WSJ artikkel Rain Lõhmusest
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Tänane (22.08) Wall Street Journal kirjutab päris huvitava artikli Rain Lõhmusest ja tema ettevõtmistest. Lisan ka artikli:
Estonia's Jump into New Economy Gets
Push From an Energetic Young Banker
By BENJAMIN SMITH
Special to THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
TALLINN, Estonia -- Rain Lohmus's hair already was out of place by 10:30 a.m., when he burst out of a business meeting in the converted Soviet warehouse that houses Estonia's only online auction company, Oosta.ee.
He streaked across town and turned up breathless at the offices of a second business. He sweated lightly as he dispensed advice and updated employees at AS Comtrade, the country's first broadband Internet provider, on everything from finance to cable purchases.
It was late July, and Mr. Lohmus had taken over as acting chief executive of Comtrade only a week earlier. His new employees were getting used to the frantic pace. Mr. Lohmus, too, was getting used to many new things.
In little more than a year, Mr. Lohmus, his local investment bank, AS Lohmus Haavel & Viisemann, and the venture-capital fund they manage have started up or invested in nine companies in New Economy fields from software development to online auctions.
"These companies need money, but the deals are too small to organize typical corporate finance," Mr. Lohmus says, waving his hands. "We realized we had to develop a local venture-capital market."
A little more than a year ago, it would never have occurred to the lively, charming banker that he'd be running a broadband operation. Then, Mr. Lohmus was fresh out of his job at AS Hansabank, which he founded with two friends in 1991 at age 23. By the time of its takeover by Swedbank in late 1998, Hansabank was the biggest in the Baltics, with a market capitalization of more than 500 million euros ($453 million). But Mr. Lohmus and the other founders didn't want to be employees, and with much of Hansabank's staff, they jumped ship in March 1999.
Dash Of Flash
Within weeks of their departure, Mr. Lohmus and 13 former colleagues had left Hansabank and founded LHV, conceived as a traditional investment bank -- a bridge between mainly Scandinavian investors and solid Estonian enterprises in need of cash. Mr. Lohmus, now 33 years old and the oldest partner of LHV, was eminently qualified for the job. He is well connected and easily spotted around Tallinn, something of a trendsetter with his minimalist personal style with a dash of flash -- shoes without buckles, pants without belts, tight buttondowns, and a huge, silver Mercedes-Benz jeep.
More important, he had founded Hansabank's corporate finance division, and he took the team with him to LHV.
But after a two-month general management course at Harvard Business School during a final leave from Hansabank last spring, Mr. Lohmus, the largest shareholder in LHV, began dreaming of a less traditional set-up. He wanted to bring the New Economy boom to Estonia.
That's not as strange a goal as it may sound. Estonia, the small republic on the doorstep of high-tech Finland, is buzzing with New Economy potential. Twenty-six percent of Estonians have used the Internet in the past six months, and Estonia has 153 Internet-connected computers for every 10,000 people, well ahead of all other Central and Eastern European countries, and slightly above even developed nations like France. Nearly 200,000 of the country's 1.4 million people bank online, and that number is growing fast. For online retailers and auction services like Oosta, that means an end to the street-corner exchanges of cash that make a mockery of e-commerce in much of Eastern Europe.
But by mid-1999, the high levels of consumer Internet use hadn't translated into a thriving local e-commerce scene: Investors willing to forsake California for this northern Baltic State were rare. Suddenly, however, the Estonians no longer needed outside help. Local investors were, relatively speaking, awash in capital, after the country's tight links with Finland -- an hour and a half away by ferry -- spurred a Nordic investment spree that put Estonia in the top three emerging European countries in terms of foreign direct investment, with $1,222 (1,348 euros) per capita since 1989.
"It's recycled Swedish money," Mr. Lohmus admits of New Economy Ventures, the 50 million kroon ($2.9 million or 3.2 million euros) investment fund he organized last year. "People sold their companies to Scandinavians, and now they have this capital," Mr. Lohmus says.
