Eberhart’s story has the seeds of a classical tragedy - of extended adolescence, of real life delayed in pursuit of the ambitious and exotic. Eberhart left his Ph.D to chase family, then left his family to chase opportunity. Always in noble pursuit - but when is it time to quit the chase?
The answer is clear: today.
Eberhart has constantly been pushing this company uphill, rarely catching a break. Growth is there, but this is no rocketship. WineInStyle has no strong competitive advantage with him in charge - foreign ownership has continually proven to be a hindrance. He has a strong customer base, but not particularly defensible. And he’s running out of cash.
It’s time to declare victory, to bask in the spoils of his constant hunt. To let this very accomplished new CEO - an incredible boon of a hire - fly free.
But not in haste. The ultimate tragic conclusion would be to sell majority stake to a fraudulent investor group, and lose control of all he had worked for with little to show for it.
WineInStyle has got investor interest. Shop the deal around. Where there’s interest from one investor group, if legitimate, there should ostensibly be interest from others.
Put business growth on hold. Spend some time in the market. Use your last hurrah in Japan to close the right deal. Then return to Palo Alto with a win and a nice little pile of cash, and buy yourself some property. Or do some angel investing.
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