Bipolar Strategy. Cranking this out fast because it’s a big ask: prepare for unthinkable tomorrow and play to win today.
Before the unthinkable….
Jeff E. Leads Yamaha to GA
Huge win for Atlanta and Jeff’s business of corporate relocations, including real estate, logistics, etc.
Jeff is a ‘wolfberry’, elite in class, and has the ability to close any Fortune 10 deal of any size, big or small, which Yamaha started two years ago.
Will ask Jeff to give us the lowdown on May 13th at Porsche.
The Mule Leaves the Show
James exited IceMule in a sale to private equity, exceeding expectations when we were at an impasse two weeks ago.
We had to walk away from the table to get the deal reframed for our price and terms.
Water Boys Win Big POs
Last year the company did $1.5m in revenue – now in one week they closed over $2.3m in purchase orders – skill, hard work, and like all big winners – some luck.
Coca-Cola’s competitive product, Topo Chico, shut down after the well went dry! Be Ready. Tehuacán, Oliver Merino, and Philip Jones.
Unthinkable. As far as the Iran war, the biggest personal risks are by far soldiers and their families first and foremost, then entrepreneurs second.
Capitalism loves predictability and stability, as shown recently in Minneapolis, where businesses dropped 80%, and even though the immigration crackdown has slowed, businesses still see no daylight.
Last time we were in this level of turmoil was the Civil War, where the brilliant Lincoln strove to tame the tensions and ‘appeal to better angels’. He sent Grant a message the day before Appomattox, VA – ‘let them up easy’.
And down here, we thank Lincoln for not hanging Confederate officers. He knew our economic lives were peaceful and predictable. I love Lincoln because he was highly intelligent.
Two things: Hoping after 10 days the mullahs and IRGC would have broken ranks and cracked, and followed by the actions of the very sophisticated 90m Iranian people to stand up because they want a better system than the current regime.
With our certain, overwhelming US military might, we needed both of the above for an in-and-out war.
I am at a sick-to-my-stomach point seeing neither has unfolded so far.
Also, we showed up with Netanyahu and that’s like bringing me to a Vistage meeting.
In my time in the Middle East, I learned that the people in Syria, Lebanon, and Israel feel about their neighboring border states like we do Texas and Tennessee. We’re family. Bombing Beirut is their Paris.
Capitalism would like for the war to end tomorrow, our soldiers to come home, and to say we knocked out Iran’s infrastructure, military, and supreme leader, and declare victory, a potential huge economic upside for capitalism, where we rise with the tide.
President Trump might do this, because at the end of the day, he plays the odds—staying in longer, the odds crater.
By the way, similar to when the British Empire broke when it entered Iraq in 1914, our country is running insane budget deficits right now at a rate of $1m every minute.
Lesson: Entrepreneurial Backup Plan — 3 years of cash on hand, draw down credit lines, sell assets, etc., and have a game plan for 80% loss in business.
Below are two of the best recaps on each side of the war.
