{"id":42012,"date":"2023-10-20T15:18:05","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/rock-bottom-how-dean-mcevoy-got-through-his-darkest-days-to-build-a-startup-that-sold-for-40-million-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T15:18:05","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T15:18:05","slug":"rock-bottom-how-dean-mcevoy-got-through-his-darkest-days-to-build-a-startup-that-sold-for-40-million-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/rock-bottom-how-dean-mcevoy-got-through-his-darkest-days-to-build-a-startup-that-sold-for-40-million-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Rock bottom: How Dean McEvoy got through his darkest days to build a startup that sold for $40 million – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
Prominent Australian entrepreneur Dean McEvoy remembers the moment he hit rock bottom well.<\/p>\n
He got a call from his dad saying his grandfather had passed away. Distraught, McEvoy quickly jumped on a plane, but realised he couldn\u2019t afford a return trip.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got home sad that my grandfather had passed and realising I was broke,\u201d McEvoy says in a recent AMA run by Blackbird Ventures.<\/p>\n
Booking Angel, the startup that founder was working on at the time had also just \u201cfailed\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven worse, a deal I had been working on for a year actually came through but I didn\u2019t have a cent to my name to actually implement it,\u201d McEvoy says.<\/p>\n
This was when McEvoy hit rock bottom.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was sitting on a beach in the south coast at night not knowing what I was going to do,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t had a job in six years, didn\u2019t know what I was good at and had to move back in with my parents at 32.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was his partner at the time that gave McEvoy a \u201clittle nudge\u201d in the direction that brought him out of this rut.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe kicked me in the butt and told me to stop feeling sorry for myself,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat starts the momentum you need to get moving.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, he visited Pollenizer and discussed implementing the deal that had just closed, and moved into a friend\u2019s spare room. Things were starting to pick up.<\/p>\n
Soon after, McEvoy began chatting to Phil Morle about launching online coupons startup Spreets.<\/p>\n
Two years later, Spreets would be sold to Yahoo7 for $40 million, one of the biggest Australian tech deals of all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt taught me no matter how much it hurts getting punched in the face for the 20th time, just get up \u2013 no excuses,\u201d McEvoy says.<\/p>\n
After the hugely successful exit, the serial entrepreneur has now turned to a new and lofty goal: to transform Sydney into one of the top 10 tech ecosystems in the world.<\/p>\n
To do this he helped launch TechSydney, a tech supergroup of sorts featuring some of the biggest names in startups.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s all about giving back to the community and helping to build a better quality of companies, McEvoy says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have suffered through enormous difficulties as an entrepreneur since I launched my first business in 2001,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just human nature to not let others who walk behind you make those same mistakes. TechSydney is an extension of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s helping entrepreneurs grow their companies and avoid the pitfalls.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the Q&A session, McEvoy also dished out a number of useful lessons and takeaways for other founders and entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n