5 ms·
> Parker did some work around town, scrounged together $3k, and began taking a state-subsidized ferry to Juneau, where he bought Costco inventory to resell in G
by momokoko 6y ago
> Parker did some work around town, scrounged together $3k, and began taking a state-subsidized ferry to Juneau, where he bought Costco inventory to resell in Gustavus at a small markup.
> As the store grew, Parker and his father launched their own freight company, purchased the town’s gasoline station, and bought two of their own ships — a $300k “insurance policy” that gave Parker tighter control over the supply chain in case of an emergency.
I feel like they left out a step between $3k and a frieght company with 2 ships.
- taneq 6y agoMoving inventory on the existing ferry service and selling it at a profit?
- rosstex 6y agoA small loan of a million dollars.
- ashtonkem 6y agoOccasionally ships can be had for extremely cheap when the former owner cannot afford the maintenance on it. It's more common with small pleasure craft, but I wouldn't be surprised to hear about small cargo ships being occasionally abandoned up there.
- nine_k 6y agoIndeed: even if you get a ship for free, the crew is not free. Unless you're a certified captain already, you probably can't just operate the ship yourself. Also, now you have to pay for maintenance, fuel, mooring, loading and unloading cargo, etc. I suspect that $3k is not sufficient to start and sustain such an operation, so some steps are clearly missing. (Can't help but remember Grim Fandango, where a similar transition between a small-time sales agent and a ship owner is made by writing "one year later" across the screen.)
- angry_octet 6y agoMy favourite example is Roman Abramovich, who somehow made the transition from reselling rubber ducks from his apartment in 1991 to having $100M to buy an oil company worth $3B, to obscene oligarch wealth a decade later. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Abramovich
- keiferski 6y ago90s Russia was indeed a bizarre place.
- bitcoinmoney 6y agoHe is friends with Russian president.
- elipsey 6y agohttps://www.juneauempire.com/news/abandoned-tugboat-problem-likely-to-linger/ https://www.juneauempire.com/news/abandoned-tugboat-problem-...
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- hadlock 6y agoUsed work boats are extraordinarily cheap, usually $10k for a 40' boat that's 16' wide, and then another 10-15K for a used marine diesel engine. Compare that to a fiberglass pleasure yacht where you might pay $30k for a 30' boat and 50K for a 40' sailboat used, plus 8-12k for a marine diesel engine. Same goes for trucks, you can buy a brand new F-150 crew cab for $35,000 with all the fixings, or you can buy a 5-ton truck military surplus that can tow ten pickup trucks for $8,000.