How To Avoid Getting Diluted
Arik Levy had a problem with his shirt.
As a Vice President at PNI Corporation, he needed a pressed shirt every morning. When Levy had time to finally drop off his used shirts, his dry cleaner was closed. He’d have to go days without clean ones – until a lightbulb hit.
What if a locker system existed where a busy office worker could drop off their dry cleaning and the dry cleaner would pick them up?
In 2005, Levy turned his dream into a reality by launching Laundry Locker – an early pioneer in the burgeoning locker business. Levy worked hard to evolve Laundry Locker from a dry-cleaning locker service to offering lockers in apartment buildings who had tenants that needed packages delivered. He named the new company Luxer One.
Fast forward 13 years and Luxer was seeing an incredible $37 million in sales without suffering the dilution of accepting a round of venture capital in part by charging property managers up front for his system.
The process was unbreakable.
…Until he got approached by a nationwide retailer who wanted to install Luxer One lockers in all of their stores. A great win, with one catch: they would pay his entire bill only after the lockers were installed.
Levy needed money to finance such a big order and went looking for investors.
In the episode, you’ll learn:
- The savvy cash flow model Levy used to finance his growth
- The definition of BOPIS and why it’s a thing
- The downside of being a CEO guided by fear
- Why danger of accepting a venture capital investment