Mr. Lohmus and his Hansabank clique were among those flush with Scandinavian takeover funds, and he was sitting in a cafe in New York's Soho neighborhood, about to fly back to Estonia by way of his flat in the south of Spain, when it occurred to him how he, and other Estonians, should be spending it.
He'd come a long way from his childhood on the tree-lined streets of Estonia's second city, Tartu, where his late father worked as a forestry researcher. Fifteen years ago, just before Mikhail Gorbachev sent the Soviet Union to its death, Mr. Lohmus began his trip to the business world. He enrolled as an undergraduate in the industry-planning department of Tallinn Technical University, but by the time he graduated, the subject had changed to business administration.
Now he's among the country's business elite, and he sees his new direction as a contribution to his country's best chance of success. "Put it this way," he says. "The Baltic countries don't really have any natural resources ... so the only thing we can sell is knowledge. The New Economy is the best way to do that."
Hooked on New Economy
Mr. Lohmus imagined the kind of Internet company that would be sure to work in his home market -- a service aimed at the local market with high entry barriers to drive off better-developed international competitors. Then, last September, LHV plunked down two million kroons to found an online consumer-to-consumer auction site, Oosta.ee, which he hopes will be the perfect combination of a globally proven model that is tied by language and shipping costs to local markets.
The speed from concept to company in the New Economy had Mr. Lohmus hooked, and he formalized his bank's New Economy focus under the new fund. New Economy Ventures prides itself on moving fast. "Sometimes we've wired the money long before we sign any contracts," admits LHV partner Taavi Lepmets.
That was certainly the case with their first and highest-profile investment: Within weeks of meeting the founders of the Internet resume and human-resources company OU CV-Online, LHV had provided a bridge loan to spur international expansion, and in December, New Economy Ventures paid about 6.5 million kroons for a 22% stake in the company.
Oosta was a gamble, Mr. Lohmus admits, but in CV-Online he saw a company that "should make us a good bit of money." It was the kind of deal you don't find anymore in the West: CV-Online, founded in 1996, was already in the black, with operating revenue near 200,000 euros in 1999. Now, its Estonian service lists most of the country's largest companies among those paying for access to its resume database and services. Revenue in its best month so far, June, hit 43,000 euros. The company used its venture-capital financing to expand aggressively across Eastern Europe, with sites from Budapest to Riga, and it plans to be operating in 11 countries by the end of the year. It plans to raise $5 million in second-round financing by September.
Since that first investment, the LHV has invested in a range of New Economy companies, beginning with auction sites in neighboring Latvia and Lithuania. Meanwhile, some of Mr. Lohmus's more traditionally minded partners are keeping solvent with mundane Old Economy deal-making, working as sell-side advisers to local companies like seatbelt manufacturer AS Norma, which sold out to Autoliv Sverige AB of Sweden.
But the ambitions of Mr. Lohmus and his partners have become broader: Thrilled with CV-Online's quick expansion, they're looking at companies offering products and services that can take them out of the local markets.
The riskiest, and perhaps most promising, is AS IT Meedia, which is developing document-management software to rival, for example, Lotus Notes. Based on Linux software, which is free, the product is aimed at companies in the developing world that can't afford the more expensive Western products.
"The basic strategy is to have a good network of contacts and a good brand name, and to capture the emerging opportunities in this small part of the world," he says. The local financiers fill a niche that would be difficult, and costly, for a foreigner to find. They can find small local companies, and they know whom to trust.
Lack of Experience
One admirer is U.S. Internet guru Esther Dyson, whose fund Edventure Ventures has made her one of best-known venture capitalists at Eastern European information technology companies. "Their strategy makes sense as long as it is done intelligently and with sensitivity to local conditions and culture, which of course they have," says Ms. Dyson, who invested alongside LHV in CV-Online, taking a 13% stake.
For Mr. Lohmus and anyone looking at IT in Eastern Europe, finding the companies isn't enough: Baltic companies have a desperate lack of business experience. One LHV partner has spent the past two months in Budapest, guiding CV-Online's managers toward a second round of financing, due in October.
