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You make a good point, but I wonder what the real world business equivalent of this is? Is it the destiny of every successful café to become acquired by Starbuc

by pketh 5y ago

You make a good point, but I wonder what the real world business equivalent of this is? Is it the destiny of every successful café to become acquired by Starbucks one day? (assuming there's not a better comparison I should be thinking of)

ribosometronome 5y ago
Successful restaurants, bars, etc do change owners from time to time as owners retire or simply want a change of pace. I imagine the difference is the amount of money involved. It's possible for an individual to save up several hundred thousand to a million to buy an existing, profitable small business. Less so the hundreds of millions to billion+ a business like this might go for.
- bigiain 5y ago
  Around me in Sydney, there is a major “hospitality group” that’s spent the last 10+ years buying up bars and pubs. There’s a few smaller operations doing it as well. The big one, Merivale, seems to have practically unlimited money to throw at interesting or struggling venues. While I really don’t like the changes they eventually make to most places they buy, I have a grudging respect for the business acumen of Justin Hemmes the owner. He seems to have an uncanny knack for having bought a good sized venue a year or two before, in every area that becomes cool and popular. Often they’ll barely change for a few years, while the demographics around them shift, then one day they’ve suddenly been renovated and there’s a queue of b-grade celebrities all dressed up and lined up around the block waiting to get in every weekend for a month or two. I totally get that my demographic spends less over the bar than the crowd he’s so good at attracting, but he’s ruined two of my local ex-favourite pubs in the last few years, and over decades he’s turned some of my favourite music venues in things like trashy Mexican restaurant/bars. But yeah, even as successful as he is in his field, I doubt it’ll get him into the three comma club.
Talanes 5y ago
>Is it the destiny of every successful café to become acquired by Starbucks one day? Almost, but it's these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company
heleninboodler 5y ago
The goal of every venture-backed tech startup is to reach an exit. That's the whole explanation of "why." You can go back in time and ask them "why did you have to take VC money" in 2008 and that might be an interesting question. But once they did, there's no surprise whatsoever that they went for the exit today.

by pketh 5y ago

ribosometronome 5y ago

Successful restaurants, bars, etc do change owners from time to time as owners retire or simply want a change of pace. I imagine the difference is the amount of money involved. It's possible for an individual to save up several hundred thousand to a million to buy an existing, profitable small business. Less so the hundreds of millions to billion+ a business like this might go for.

bigiain 5y ago
Around me in Sydney, there is a major “hospitality group” that’s spent the last 10+ years buying up bars and pubs. There’s a few smaller operations doing it as well. The big one, Merivale, seems to have practically unlimited money to throw at interesting or struggling venues. While I really don’t like the changes they eventually make to most places they buy, I have a grudging respect for the business acumen of Justin Hemmes the owner. He seems to have an uncanny knack for having bought a good sized venue a year or two before, in every area that becomes cool and popular. Often they’ll barely change for a few years, while the demographics around them shift, then one day they’ve suddenly been renovated and there’s a queue of b-grade celebrities all dressed up and lined up around the block waiting to get in every weekend for a month or two. I totally get that my demographic spends less over the bar than the crowd he’s so good at attracting, but he’s ruined two of my local ex-favourite pubs in the last few years, and over decades he’s turned some of my favourite music venues in things like trashy Mexican restaurant/bars. But yeah, even as successful as he is in his field, I doubt it’ll get him into the three comma club.

Talanes 5y ago

>Is it the destiny of every successful café to become acquired by Starbucks one day? Almost, but it's these guys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JAB_Holding_Company

heleninboodler 5y ago

The goal of every venture-backed tech startup is to reach an exit. That's the whole explanation of "why." You can go back in time and ask them "why did you have to take VC money" in 2008 and that might be an interesting question. But once they did, there's no surprise whatsoever that they went for the exit today.