The village idiot of Las Vegas talks numbers with his father...

I had just finished giving my vaunted Chinatown tour with my father when I told him this. "We're ready to stuff all the restaurants in Chinatown onto an E-commerce site. Restaurant promotion and sales online are a burgeoning business! I've got the approach to capturing some of it!" Seamless and Grubhub are the big boys in the business, last year they did a combined 100 million in revenue. By the way, they just merged. The difference between my model and theirs, not much, except I would put more emphasis on Asian-American proprietors and consumers.

My dad is the old banker type, many of you reading the blog know him or have known him. Well, he wanted to know the numbers. "Right now, I've got a guy who will put together a functional site for five thousand. It will do the basics and that's all we need. He's also a hell of a graphic designer." The gentlemen I'm referring to was referred by a friend in Chinatown. He has twenty years experience in the Las Vegas market. For those of you who know how much good tech cost, five grand for a custom site like I'm talking about is fair. He then asked me what kind of return a potential investor could expect. I gave him a couple of scenarios.

1. Each restaurant on the site has a certain value, for the sake of simplicity let's say they are worth $50 each month. If you have thirty restaurants on a site and they make $50 monthly, we have $1500. After subtracting operating cost, $750 would be left. If you have, for example, five thousand invested. You would receive a percentage of the net, as net increases, so does the amount an investor receives. My projections, which my father is assisting me with, will propose a twofold increase in investment within a year and a half period (five thousand invested will return ten thousand).

2. If an investor is interested in a long term approach. I would offer a scenario of this sort. A five thousand dollar investment would buy a percentage of the site. As the company rises in valuation, so does the equity stake. For the sake of simplicity, let's give the company a valuation of $100,000. If an investment of $2500 is made. I would be willing to give an equity stake of 2.5%. As the company rises in value, the value of the equity investment rises with it.

I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "I'll have detailed projections soon, but, I felt it necessary to give potential investors an idea of what they should expect on their returns."

The village idiot of Las Vegas has a Q&A session with himself...Part 2

Of every $100 wagered in the United States -- $99 of it is illegal. Whether it be online, the neighborhood bookie, illegal card rooms, office pools and others. I've seen estimates as high as 300 billion a year as pertains to the revenue generated by illegal gambling. This years Super Bowl was estimated to have 10 billion bet illegally on it:

Let's cut to the quick; recently Nevada passed a bill that makes online poker legal in its boundaries. Nevada's population isn't large enough to support the online gaming business as a whole. So they're going to look at forming compacts with other states. At this juncture, online gaming is a state by state issue. California, Nevada's neighbor to the West, estimates an additional 150-300 million could be put in the state coffer if online gambling is legalized there. For the sake of not sounding redundant; I anticipate online gambling to be legalized throughout most of the country in the next few years. The revenue it will produce for those who are ready will be tremendous.

(Q). How does a novice like me get into a business like online gambling?

(A). Asians: Ex. Ernst & Young recently published a report. It stated by 2030, two-thirds of the worlds middle class will be of Asian descent. Couple that with the fact Asians account for 60% of all land based casino revenues and it becomes clear why they would be an obvious target market for online gaming.

(Q). How do you get to an Asian crowd as pertains to online gambling?

(A). First you must prove to them that you can be beneficial for them. The Asian community in Las Vegas is under served in many facets compared to traditional markets. Online food ordering and delivery coupled with creative marketing approaches like reality and Guerrilla Marketing will serve as the gateway to the greater market.

(Q). What's the competition entail with your approach to Asian growth strategies? Why don't you focus on a more traditional market?

(A). Competition in the Chinatown section of Las Vegas is non-existent for the ideas I'm proposing. That's what makes it so attractive! I've spent years developing the critical relationships needed. My cohorts in Chinatown have shown an eagerness to help; provided proper resources and a well defined plan are established. On the other hand, traditional markets are diluted with competition. I'm going to borrow an analogy from my colleague Kam, "In the traditional markets, you will find lots of dogs chasing a few rabbits. In the Asian markets, you will find a few dogs chasing lots of rabbits."

(Q). How many licenses have been granted in the State of Nevada for online gaming? How would you get in on the action without a gaming license?

(A). Currently, eight licenses for online gaming have been granted in the State of Nevada. The legislature has enacted a two year moratorium before any other licences will be awarded. The first thing licensees are going to be searching for once their gaming sites become active: DATA BASES! Ex: If a data base of Asian gamblers is created under ones control; it's going to be worth a substantial amount of money. Ex.--According to industry sources, gaming sites will lease a data base at a percentage of loss. The going rate is 35-40%. (A gambler can win and it won't cost you a thing if you're in a leasing agreement with a site. On the other hand, lessors of a data base would be entitled to 35-40% of total losses occurred by their data base). Industry norms for a well run gaming site are 4-5% net.

