Larry Namer on Building E. Entertainment Television
At a live event, Richard C. Wilson interviews Larry Namer about building media businesses and making business and wealth decisions.
Richard C. Wilson introduces Larry Namer as a returning guest and recalls their earlier conversation about working smart. Namer describes his path from cable work to starting E. Entertainment Television. He discusses hiring, managing projects, expanding media businesses, responding to technology and market changes, managing money after an exit, family finances and adding social good to media projects.
In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Interviewer), Larry Namer (Founder of E. Entertainment Television)
What they said
- Namer on reviewing projects each night. Namer says he reviews his active projects each night and asks which ones deserve his time the next day. He says putting ego aside helps him drop ideas when conditions change. (at 3:53)
- Namer on developing interns. Namer says E. Began with 11 employees and 31 interns. Half the interns became vice presidents by the end of the summer, and he still brings interns into the business. (at 4:48)
- Namer on pitching network gaps. Namer says his team checks what a network lacks before pitching. For one late-night pitch, he says the network had no women hosts and no Hispanic production companies. (at 9:08)
- Namer on planning for AI. Namer says businesses should ask a futurist where AI may be going and plan for that possibility. He says building around AI as it works today is a mistake. (at 17:11)
- Namer on shifting market mix. Namer says his business plan once weighted financials 95% U.S. And 5% other. He now puts 30% in the U.S. And connects the change to shifts in technology and geography. (at 16:16)
In their words
"the best vehicle you have for making me want to go to the movies is a movie trailer"
"I go in the kitchen and I cook myself dinner or I cook friends dinner"
Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth
Namer says his daughter asked what a prenup was, which led him to develop a financial wellness show for millennials. He connects programming choices to questions his family was facing.
From Richard's exclusive Billionaires.com interviews
Lessons from Richard C. Wilson's one-on-one interviews, as published on each interview page.
- Bobby Castro: Change the strategy to scale. Bobby says that to scale a business, everything has to change. He suggests asking whether the business is scalable, whether it offers a solution and whether it is disruptive.
- Tony Robbins: Think like an owner. His biggest turning point was moving from operator to owner. An operator tries to supervise everything and cannot scale.
- Don Wenner: Commit to scale. Don's major turning point came when he decided to build a great company that makes an impact. Making money and being successful was not enough for him.
See the data
Frequently asked questions
How did E. Get its initial funding?
Namer says starting a TV network typically took around $100 million, but his team found someone to give them $2 million. They went ahead without realizing that amount was insufficient.
What happened when Namer launched television.com?
Namer says advertisers initially paid $25 for every 1,000 users. After the market crashed, the rate fell to 25 cents, so each additional user meant more losses.
Sources
- Larry Namer's Billionaire path: "Sold My Company for $3 Billion" (Richard C. Wilson YouTube channel)
Quotes are copied from the video captions and checked against the transcript. Timestamps link to the moment in the video. General information only, not legal, tax or investment advice.