.

I had to take 60 meetings. About 40 of them said no. And those were hard-earned nos — multiple meetings, working really hard to get people to write that $50,000 check.

60 meetings. 40 said no. Hard-earned nos — multiple meetings per investor.

70% Chance You Lose Everything

Bezos: I would always tell people I thought there was a 70% chance they would lose their investment. In retrospect, I think I was giving myself better than the real odds. The whole enterprise could have been extinguished.

It was the hardest thing I've ever done.

I told them 70% chance they'd lose everything. In retrospect, I was being generous to myself.