The last two days have been pretty good. Felt like we were getting somewhere, although somewhat slowly still.
August 2, 2011
1) Jimmy Carbone from Jimmy's No. 43 answered my email almost immediately about meeting up to discuss his restaurant and Villager.
2) Andre Wechsler from Wechsler's Currywurst is also happy to meet up to discuss the same.
3) I set up a lunch with two bankers from Citi to discuss retail banking with small businesses.
4) Set up a meeting with Alie Shaper and Craig Kayaian from Brooklyn Oenology, a wine producer and tasting room, in Williamsburg.
August 3, 2011
The morning was spent preparing for the meetings today. The first meeting was a little underwhelming. Dave S. introduced me to some of his colleagues who work with the smallest of small businesses as relationship managers at Citi. They weren't really able to tell me anything Dave hasn't told me and didn't seem especially interested in answering any of my questions with anything more than terse, very straightforward answers that offered little insight. Luckily, I had some excellent Provencale Moules Frites. And then I had a beer with Dave at a German Restaurant Beer Bar at 3:30.
After that, I hopped on the swelteringly muggy subway with a single transfer to make my way over to Brooklyn Oenology, where I met with Alie Shaper and Craig Kayaian (her boyfriend and informal business strategist) about their financing options, as well as a quick discussion of Villager. The discussion was really quite lively and interesting. Alie started out as an aerospace engineer who decided she wanted to be in the wine business. Pursuing that goal, she went into the wine business and hopped around a few places until she decided to mix the artisinal, local and high quality concepts of Brooklyn and produce local wines in the borough. In 2006, she began producing her own wines from Long Island grapes and began selling them through local retailers. After her production ramped up and expanded considerably, they decided to open a tasting room in Williamsburg, where they showcase their own wines and other wines and spirits from New York. All of their wine labels come from local artists and they use the tasting room as an arthouse as well.
The discussion ultimately was wide ranging. They need a capital infusion that is beyond the capabilities of Villager and are planning to expand and grow. They want to push out and be bigger. We talked through the various forms of financing, from a convertible debt deal to a straight equity deal to a structured note to bank loans to interest free Villager-like loans, to bonds to offering structure and the difficulty of the securities laws. Without going into too much detail, Craig and Alie were razor sharp, ambitious and very charismatic. I think they will be fine with whatever path they choose. I find that despite my nervousness, I love meeting all of these business owners. It's just so much more interesting. I just need to get my product FINISHED so I can figure out how to sell rather than to just serve as a sounding board for all of the ways small businesses can raise money.
It becomes more apparent to me every day that the charlatans and assholes who perpetrated securities fraud and made excessive money pushing other people's money around have made it incredibly difficult for smaller players to access funds. Sure, the public markets are extraordinarily liquid and get a pricing premium because of the enforcement regime, but what about everyone else?
August 2, 2011
1) Jimmy Carbone from Jimmy's No. 43 answered my email almost immediately about meeting up to discuss his restaurant and Villager.
2) Andre Wechsler from Wechsler's Currywurst is also happy to meet up to discuss the same.
3) I set up a lunch with two bankers from Citi to discuss retail banking with small businesses.
4) Set up a meeting with Alie Shaper and Craig Kayaian from Brooklyn Oenology, a wine producer and tasting room, in Williamsburg.
August 3, 2011
The morning was spent preparing for the meetings today. The first meeting was a little underwhelming. Dave S. introduced me to some of his colleagues who work with the smallest of small businesses as relationship managers at Citi. They weren't really able to tell me anything Dave hasn't told me and didn't seem especially interested in answering any of my questions with anything more than terse, very straightforward answers that offered little insight. Luckily, I had some excellent Provencale Moules Frites. And then I had a beer with Dave at a German Restaurant Beer Bar at 3:30.
After that, I hopped on the swelteringly muggy subway with a single transfer to make my way over to Brooklyn Oenology, where I met with Alie Shaper and Craig Kayaian (her boyfriend and informal business strategist) about their financing options, as well as a quick discussion of Villager. The discussion was really quite lively and interesting. Alie started out as an aerospace engineer who decided she wanted to be in the wine business. Pursuing that goal, she went into the wine business and hopped around a few places until she decided to mix the artisinal, local and high quality concepts of Brooklyn and produce local wines in the borough. In 2006, she began producing her own wines from Long Island grapes and began selling them through local retailers. After her production ramped up and expanded considerably, they decided to open a tasting room in Williamsburg, where they showcase their own wines and other wines and spirits from New York. All of their wine labels come from local artists and they use the tasting room as an arthouse as well.
The discussion ultimately was wide ranging. They need a capital infusion that is beyond the capabilities of Villager and are planning to expand and grow. They want to push out and be bigger. We talked through the various forms of financing, from a convertible debt deal to a straight equity deal to a structured note to bank loans to interest free Villager-like loans, to bonds to offering structure and the difficulty of the securities laws. Without going into too much detail, Craig and Alie were razor sharp, ambitious and very charismatic. I think they will be fine with whatever path they choose. I find that despite my nervousness, I love meeting all of these business owners. It's just so much more interesting. I just need to get my product FINISHED so I can figure out how to sell rather than to just serve as a sounding board for all of the ways small businesses can raise money.
It becomes more apparent to me every day that the charlatans and assholes who perpetrated securities fraud and made excessive money pushing other people's money around have made it incredibly difficult for smaller players to access funds. Sure, the public markets are extraordinarily liquid and get a pricing premium because of the enforcement regime, but what about everyone else?
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