Dan Fleyshman

So my former life, 2005, 2009, I had a beverage. I was in 55,000 stores, 43 distributors, and I drove and flew to every single distributor. Wow. And I literally would do what's called ride-alongs. So ride-along is where Oliver would go with Cali water or I would go with my drink.

And literally it's like a Budweiser truck and jump in the semi truck and ride along to 24 locations for the day to help them want to sell our products. And here's why. Budweiser driver wants to sell Budweiser. He doesn't care about my drink or the water or the milk or the soda or anything else on that truck besides Budweiser because that's who pays him.

And literally it's like a Budweiser truck and jump in the semi truck and ride along to 24 locations for the day to help them want to sell our products. And here's why. Budweiser driver wants to sell Budweiser. He doesn't care about my drink or the water or the milk or the soda or anything else on that truck besides Budweiser because that's who pays him.

And he just gets a little bit of bonus sometimes or nothing for selling my drink.

And he just gets a little bit of bonus sometimes or nothing for selling my drink.

And so we spend the time doing what's called ride-alongs where we literally go with them to the stores, make friends with them, give them $50, $100 Best Buy gift cards, get them excited to want to be part of our brand to choose from because Budweiser had a lot of other options just like Coors, Miller, Pepsi, my other distributors. On the retail side, here's the hard part.

And so we spend the time doing what's called ride-alongs where we literally go with them to the stores, make friends with them, give them $50, $100 Best Buy gift cards, get them excited to want to be part of our brand to choose from because Budweiser had a lot of other options just like Coors, Miller, Pepsi, my other distributors. On the retail side, here's the hard part.

Let me walk you through the reality of why Oliver has been told by some people it's hard. Let's say you go to a household named like Albertson's or Ralph's or Vaughn's or Smith's, a big grocery store, and it's January 1st. And they actually say, yes, we'd like to buy Cali water. We'll take $1 million worth. Like, oh, that sounds cool.

Let me walk you through the reality of why Oliver has been told by some people it's hard. Let's say you go to a household named like Albertson's or Ralph's or Vaughn's or Smith's, a big grocery store, and it's January 1st. And they actually say, yes, we'd like to buy Cali water. We'll take $1 million worth. Like, oh, that sounds cool.

But now Oliver and his investors and friends have to come up with around $400,000 to make a million dollars worth of drinks. but they want to ship it on April 1st, so four months from now. So he's got to front the money, let's call it $400,000, and he's going to be shipping it four months from now on April 1st.

But now Oliver and his investors and friends have to come up with around $400,000 to make a million dollars worth of drinks. but they want to ship it on April 1st, so four months from now. So he's got to front the money, let's call it $400,000, and he's going to be shipping it four months from now on April 1st.

April 1st comes, the trucks deliver, they put it into the stores, now the stores want them to do marketing and merchandising displays and pay for all that. and they're going to pay Oliver for Cali Water on net 60 terms, meaning 60 days from the date of delivery that Oliver shipped. So it's April 1st. He's going to get paid on June 1st. But I don't know if you guys have tried Cali Water.

April 1st comes, the trucks deliver, they put it into the stores, now the stores want them to do marketing and merchandising displays and pay for all that. and they're going to pay Oliver for Cali Water on net 60 terms, meaning 60 days from the date of delivery that Oliver shipped. So it's April 1st. He's going to get paid on June 1st. But I don't know if you guys have tried Cali Water.

It's delightful. And so it sells well. So let's say it sells through at like a 22% or 18% sell-through rate. The chain store's like, whoa, we love Cali water, we want more. Oliver, we'll take $4 million for the next order. Sounds cool to Oliver, doesn't it?

It's delightful. And so it sells well. So let's say it sells through at like a 22% or 18% sell-through rate. The chain store's like, whoa, we love Cali water, we want more. Oliver, we'll take $4 million for the next order. Sounds cool to Oliver, doesn't it?

But wait, he needs to come up with around $1.6 million to $2 million to make those drinks, and he hasn't been paid for the first million dollars. That's not due until June 1st, and we're in May, and now he's got to float. Do you see where I'm going here? And so when your drink does well, you need to have millions of dollars to catch up to manufacture for the distribution and wait.

But wait, he needs to come up with around $1.6 million to $2 million to make those drinks, and he hasn't been paid for the first million dollars. That's not due until June 1st, and we're in May, and now he's got to float. Do you see where I'm going here? And so when your drink does well, you need to have millions of dollars to catch up to manufacture for the distribution and wait.

And again, on that $4 million order that he spends around $1.62 million, he's going to have net 60 terms again coming up a few months from now. And the same thing happens. But what if Albertsons and Costco and Circle K and 7-Eleven all want his drinks at the same damn time?

And again, on that $4 million order that he spends around $1.62 million, he's going to have net 60 terms again coming up a few months from now. And the same thing happens. But what if Albertsons and Costco and Circle K and 7-Eleven all want his drinks at the same damn time?

So I did that for 1999 and 2009. I had the same brand, but I had an energy drink from 2005, 2009. We were number seven out of the 900 drinks on the market. And it's difficult.