Another partner works with AS DATI, a Latvian software developer that, with about 450 programmers and revenue of $16 million in 1999, is one of the region's biggest.
With DATI's years of experience and more than half of its sales going to the West, Mr. Lohmus and his partners are betting that all the company needs is marketing sense. An investment of $500,000 bought LHV only 3% of the company, but it got a board seat and an advisory role, and the bankers have pushed the programmers to set up domestic German and Scandinavian sales organizations.
"They're charging a quarter or a fifth of what they're worth," says Mr. Lepmets. "With good marketing, they could triple their sales overnight."
Similarly, Mr. Lohmus took the reins at Comtrade when he became dissatisfied with the development speed of the start-up, which will begin offering fast Internet connections over cable-TV lines this fall. He moved into a bare desk in the company's brand new office, and has thrown himself into everything from negotiating with technology suppliers to moving the company toward outsourcing its technology altogether. "The money is not enough," he says. "You have to give them something more." -
Keskmisele WSJ lugejale võib Lõhmusest selle artikli põhjal päris omamoodi pilt jääda : sassis juustega, kergelt higine ja vehib rääkides kätega :-).
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Nii või naa, igatahes good marketing, mr. Lohmus!
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Tere
Ei taha kedagi solvata, aga minu teada oli esimene artikkel Eestist WSJ'is aastal 1998 firmast TARKVARA. Artikkel oli lyhike ja andis teada, et TARKVARA pakub interneti kaudu panga infosüsteeme myya. Artikkel mainis veel samasugusi Poola ja Peterburi firmasi. Ise sain selle kaudu väga tihedaid kontakte, mida ei suutnud sellel ajal edasi ajada (näiteks Mark E. Sanders - Wall Street Technology Association - on siiani minu hea kontakt ja võimalused on olemas. Näiteks "Word Markets Briefing, Global Banking and Financials technology" kataloogis on TARKVARA BS reklaam olemas). Minu isikliku investeeringu põhimõtetele ei mõju hästi see, et Rain on investeerinud firmasse DATI. Minu kontaktid DATI firmaga on paari aasta tagused (DATI oli TARKVARA partner lätis) ja juba üleeelmisel aastal läksid minu jaoks tähtsad isikud, nagu Ivars Orbidans, Viesturs Ducens, Jevgenijs Rudniks-Miglinieks, jne sealt minema ja tegid oma firma, kes meiega tahtsid siis koostööd teha. Sel ajal pyydsime ka DATI programeerimisoskusi myya koos Ameerika tuttava kaudu Saksamaale, kuid asi ei tootnud nii palju, kui ootasime. Kuna ei tea, kuidas DATI on selle aja jooksul edasi läinud, siis tänase Raini otsuse puhul hoian praegu suud lukus.
Raini puhul Venture Capitalistina aga arvan aga, et kui pärast tema soovi luban oma "Executive Summary" talle saata ja inimene ei suuda kolme lehekülge ühe kuu jooksul läbi lugeda ja vastust saata, siis lääne VC'dega teda veel võrrelda ei saa. Lääne VC'd oskavad ikka esialgse e-mail vastuse pärast esimest lugemist ära kirjutada mõne tunni jooksul. Kuna otsin VC'd endale, siis aeg-ajalt lolli Eestlasena ei oska midagi peale hakata meie USA telefinumbrile tulnud FAX'idele a'la "We have interest to provide You the the capital, You will need" ja mingi allkiri all. Just hiljuti sain teada, et tegemist on mingite USA suurinvesteerimisfirmadega, kus juba firma nimest peaksin aru saama, et asi on väärt edasi tegutsemist. Seega olen ise pikka aega olnud loll.
Selle pärast olen täitsa nõus Daytraderite foorumi vaidluse puhul teatavate isikute väidetega, et tule ise New York'i ja siis vaidleme. Minu isikliku arvamuse alusel on Harlem'i mõne gangi peamees rohkem väärt, kui Eesti panga president. Sest Tema on pidanud ennast iga inimese ees tõestama ja meie seda veel õpime.
