How Gold Coast 'toolie' Simon Beard made $600m

Simon Beard and his wife Tah-nee started Culture Kings as a market stall at the Carrara Markets on the Gold Coast. Last year they cut a deal to sell their company for more than $600 million. Here’s how they did it. Background reading: From tight-arse teenager to the Rich List • As a kid, Simon Beard saved every cent given to him, stashing it in a drawer. By the time he finished high school, he had a kitty of $4000 and made a bold move: he bet the lot on buying hands-free phone devices from someone he didn’t know in China. He turned up at Gold Coast’s Carrara Markets hoping to turn a profit. “My first day I was just a stuttering mess,” the founder of Culture Kings says. Want to be a Rich Lister? Get up at 4am, take an ice bath, meditate • Simon Beard says being an entrepreneur is like trying to make it to the NBA. His days are literally planned to the minute. How I Made It website here. Email us at howimadeit@afr.com For more stories about success, subscribe to The Australian Financial Review here.

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