Summary

In the near future, online gambling is going to hit like an avalanche. According to industry sources: OG will grow from a cottage industry to North of 100 billion in revenues by 2020. Asian gamblers will contribute heavily to that number. I'm proposing a number of sensible strategies be put in play to capture the future growth.

The village idiot of Las Vegas has lunch with a Bruce Lee fan...

Today at lunch in Chinatown, my Asian colleague Kam told me he enjoyed reading my previous post about Larry Bird. Take one guess who his favorite basketball player is. If you guessed Yao Ming. You'd be correct.

"Kam, let me ask you something. Who was the main man in Chinatown when you were a kid?" Kam was born in Hong Kong and his family immigrated to the Chinatown district of San Francisco when he was eight. "Oh man, that's an easy one. It was Bruce Lee. My friends and I used to walk to school everyday and practice our karate kicks while pretending to be him. All of us wanted to be just like him when we got older. After he died, the flag at the post office was half mast for a week. That's how much everyone in Chinatown loved Bruce Lee."

I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "I got an e-mail from a friend of mine today. He said I was using the apostrophe incorrectly in a number of my posts. I went back and checked; he was right. I want to tell him thanks and that I appreciated his feedback."

The village idiot of Las Vegas talks about his boyhood idol Larry Bird.

Back in the day it was Larry Bird 24/7; and why not? A small town kid from the middle of nowhere ascends to one of the top basketball players of all-time. If you're a small town white boy and don't admire Larry Bird...Don't come around me!

The Larry Bird story starts like many others; born and raised in a small town, local hotshot, the wonder boy of French Lick. After a stellar high school career Bob Knight recruits him to play for the Hoosiers. He makes his way to Bloomington and things go to hell for him quickly. He was always use to being the man. IU had just completed an undefeated season the year prior and they had plenty of 'the mans.' Couple that with the fact Larry had never been out of French Lick...needless to say, he didn't last long.

After his brief stay at IU, Larry heads back to French Lick. He knew a job working for the city was waiting for him. The only job open at the time; garbage man. After a year on the garbage truck his mother can't anymore. So she calls the coach at Indiana State. He comes down and talks him into playing for them...The rest is history!

Recently, I watched a special on ESPN that documented Larry's life. My favorite part is when they are interviewing Bill Walton. He said this about him, "It's game 5 of the Eastern finals and everyone in the building thinks the Celtics are going to lose except Larry. The Pistons let their guard down thinking it was over and he made them pay. People forgot that Larry Bird never gives up!" For those tried and true Celtic fans. You remember the moment Walton is referencing. 

When I was a young, Larry was the king in small town Kansas, every kid wanted to grow up and be him. My friend Jack told me a story about a friend of his from Kansas who actually met him. He said the guy was driving past French Lick and decided to take a look at where his boyhood idol had grown-up. He then found out where he lived. He figured, "What the hell. I'll just go knock on his door." He does just that and Larry answers. He then tells him he was a fan and always wanted to meet him (this is my favorite part of the story). Well, Larry tells him to hold on for a minute and puts his shoes on. The two of them end up shooting baskets, shooting the breeze, chewing Skoal and having a good time for a couple of hours. That's got to be one of the best stories I've ever heard.

 I was in Chinatown the other day eating at a crowded restaurant with my colleague Kam: When an Asian kid walks in wearing a vintage Bird jersey. I told the kid I liked his jersey and asked him what he knew about Larry. He started rattling off everything and I become impressed rather quickly by his knowledge. I then thought to myself. 'Go figure, Larry Bird is popular in Chinatown as well."

The village idiot of Las Vegas talks about the coming onslaught that is online gaming...

According to the 2010 census; Clark County has over 200,000 residents of Asian descent. That's a 122% increase from the 2000 census. I'll say this with all confidence, "When I look into my crystal ball. It tells me the Asian population in Clark County will get bigger, much bigger. I'd be willing to make a future bet that Clark County will be a quarter Asian or somewhere in that neck of the woods by 2020." (The 2010 census stated Las Vegas' metro population at just over two million). I'm drawing a clear picture. They're a lot of Asians in Las Vegas that could be catered to immediately and their number's will only increase as time moves forward.

By now, anyone reading my blog on a consistent basis is familiar with my idea of creating a website for online  food ordering and delivery with the restaurants in Chinatown being the jumping off point for it. I'm going to give that a rest in this post and talk about something else coming down the pike; online gaming. The State of Nevada passed a bill recently legalizing online poker in Nevada. The initial licenses are being given to a handful of existing gaming companies in the state. As it's written now, you'll only be allowed to gamble online if you're a resident of the state; that will change soon. For now, the federal government is leaving online gaming up to the states. Nevada is the standard bearer in gaming worldwide. Once Nevada has the framework and regulatory process in place; they're going to look at striking compacts with other states; California being the first. Since most states in the Union are revenue starved; many people, including myself, hold the belief that online gaming will be legalized throughout the country because of the tax revenue it creates. If online gaming gets legalized full boat --sports, poker, etc.-- Estimates for revenue according to Ralston reports: 100 billion plus by 2020!

