Deal Abstract

Invest in Genius Juice
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Delicious coconut smoothie in a bottle. Question is can they rinse lather and repeat to become an enormous beverage company.

Financials (VRB)

|Question|Notes|
|---|---|---|
|1. Fundraising Target? |$593165|
|2. Fundraised So Far?|$127277|
|3. Pre-Money Valuation?|$14000000|
|4. Previous Year's Annual Revenue |$635874|
|5. Previous Year's Annual Net Income (+ Profitable, - Burning Cash) |~$-652707|

Source

The 6 Calacanis Characteristics ("Sow Passion, Not easy mediocrity", or S2 P6 N18)

Criteria Yes/No
1. A startup that is based in SV? False: Torrance, CA
2. Has at least 2 founders? False: Two
3. Has product in the market? True: Revenue generating
4. 6 months of continuous user growth or 6 months of revenue? True: 2018 rev to 2019 rev was grown from $327k to $635k
5. Notable investors? False: No one I recognize
6. Post-funding, will have 18 months of runway? False: Would need $750k in funds raised
Source

The 7 Thiel Questions (Every Time Man Profits, Don't Dismiss Serendipity)

Question Score Notes
1. Engineering? 1 Coconut smoothie instead of water
2. Timing? 1 Is now the perfect time in history to launch a coconut smoothie?
3. Monopoly? 1 Don't know anyone who drinks it
4. People? 3 Good team with beverage experience
5. Distribution? 2 Still has to go through the normal gatekeepers a la Whole Foods and such
6. Durability? 1 Supply chains are good, but is the coconut smoothie in the eponymous market or in the healthy alternative beverage market?
7. Secret? 1 2021 is the perfect time to launch a coconut smoothie of which there is enormous untapped demand

What has to go right for the startup to return money on investment:

1. People love the coconut smoothie; 2. Expand into other beverages based on similar principles (using the whole fruit?), 3. Scale baby scale

What the Risks Are

1. Vitamin not a painkiller; 2. Irreproducible in terms of constant innovation; 3. Margins are standard to beverage

Bonus Muhan's Notes

Would love to try the smoothie in a bottle next time I'm in a WFH.

Updates

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Other thoughts, questions, comments, or concerns? Write me at mail@muhanzhang.com and let me know.