Girls Gone Wild Entrepreneur

[Steve]

Have you been following the story of Joe Francis? WoW! This is quite amazing! Reading all this makes me think of Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner. The Girls Gone Wild brand is amazingly popular and I do wonder how much of his current troubles are because of his type of business. What's your take on all this? Video icon alleges jail gone wild - The millionaire founder of "Girls Gone Wild” claims he was tortured in the Grady County jail this year and that guards there threatened to strap him naked to a chair for 48 hours. Joe Francis, 34, is now in jail in Reno, Nev., awaiting trial next year on a federal tax evasion charge. He was held in Oklahoma for two weeks while being moved from a Florida jail to the Nevada jail. Read more here too. http://www.meetjoefrancis.com/

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[Steve]

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I found more information that led up to the creation of the Girls Gone Wild brand. It is a fascinating story. I am amazed at the success he was able to find with this. Check this out. Joe Francis - After graduating from USC, Francis worked in various capacities in television production, eventually landing a job as production assistant for TV series Real TV, which aired footage of unusual events not routinely covered by mainstream network news at the time. While working at Real TV, Francis learned of a compilation video which was so popular with the production staff containing footage that was considered too extreme for network TV viewers, including those of Real TV. Francis believed that there were commercial possibilities with a video of that kind and edited the video tape and named it Banned from Television. He used a business direct-marketing plan he created in college and sold individual video cassettes of the title. Banned From Television was considered a commercial success and it spawned other sequels. One of the videos which Francis had licensed, contained footage of female college students flashing their breasts during Mardi Gras and Spring Break. Seeing the marketing appeal, he titled that footage Girls Gone Wild (GGW). He eventually stopped licensing the materials and began producing it himself. In 1997, at the age of 24, Francis founded Mantra Films, Inc[4]. Building on the discovered premise that he could film college-age women "going wild," including baring their breasts for the cameras at spring breaks and other locales, Mantra became a company with over 400 employees and has recorded sales in excess of $30 million per year. Today the videos, which sell for as little as $9.99 apiece, contribute to a total sales figure of almost $100 million per year for Mantra Films, Inc.

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I watched an interview with him about the time he was wanted by the IRS or right after he got picked up. I was somewhat intrigued to see who was behind that marketing gorilla...

That soured it for me. Self centered to a fault, evading any responsibility for his actions, no acceptance of court decisions, blame, blame, blame....Just using the media to misdirect the public for his own benefit.

I give him his due as he was able to make a good living with Girls Gone Wild, but like Dog, it was time to crash and burn. Neither of them can handle success.

If he had a business plan, I'd still like to see it....there had to be some brass behind it**-and it worked.

[Steve]

When you reflect on him, how do you compare him to Larry Flynt?

At least in my view, there were many dark moments in Larry's life that could have made anyone think he would never survive the challenges he faced.

I really think Joe has it easy compared to Larry.

I don't particularly care for Flynt either, but I will say that I respect his never give up attitude and drive. He keeps getting up from all the knockdowns.

I also think that Flynt has an intellect that is best described as crazy like a fox. He didn't make millions from being stupid, although he did plenty of things that were at a minimum outrageous, all the while making himself a lightning rod for those that wish to make him the poster boy for all thats wrong with our society. I'm still wondering if it was marketing genius or a true belief in our constitutional rights.

I can't seem to find info where Flynt decided to run and hide from the law, civil or criminal, or not pay up any judgments against him in which he did not ultimately prevail. Can't say the same for Francis.

Hate 'em or love 'em, I do believe that there is something of value to be learned from everybody, from bottom feeders to world leaders.

[Steve]

Very true.

When I think of these two entrepreneurs, I think how their barrier of entry was that they deal with ****. **** has a negative stigma associated with it. This might keep a lot of people out of the industry however one time I had heard that the largest % of internet traffic was in fact **** related which makes me wonder how many people are trying to make a business of it.

I don't have a clue how many businesses are **** related but these two guys really found a way to stand out and it does make you wonder if there are any business lessons to be learned from them.

When you think of Larry Flynt, I mean this guy got shot by a sniper in the back and he still pushed forwards. Not many other entrepreneurs have gone through that.

It makes me think of the discussion Keith had brought up recently about if there is a fine line between tenacity and knowing when to quit. Then you have to wonder, what if you just never quit? Donald Trump says all the time, never give up.

Maybe this is just a simple fact people such as Larry or Joe were able to stick to in order to find success.

Maybe if we all stuck more to our dreams, we would all find more success in what ever it is we dreamed of.