Ep.6 - Susan Bradley - The Sudden Money Institute
This Inspired Conversation is in many ways why I launched the podcast in the first place - to explore the human side of the entrepreneurial journey, every bit as much as the financial side.
Let me share a quick true story to give you some context:
Did you hear about the entrepreneur who sold his business and made a fortune and was miserable?
Markus Persson is a Swedish tech entrepreneur and inventor of the wildly popular game Minecraft.
Starting on a laptop in his bedroom, he went on to grow the company until Microsoft made him an offer to buy the company for $2.5billion from which he personally received $1 billion.
He became a billionaire overnight. And that’s when his problems started.
Sometime after completing the deal, he sent out a series of increasingly desperate tweets,
One said
“Hanging out with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I’ve never felt more isolated”
And another one;
“The problem with getting everything is you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance”
Sudden Money Syndrome
He was suffering from something called Sudden Wealth or Sudden Money Syndrome, and before you say, ” I wish I had his problems; it must be so hard being a billionaire!'” you need to realise that it can be absolutely devastating for some people.
Investopedia (Wikipedia of money) describes it as: “A type of distress that afflicts individuals who suddenly come into large sums of money.
Becoming suddenly wealthy can cause people to make decisions they might not have otherwise made.
Symptoms include feeling isolated from former friends, feeling guilty about your good fortune, and extreme fear of losing your money.”
In my day job working with successful founders and entrepreneurs I’ve seen this play out first hand and it can be a real challenge.
That's why I was so keen to invite Susan Bradley onto the podcast.
Susan’s the founder of the Sudden Money Institute and she’s written 2 books on the subject.
She’s also been advising her clients and other professionals for many years on this vital and deeply complex area.
In this wide-ranging conversation, Susan talks about;
- The importance of thinking deeply and preparing well for the transition a long time in advance - years, not weeks and months.
- Considering the family dynamics between spouses/ and children and how to communicate well including creating your own “Bliss List”.
- Why it’s vital to create a “Brains Trust” and specifically, a “Thinking Partner” who can act as an independent Trusted Adviser to help you navigate the journey
This is not a fluffy conversation, it’s full of practical advice and specific steps to take before, during and after a business sale or retirement and major life transition.
So if you have the ambition to exit your business successfully on a personal basis as well as a financial one you will get a lot out of today’s conversation.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Susan Bradley.
Book - Sudden Money; Managing a Financial Windfall
This podcast is produced by GR Media
Sponsored by Capital Asset Management
