Matt Willes Profile picture
Investor (Willes Capital, Mountain Mezzanine, SKOL Capital) and Minnesota Sports fan. Spouse (https://t.co/eBTcTWEcqg). Dad x4, Grandfather x2

Sep 27, 2020, 10 tweets

Here’s me (about age 6-7) going in for a hug with my Gampy.

Why am I posting this? It’s my SMB buyout that should have been...

Time for a thread:

After Gammy died, Gampy would give us the “true” breakfast of champions:

He would balance the Cheetos with these beauties:

Fast forward a few decades, and I learned that the donut baker was potentially for sale from its aging owner.

This was a business that I felt destined to own.

Walking around the plant; the business is very ... meh.

But my fond breakfast memories are taking over and I persevere.

Finally, a breakthrough! Turns out they have an exclusive (regional) contract to bake donuts for 7-Eleven.

I couldn’t be happier, and start to think about structuring the deal. To buy a little time while I’m thinking I ask,

“How’s your relationship with 7-Eleven?”

Owner: Great!

Me: Can you give me an example?

Owner: Sure, they liked my donuts so much that they asked for my recipe!

Me: Hmm ... what did you do?

Owner: I faxed it right over to them! I think they gave it to all the other regional bakers.

The guy had literally faxed away his intellectual property. What was left was some real estate and some (very) used bakery equipment.

Final Note: We HAVE to remain disciplined.

IMO, we are all emotional (we are human), but we need to think and limit the emotion in our decision making.

Share this Scrolly Tale with your friends.

A Scrolly Tale is a new way to read Twitter threads with a more visually immersive experience.
Discover more beautiful Scrolly Tales like this.

Keep scrolling