Veiko -
Kas asjaosalised kommenteeriksid, millistele nuppudele tuleb vajutada, et saada endast või oma firmast artikkel WSJ-sse.
Veiko, äkki RL tegeles pingeliselt sinu Executive Summary-ga ja äkki sa oleksid vastuse saanud näiteks juba homme. Kuid pärast seda sinu viimast kommentaari sa vaevalt mingit positiivset vastust saad.
Mina lugesin seda kirjatükki suure huviga. See paber kubises pointidest, mis räägivad sinu firmasse investeerimise vastu. Ei viitsinud toona kritiseerima hakata. Kuid kuna sa Veiko ise dzinni pudelist lahti lasid, siis võiks selle teema ju jälle üles võtta.
Teeks foorumile ettepaneku kambas analüüsida Veiko Executive Summary-t. See oleks siis näitlik õppetund teemal: "Kuidas kirjutada/mitte kirjutada Executive Summary:t?" -
To Gorilla: Ma ei tea. Meist kirjutati minu teadmata ja meil ei olnud yldse plaani antud turule siis minna. Kuidagi jäin kellelegi ette. Seetõttu pyyan tulevikus mitte asjatuid kontakte luua, kuid need ikkagi tekivad.
Ma ei ootagi, et Rain enam TBS'ist huvitatud oleks. Seetõttu võtsin õiguse Teda siin kritiseerida.
Pyytsin Executive Summary teha nii hästi ja ausalt, nagu oskasin. Ise otsisin erainvesteerijat, kuid enamik kontakte selle kaudu on suurinvesteerimisfirmad ja pangad, kes tavaliselt investeerivad $2M-$20M. Ma ei ole veel yldse otsustanud, kas ja kuidas ma nendega edasi räägin. Võib-olla myyn meie investeerimispanga infosysteemi õigused maha, et saada vajalik kapital edasiminekuks. Iga nädal saan ka e-mailiga mõne CV, kes tahab millegipärast TBS'i managementi tulla.
Paistab, et mu Singapore, Malaisia, Indoneesia reis läheb asja ette ja Indias on ka partnerid ootamas, seega pean järgnevalt sinna sõitma. Kõik arvamused Executive Summary paremaks tegemiseks on teretulnud.
Veiko -
Kuna mitmed on minu käest küsinud, mis kaudu ma kapitali otsin ja kuhu ma oma Executive Summary olen välja pannud, siis toon need webisaidid siinkohal ära.
www.freeprivatecapital.com - tasuta, seetõttu tasub alati proovida. Paar huvilist.
www.vcaonline.com - selle kaudu on peamine huvi olnud, seetõttu soovitan kindlasti. Hind on kuskil $65. vcaonline'i kaudu on tulnud ka teiste saitide pakkumisi ja tutvustusi, nagu näiteks http://www.entrepreneurxpress.com, samuti isikute soove, kes managementi's tahavad osaleda.
www.privateinvestor.com - Hind on kuskil $55.
http://GPMN.com - Seal on invetseerimisprojektide andebaas, kus ka palju ida-euroopa projekte sees.
Tasuta.
http://ppmlibrary.com - Nende teenus tundus kallis olevat, seetõttu ei ole kasutanud. Võib-olla on mõistlik neilt investeerijate andmebaas osta ja selle kaudu otse hakata pakkumsi välja saatma.
Praeguse kuu-pooleteise tulemusena võin öelda, et kontakte on tulnud kümmekond, neist kolmega pean edasisi plaane. Pärast ühe pakkuja ankeetide jms. materjali ärasaatmist, sain pakkumise, et nad viivad meid kohe mõningase tasu eest OTCBB turule. Ise arvan, et minu jaoks vara ja ega ma OTCBB turul osalemisest nii väga huvitatud ei ole.
Veiko
