Fwd: Here’s a meeting that investors simply had to come to

Where do you convene important business meetings or negotiations? Your office? A local restaurant? Have you ever thought about taking your clients and colleagues to a rock climbing gym, or on a helicopter ride? Don't do it. Do this Instead, pick an epic meeting room that clearly communicates: deals get done here. Here's how I designed a meeting that investors simply had to come to. If you missed any previous episodes, look here: episode 1: a surprise call episode 2: I jump on a plane but where is it going? episode 3: a man worth $5.8 billion episode 4: overcoming huge obstacles If you want to have a meeting your guests will never forget - The Beverly Hills Hotel, or the "Pink Palace" as the famous regulars call it, is at the center of old Hollywood and will do the job, as you will see in a moment. The hotel is older than Beverly Hills itself, and in many ways, it helped build this small, 6-square-mile city, I knew that the valets at the Beverly Hills Hotel, who were the most discriminating car snobs in the world, would be sure to park my car in the front lot, which was a crucial part of my plan to raise $50 million.  Admittedly, it was not a good plan ... but don't dismiss it either until you read what happened next. Celebrities, hollywood & history The walls of the Beverly Hills Hotel shine with the larger than life personalities that have passed through these hallways, many actors made deals with studios here, others made deals with the devil. From the moment you step into the pink chessboard lobby you can't help but feel like a part of Hollywood history. No wives allowed In this hotel, Michael Milken threw his no-wives-allowed predator balls, and later, it was here that Ivan Boesky wore the wire that brought down Millken's empire. Affairs and nekkedness Marilyn Monroe had an affair with Yves Montand in Bungalows 20 and 21. Sidney Poitier danced naked in the lobby after winning his Oscar for Lilies of the Field. Mike Tyson, Lindsay Lohan, Tom Cruise ... all had ramontic "incidents" here behind closed doors. Crazy rich guys, rock & roll Howard Hughes lived in Bungalow 4 for thirty years. It was pictured on the Eagles' 1976 album "Hotel California"  and the title track's lyrics include the lines, "Mirrors on the ceiling/The pink champagne on ice/And she said, We are all just prisoners here/of our own device." A job to do My boss, Marvin Davis and owner of the hotel had set us up in bungalow 22, which was known as the Frank Sinatra because it had been his favorite. It was good, but I knew I could do better - I got us moved to #4, into the Howard Hughes bungalow. It was beyond opulent but you kind of forgave the place for being so over-the-top because of the history. This was a man cave on steroids, leather doors, gold leaf rimmed high balls, a cellar stocked with 18-year old bourbon, a grand piano in the dining room and a fireplace by the pool. It was like the set designer for Mad Men threw up in there. Seriously, if I couldn't sell a deal in this joint, I needed to have my head examined. There are many reasons people attend meetings, including: - gaining insight and information on an important matter - complaining about issues and situations - making decisions - fulfilling a job requirement, and - the chance to drive my restored '68 Chevy along world-famous Mulholland Drive then 10-minutes later be drinking 18-year old bourbon, leaned back on Howard Hughes' living room sofa.  The Ties (that's what I call the accountants working for me) were waiting for me in the lobby and they looked hungry. I led them to the bungalow and threw two pounds of Copper River gravlox and a bagel at them ($425) then sat down to make my my calls. Dialing for millions of dollars This was a hurry-up deal and the clock was ticking. I had no time to eat anything but some kale chips, even if the best smoked salmon in the world was 5 feet away resting delicately atop a rosemary crostini with a dollop of lemon basil aioli. I was dialing everybody I knew, friends, enemies, colleagues, my gardener's uncle. Anybody I thought might be interested in the deal, and now I was waiting to see who would nibble. Here was my offer:       1. Come meet with me in the historic Howard Hughes bungalow           at the Beverly Hills Hotel to hear the full pitch.        2. Later, we'll drive my museum quality '68 Chevy down           Sunset Blvd, and finally       3. Eat dinner at The Tasting Room in Santa Monica. Who could say "no"? Apparently, a lot of people. This obviously wasn't for everone. But it was a conversation starter.  There were some hell yes, I'll be there tomorrow! Others felt differently, hell no ... lose my number! But at least people were paying attention, and I was getting the enough yesses for all this to make sense. My idea had proven workable, there were enough adventurous investors willing to fly to Los Angeles to see a great deal and bungalow #4. I did not expect this I played my messages and almost dropped the phone when I heard the voice of Capital Group Ventures on the other end. This was a white shoe Palo Alto firm and an almost impossible meeting to get. I submitted to them almost as an afterthought, to keep myself busy while waiting for other meeting confirmations. I did not in a million years expect that they would respond. I should have been over the moon, but there were a couple of small hitches. First, I had promised to take this deal off the grid, and Capital Ventures was as on the grid as you get. Second, the woman who was coming to meet me to review the deal was the wife of a board member of Marvin's company. This was a horrible coincidence: a deal I was supposed to be selling quietly to a low-key buyer, had attracted the wife of the current investor.  Oh God, I thought, this was the opposite of "doing my job."  A chinese wall I set a meeting with her for the next afternoon. The first thing we talked about was her ability to maintain a Chinese Wall, and not discuss this at all with her husband. An impossible secret to keep? Actually, this happens all the time in finance. note, a Chinese wall is an ethical barrier between different divisions of a financial institution in order to avoid conflicts. During the meeting, Blue Tie, one of my staff accountants watched all this happening, thought about it a moment and then laughed. "You're an idiot," he said to me, knowing our boss Marvin would be mad.  Otherwise, the meeting with the Vice President at Capital Ventures went well, the Chinese Wall held, Marvin got over it, I sold 50 million dollars worth of his shares three days before the deadline, my company made 1.5 million, and together, my accountants Blue Tie and Red Tie and I had added another successful deal to the history of the Beverly Hills Hotel. What's the takeaway here? There's a lot of advice out there about how to get people to meetings and make meetings more efficient and productive. And while it's true that leading focused, fact-based conversations is critical to getting buyers and investors to do a deal with you,  -- meetings aren't just about delivering information. There's another outcome that leaders should be paying more attention to: creating a quality experience for each participant. What is a quality experience in a meeting? Should you rent a $30,000 hotel suite? Who knows it its right for you, every deal is different, but a luxury presentation suite is a common strategy that works. Here's how I define a quality meeting experience When buyers leave feeling more connected, fulfilled and grateful to have learned about an interesting opportunity.  Of course, you should still be focused on achieving the meeting outcomes, and getting a deal, but interesting meetings and productive ones don't have to be at odds. Finally, remember the higher the deal stakes, the better the meeting place should be.  To celebrate closing a deal, we threw a midcentury modern bash in Bungalow 4 that would have made Howard Hughes blush. While waiting to make my escape before housekeeping found the piles of White Castle wrappers that Blue Tie had left behind in Howard's lounge, my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but it seemed like my lucky day so I picked up. "Oren," a voice said on the other end. "This is Brenden. I'm in trouble and I need your help. Please Oren, can you have lunch tomorrow?" SHARE. If you found any value in this newsletter, or it made you laugh or smile, forward it to colleagues and friends who might be interested. They'll thank you and so will I. SUBSCRIBE. If you received this newsletter from a friend, and would like to subscribe (it's fr/ee!), just enter your name and email address in the box on my blog. If you wish to stop receiving our emails or change your subscription options, please Manage Your Subscription Pitch Industries, 5825 Avenida Encinas #110, Carlsbad, CA 92008