Entrepreneurship carries risks, which may test the resolve of the most determined dreamers. For married couple Mike and Kass Lazerow, entrepreneurship started with heartbreak. In 2000, not long after saying “I do,” Mike and Kass, with a life savings account of $25,000 (Rs 21 lakh), dove head first into their first business venture, Golf.com. Golf.com was an online venue to track golf scores, and through their hard work, Golf.com was beginning to make a name for itself in the online space.
Within a year, they sold Golf.com to Chipshot, a growing e-commerce company, in a cash-and-stock deal. But fate had other plans. Chipshot’s funding round collapsed, pushing it into bankruptcy. The fallout was severe: Golf.com went under with it, and the Lazerows not only lost their savings but also the money they had raised from friends and family.
“It was devastating to tell people their money was gone,” Kass later recalled. Mike described the moment as a test of endurance rather than failure, saying that true entrepreneurs must learn to “love the misery” that comes with setbacks.
Buying Back a Dream
Rather than walking away, the couple decided to take another chance. Within three months, they raised $500,000 (about Rs 4.3 crore) to buy Golf.com back. It was a bold move, but the early years were difficult. The team shrank to just four employees, including the founders, as the company struggled to stay afloat.
What eventually turned the tide was the global rise of Tiger Woods, whose victories at the Masters in 2001 and 2002 sparked renewed worldwide interest in golf. As golf’s popularity soared, advertisers turned to Golf.com as a platform to reach this expanding audience. Slowly, the company began to grow.
Breakthrough With Time Inc.
By 2006, Golf.com had become a recognizable brand with strong traffic and advertising revenue. Its success caught the attention of media giant Time Inc., the publisher of Golf Magazine. Seeing the strategic value of combining its print audience with Golf.com’s digital reach, Time Inc. acquired the startup for $24 million (about Rs 209 crore).
Each of the three co-founders, including Mike and Kass, took home about $1.8 million (around Rs 15.7 crore). For the couple, it was not only financial redemption but also validation of their decision to persevere after an early setback.
Also Read: Peeko raises $3.2 million to scale babycare quick commerce
Beyond Golf.com: Bigger Wins Ahead
The Lazerows refused to stop there. In 2007, they launched Buddy Media, a social marketing software company that assisted brands in managing their foodprints on Facebook, Twitter, and other social platforms. Within five years, it was one of the hottest properties in the digital marketing space.
In 2012, Buddy Media was acquired by Salesforce in a landmark deal valued at approximately $689 million (over Rs 6,500 crore). It became one of the largest acquisitions in Salesforce’s history at the time, cementing the Lazerows’ reputation as serial entrepreneurs who had mastered the art of turning vision into value.
Lessons in Resilience
Looking back, both Mike and Kass credit their resilience and refusal to give up as the defining factors in their journey. “Success isn’t about avoiding problems, it’s about enduring them,” Mike said. Kass echoed the sentiment, noting that the experience of losing everything gave her “a strength I hadn’t realized I had.”
Both also described the difficulty of raising funds from friends and family and cautioned other aspiring entrepreneurs about the personal risk involved when taking that route. Yet, they remain staunch believers that failure does not signify an end, but usually indicates the starting point of success
A Story of Redemption
The Lazerows have gone from losing Rs 21 lakh on a failed startup to selling the same startup for Rs 209 crore just six years later and creating another startup over Rs 6,500 crores after that. Their story is one of the biggest comeback stories of all time in the world of startups.
It really demonstrates an important truth for entrepreneurs. Failure is not final, but perseverance, timing, and flexibility can overcome the hardest of setbacks and lead to amazing levels of success.
Also Read: Palmonas Secures ₹55 Crore Series A to Fuel Ambitious Growth