How does a person get in on the action of online gaming? That's a good question and I have a solid answer; Asians. Gaming revenue is dominated by them! Example: Macau is a gaming enclave located 30 minutes by ferry from Hong Kong. The gaming revenue there is six times greater than its nearest competitor; Las Vegas. 

The Asians who live in Las Vegas like to gamble! Many of them will gamble online when it becomes legal. If I'm able to implement a few of the strategies I've been blogging about as pertain to Chinatown and Asian growth (online food ordering and delivery, reality) and the Asians take a liking to them. Well, it opens up the door for more things such as online gaming. Basically, they've got to like you and trust you. Once that happens, you'd stand a great chance of selling other services to them such as online gaming. Once they legalize online gaming in other states; you'd look to sell the service there as well. Think of it as a 'snowball effect' and Chinatown Las Vegas would be the start of it.

I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "A well run gaming site is going to net 4-5%. The key is volume! An effective growth strategy aimed at Asian businesses and consumers would provide that volume! Think of it this way: If you've got 10,000 people signed up for a gaming site. And the total action for a day is one million dollars. The site would net $40,000-$50,000. I'm quoting a lofty number, but again, the key is volume. The most viable group to find volume for a venture of this sorts; Asians!"

The village idiot of Las Vegas gives his reality pitch to his friend from Nielsen...

"Whenever I start telling people that I've got an excellent idea for a reality show in Las Vegas, well, they tend to look at me like I have three eyes. I realize the idea sounds out there, but this is Las Vegas I'm talking about. Reality viewing is on the fringe of being the norm. I tell you this with all seriousness; it's an idea that would prove feasible given the right script." At the time, I was giving my reality pitch to a friend of mine who works for Nielsen's.

"What's the concept? What would it revolve around? You've got to have something really unique if you're going to get people to watch. There's a lot of them right now. So it better be something different from the norm." He was reiterating things that I already knew. "Look where we're at. Look at the big picture. Read the blog. How many small town white guys from Kansas will you find running around Chinatown that have the skills, connections and vision I do? I can answer that question for you in one word; none." 

Nielsen is one of the top rating agencies in the world, especially when it comes to television. "Who would be the target market for a show like the one your talking about? What would the characters look like?" At this point, I'm only giving the elevator pitch. I'm more than happy to go full out once I find an investor who shows interest. So I hit him with the basics.

"I'd be the protagonist (narrator), the show would revolve heavily around me interacting with a number of characters in not only Chinatown, but Las Vegas as well. I would also recruit a couple of other characters for the endeavor, sex it up some; I'm envisioning a Duck Dynasty moves to Chinatown kind of feel." Being that my friend works for Nielsen; I had one more stat to throw at him as pertains to a target market.

"You're aware that the season finale of 'Super Girl' had North of 400 million viewers." Super Girl is a Chinese reality show that would be akin to American Idol. "Think about this for a moment. If a reality show like the one I'm proposing could crossover to the greater Asian viewing market. Who knows what could happen?"  

I like to end every post of mine with a thought I'm having...Call it the village idiot thought of the day. "Out of all the stats I share in my blog as pertains to the Asian growth strategies and Chinatown; 400 million viewers watching a season finale of a reality show is the most astonishing! That's four times more Americans then watched the Super Bowl this year. For the sake of simplicity; I'm going to end my post this way. If a reality show about Chinatown becomes successful in its initial market. The chances of getting more people to watch are astronomical given the untapped potential that a market like Asia holds."

The village idiot of Las Vegas eavesdrops on a lovers quarrel at McDonald's.

"I know you were with her. Don't lie to me," it's hard not to eavesdrop when people are speaking within earshot of you, "She told me about how the two of you had sex when I was out of town. Is that true?" She was mid-twenties, he was the same. It sounded as if he'd been caught red handed, but still he was denying it - "I don't care what that bitch said. I was never with her. She's lying," both then fell silent as they ate their meal...it was a chilly silence.

The silence is then interrupted by her statement - "This isn't the first time you've done this to me. You are lying to me again. I told you that if you screwed around on me again we were finished," her voice is now full of rage and anger.

"OK, I'm sorry, it won't happen again! I was drunk and I didn't want to but she kept pushing things. I'm sorry, please forgive me!" He found himself cornered and decided best to admit his wrongdoing and deal with the consequences.

After hearing his admission from my neighboring booth I expected her to slap him or a big public blow up, but that wasn't the case, not at all. "Did you fuck her on our bed?" she asks calmly. He nods yes, she then says, "Our next stop is Furniture Mart and you are going to buy a new bed. The old bed is going in the trash," he nods his head yes again.