How Private is Private Equity? Is it not Public Knowledge?
I want to take you to nice places along the way but I have to ask, is this backed by PE?
The amount of times I have to yell across the street to make sure someone is not getting hit by a car or backed up by a USPS truck is common. I don’t want people to get into jams on my watch. We all need to look out for each other even if it’s hilarious, can cause lasting damage, or can sue for claims.
When I was eating outside at Kiki’s in the Lower East Side when the weather broke 60 for a second, I witnessed a USPS mail truck being backed up into a garage and saw that the driver did not see the pedestrian in their blindspot. It was backing up: beep, beep, beep, beep and I waited to see if the driver would catch him but didn’t. It made me sound the alarm in my head to yell “watch out!”
I hate doing those repulsive shout outs but ever since I became sober 4 years ago, my reflexes have been going through the roof.
I’ve been more aware than ever. I’ve been catching things out of my hand, catching people saying redundant things and remembering strangers names?! The wild things you can achieve while going sober.
This is not a PSA to go sober or cut down on drinking. My mind has been running on caffeine more than ever before but there have been more health benefits and claims to Coffee and Matcha out there. I was on the same caffeine train but when I was drinking was the mental all there? Definitely not and to care for people’s wellbeing was not in my wheelhouse.
With more caffeine comes with grinding my teeth in my sleep, thinking about regretting a few words I said on a Wear Many Hats episode and per my last email to a big company sending a 100k quote (I thought this company would bite, but heard through the grapevine that they are difficult) but I can’t blame myself.
After eating at Kiki’s I went to check out Manjul, where friend and guest of the show, Peter Dailey, coins it as fourth wave coffee. I went to visit my friend Joseph Oxley of Muted Entity who works there full time to produce exquisite espresso and matcha for their team. The space is what you’d think the next stage of La Cabra would be. Lately, all these new venues, shops, crazy ass Dubai looking spaces are looking similar in a way that it’s got high ass ceilings and cream colored walls.
Gotta ask. Is this backed by private equity? Saudi prince? Oil money? WSA, SAA, Happier Grocery, that’s all in one. You can read everywhere that they got that young moola baby. The list goes on in Chinatown, the Bowery etc. with Silence Please, Vowels, The Mandarin. Look I’m not trying to come after them and if they find this post, come on Wear Many Hats and tell me it’s not.
Say it too my Zoom face.
But also, let me consult for you.
I got some ideas.
I want a share of the pie.
I love these spaces. I love taking people to these cool spots even though the owners need a crash course on chill.
I want to use that same “I got you” attitude of looking out when you can’t see the blind spots. I want to make you see again with these Stevie Wonder eyes.
How private is private equity? Because everyone is going to find out one way or another. We’re in a new world where the recent generations are always asking “How can they afford this?” Let me do some research! Let me ask the employees! Everyone is nosy and wants to know how they can afford this space.
As you may know from previous posts that I started a CPG, food and beverage brand called Matsar. The question I keep getting is who’s funding it, am I getting investors, and do I work in tech?! The last one is an insult though I’m not going to lie.
The tech one feels like a cigarette burn because I ate shit all throughout my 20s for the sake of art and creativity.
For the record, all my projects are self-loved and bootstrapped.
There is nothing private about me for I have a podcast that centers around the projects I create.
Currently we’re in this realm of regular people coming from fancy jobs creating brands for the sole purpose to sell. A new way of selling out. Where is the love? One of first meetings ever of Matsar was with my best friend, collaborator and mentor asking me “when you sell” at Kiki’s and I couldn’t believe that was a pathway to go or even the vision. I trademark and create LLCs for all my projects because there’s always something happening in the banana stand but hearing that made the vision more dreamier, life changing, and at that moment, wishful thinking didn’t seem so far away.
Business deals always goes down at Kiki’s. Dreams goes down at Kiki’s. Remember the first place you had your meetings with on your new project because it’ll be one for the books.