Yahoo Finance Experts tell us the best investment they ever made
Would you sell your home to launch a startup? Or quit your job? It sounds crazy, but for these five successful investors and entrepreneurs, their investments have paid off in spades.
Quitting my job: Al Bentley, CEO and founder of investment app, Simply Wall Street
I would say the best investment I made was quitting my job and taking the plunge on my own to build Simply Wall Street. Even if the business explodes and it doesn’t become a success, it’s still the best investment because what you learn by doing that is invaluable.
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Selling my apartment: Shahirah Gardner, co-founder of personal finance, budgeting and payments app Finch
The best investment I’ve made is selling my apartment in San Francisco to fund Finch. It was a crazy idea at the time and has fortunately paid off. I went on to spend the next 18 months turning what was just an idea into a venture which is now valued at multi-million dollars.
Investing in myself: Ben Voltz, co-founder of marketing tech startup ROKT and property tech startup NOKK
When I was about 30 years of age I sold my first company. All of my friends kept telling me I should use it as a very large deposit on a house – the time was right and the property market was going up.
However I was at a crossroads in my life and wanted to work out what to do with my career next. So I went against the grain and I invested the money into me. I took six months off and gave myself the time to get fit and think about my next venture. It was a real opportunity to go away, reflect on what I’d achieved so far, what I wanted to accomplish next and the business ideas I wanted to pursue.
It was the best investment I made because it led to much greater things such as co-founding the successful ROKT and more recently my new property tech venture NOKK. If I’d pumped that money into a house back then – I doubt I’d be here now!
My team: Eoin Daniels, managing director, Top Knot Projects
My head wants to say property as I can see the value it has grown and the potential growth into the future. But from my gut I know the best investment for me has been my team.
I learned over the years that you need to hire the best and to do that you need to pay the best. Do not hold back on the people, invest in them. They will help you build your business and if you offer them success they will drive the success of your business. I believe offering your people a full lifestyle within the business is the key to the success of your business.
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This includes eating right, physical training, mental development, physical development and growth in their career through internal and external training programmes and software. This is where the investment should be and has definitely been my best investment. Property is a close second.
My investment fund: Will Richardson, managing partner of impact investment fund, Giant Leap Fund
I went all in to create the Giant Leap Fund, there were a lot of people saying it wasn’t possible, it wasn’t possible to raise a venture capital fund to invest in impact startups. I didn’t do it on my own, I worked with three incredible partners. The four of us are the partners that run the Giant Leap Fund.
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By far and away it is the best investment because it is already a success. The fact the fund exists, the fact that we’ve made a number of investments into impact startups means we’ve proved what we set out to do already. Everything from here is upside, that’s why I would say it’s the best investment I ever made.
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