My name is Sam McBride. I operate, invest ($25K to $1M), advise, observe (and consume).
You can follow some of my observations here or listen to a longer conversation here.
My investments are made with my personal capital and my expertise is from extensive experience building consumer oriented businesses. I’ve been a part of building 3 businesses as a day to day operator in a variety of roles:
LiveWatch required outside capital to acquire SafeMart and Able Security which were transformed into LiveWatch and eventually sold to Brinks for $65M.
Rabine was a technology enabled B2B play focused on selling exterior services to major retailers around the country -- this was built inside a family business.
RXBAR was bootstrapped to a $600M sale to Kellogg.
There are a few common threads between these three companies:
- extremely capital efficient (little or no outside equity capital)
- high growth rates driven by a focus on a core market and scrappy growth tools (email, WOM, inside sales, influencers, events, etc.)
- profitability
- exceptional culture and team (RXBAR was by far the most sophisticated in this regard)
- a brand built from the consumer up
- deep knowledge and effective control of the product
When I invest I look for entrepreneurs who want to build a business with a unique, sustaining and profitable position.
One of the areas where I am most unique as an investor is my aversion to fund raising and experience building without a lot of cash (you might not get a PR bump from raising but you'll own more of your company if you go this route).
If you want to chat about an investment or just want to connect and get some input submit your email and a note here and I'll respond.
(Sorry for the form but SPAM is brutal if I post my email.)
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