Matt Willes Profile picture
Sep 1, 2020 10 tweets 4 min read Read on X
Next time (I know...) you are in an Apple ($AAPL) store, I want you to look at the tables. Seriously, look at them.

Why? It’s time for another mezz thread (this time with some pictures!) Image
Local company does about $75 Million a year (sales) of high-end wood work. Think corporate offices and the Sun Valley lodge...

Oh, the other half of their business is they do every table in every Apple store - worldwide. Image
More than a few years ago they are doing a large corporate office for a Fortune 500 company in Oklahoma City. If you’ve been to Oklahoma City you know the building I’m talking about.

Long story short, that deal goes bad and the local supplier ends up losing $1.5 on that deal. Image
Now, losing $1.5 Million on one project creates total chaos on small business cash flow and financials. In this case is NOT happy and decides to cut the company off.

(Side Note: SKOL @Vikings ) Image
I get a call looking to replenish their working capital for a year.

The company is a total mess. Operations are decent, but there is no cash, has ALL the collateral locked and is unwilling to play ball, and there are severe family squabbles.
This is a fourth generation business so the owners are sixteen cousins.

Half the cousins are suing the other half of the family.
However, isn’t interested (literally) in one asset. The company has a new contract with Apple to do new tables in support of the pending Apple Watch rollout.

How big? Well, each of those tables cost > $20,000 ... each.
So, will I lend a couple million into a $20 Million contract with the biggest corporation on the planet? Sure.

I become the central hub of a 4 way negotiation (company, bank, and both sides of the family who are refusing to talk to each other).
We get it done!

One year deal (I put some penalties in place to make sure it stayed out there for a year); and everyone is happy.

(Side Note 2: SKOL @Vikings )
Final Note: 21.4% IRR for a one-year hold.

This deal got the business back on their feet and they are doing great.

A successful deal all the way around!

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More from @SkolCapital

Jan 31, 2022
A few have asked, so today’s thread is how I manage my own portfolio.

One thought before we get there:

Start Where You Are!

It doesn’t really matter where I am - play your own game, but yes I hope you are investing for your future.
1. I have a large chunk of my portfolio in private debt. This is what generates cash flow and pays the bills.

It’s my “job”
2. Now, the basic strategy is to take the excess cash flow from #1 and diversify into other stuff.

** Minimize Trading **

I own a lot of plain, boring low-cost index funds.

Frankly, I never sell these
Read 12 tweets
Jan 25, 2022
I ran a $1 Billion corp bond portfolio in the 00’s for a small insurance company

I beat my benchmark by 177 basis points annually from 2003-2008 (when I left) - If you don’t know, this is massive performance

Lots of chatter about about interest rates, so here are a few lessons
1. Don’t predict interest rates

If you are betting that your model is better than all the Wall Street banks and all the portfolio managers (especially those managing 10-1000x your institutional portfolio) you have already lost.

Play the game that you can win
2. Don’t predict the Fed

I’m old enough to remember Greenspan’s “briefcase indicator” (for you kids out there - it was as dumb as it sounds)

If your strategy is based on what the Fed is or isn’t going to do, then you have already lost.

Play your own game
Read 9 tweets
Mar 10, 2021
As the kids say these days, “it’s been a minute” since we’ve done a mezz thread.

Today: my first mezz deal, and the answer to the question “How do you know if mezz is right for your business?”
When I went out on my own I started from scratch - no deal flow, etc.

So, I hit the lunch circuit - take people to lunch, ask a lot of questions, ask for referrals, ask for other contacts, etc.

It started slowly, but it started
I looked at a number of potential deals (different sizes, different industries), and found a consumer deal that I liked. They were growing quickly and needed additional capital.

We worked together to come up with a structure that worked for me and the company.
Read 11 tweets
Feb 22, 2021
Last week @girdley made a comment about amateurish SMB financials ...

Thought I’d pile on here with a thread on evaluating different parts of those amateurish financials.

(Reminder, often there is opportunity, but it requires some work)
First, a quick story ... my favorite moment at @uclaanderson was accounting class.

Professor: “What account did you use for your plug to make things balance?”

Classmate: “Well, I used two”

Professor:
Ok, 5 areas to probe on amateurish financials:

1) Timing - accounting cadence in most SMB is nonexistent. You’ll often see quarterly or even annual financials. That’s fine. Be sure to ask about seasonality, and make sure financials are current

A 6 month old Balance Sheet is:
Read 10 tweets
Feb 2, 2021
Today in mezz threads:

Finding collateral where there isn’t any ... aka, my most innovative idea (and I’m giving it to you for free)!
Let’s revisit this thread from my early (active) Twitter days. A few questions you might ask:

1) What was my collateral (why did I make this loan)?
2) Why did I have any leverage with the company at all (short of a foreclosure)?
3) Why did the “deep pockets” buy me out?
Let me pick up the story with two assumptions I had going in:

1) I didn’t trust the owner/operator (at all)

2) I knew the PE group (that had offered $200 M) well, and I knew who they were proposing to bring in to run the company had they bought it

#2 (plan B) made sense to me
Read 13 tweets
Jan 21, 2021
Last week I promised a few thoughts on cultivating deal flow.

I’m back after some time helping my wife with her art businesses, so the time is now!

How to make deal flow like:
1. Deal flow is a balance between active selling and sitting on your hands.

Who do you “sell” too? Everyone, but especially the “professional set” who are touching a lot of potential targets. For me: bankers, lawyers, accountants, etc
2. Take them to lunch (I know...) - pay for the lunch. Build a relationship. This isn’t a “one and done” thing. Go regularly.

Every city has a handful of people that “control” the deal flow in your industry/target market in that city. You have to find a way in...
Read 14 tweets

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