Neil Mehta

Can you start with that story? Yeah. My parents moved here in the 70s. My grandparents are both from India. Both sets of my grandparents are from India. I was particularly close to my dad's side, my grandfather in particular. My dad was busy, traveled a decent amount. He and my mom would tell you that my grandfather raised me just as much as they did, especially when I was young.

Can you start with that story? Yeah. My parents moved here in the 70s. My grandparents are both from India. Both sets of my grandparents are from India. I was particularly close to my dad's side, my grandfather in particular. My dad was busy, traveled a decent amount. He and my mom would tell you that my grandfather raised me just as much as they did, especially when I was young.

My dad was hardworking. He's my best friend. He's an amazing influence in my life. He's still considered my best friend. My grandfather was the opposite of my dad. He was very calm. He meditated for an hour plus every day. The culture I grew up in is Jain, which is a subset of the various Indian cultures or Indian religions.

My dad was hardworking. He's my best friend. He's an amazing influence in my life. He's still considered my best friend. My grandfather was the opposite of my dad. He was very calm. He meditated for an hour plus every day. The culture I grew up in is Jain, which is a subset of the various Indian cultures or Indian religions.

Jainism, a little bit like Buddhism, has a lot of tenets around meditation. He's the most peaceful, calm guy. And so when I was growing up, I just knew him to be this very calm, straightforward, deep equanimity guy. And it was only when I was eight or nine years old, I learned that he owned a gun shop, which was sort of counterintuitive to the guy he was.

Jainism, a little bit like Buddhism, has a lot of tenets around meditation. He's the most peaceful, calm guy. And so when I was growing up, I just knew him to be this very calm, straightforward, deep equanimity guy. And it was only when I was eight or nine years old, I learned that he owned a gun shop, which was sort of counterintuitive to the guy he was.

And we would go back to India, to Bombay, Mumbai every year, at least once a year, sometimes even twice a year. And when we got there, his house was tiny. It was one or two bedrooms, a kitchen, and then literally just a hole in the ground for the toilet. It was a pretty rundown piece of property, dirt everywhere, very little flooring.

And we would go back to India, to Bombay, Mumbai every year, at least once a year, sometimes even twice a year. And when we got there, his house was tiny. It was one or two bedrooms, a kitchen, and then literally just a hole in the ground for the toilet. It was a pretty rundown piece of property, dirt everywhere, very little flooring.

But what he did have in that house was an amazing gun collection. It was astonishing. And it came from these stores that he used to have. And it was not really, you think about the Bass Pro Shop as a gun store, it was not that. It was really collector's items that he had found his way to collecting and selling over the course of many decades. I'd hang out at the shop all the time.

But what he did have in that house was an amazing gun collection. It was astonishing. And it came from these stores that he used to have. And it was not really, you think about the Bass Pro Shop as a gun store, it was not that. It was really collector's items that he had found his way to collecting and selling over the course of many decades. I'd hang out at the shop all the time.

And the people that would come in would be everybody from English, gentry that were looking for a place to hunt in India, and they'd know him well. His name was Dharachand. And they'd say, Dharachand, what about this gun versus that gun? And he'd sit there and he'd opine for 10 minutes on which gun was better than the other gun. And it wouldn't be the millimeter casings or the pullback.

And the people that would come in would be everybody from English, gentry that were looking for a place to hunt in India, and they'd know him well. His name was Dharachand. And they'd say, Dharachand, what about this gun versus that gun? And he'd sit there and he'd opine for 10 minutes on which gun was better than the other gun. And it wouldn't be the millimeter casings or the pullback.

It would be about the design and the craftsmanship that went into each parcel on the gun. It was an appreciation for the artistic craftsmanship that went into this beautifully designed piece. It was a little bit like talking about art. In fact, there's almost no relevance to what the capability of that gun would do. I would just spend hours with him in the shop.

It would be about the design and the craftsmanship that went into each parcel on the gun. It was an appreciation for the artistic craftsmanship that went into this beautifully designed piece. It was a little bit like talking about art. In fact, there's almost no relevance to what the capability of that gun would do. I would just spend hours with him in the shop.

And that passion he had for it was deeply infectious. I mean, my brother and I would spend all the time studying every gun, asking every question. By the end of the summer, I could usually run down whatever was in that shop and tell whoever was in there

And that passion he had for it was deeply infectious. I mean, my brother and I would spend all the time studying every gun, asking every question. By the end of the summer, I could usually run down whatever was in that shop and tell whoever was in there

It's hard for me to know the difference if I hadn't experienced that, what it might have been like. But having experienced it, there's no question in my mind that there was an appreciation for humans creating beautiful work for other humans in particular, that I really appreciated.

It's hard for me to know the difference if I hadn't experienced that, what it might have been like. But having experienced it, there's no question in my mind that there was an appreciation for humans creating beautiful work for other humans in particular, that I really appreciated.

And if you think about the business I'm in today is evaluating founders, building what we think are generational companies and being a partner to them. And I do think there's an artistic form to it. I mean, we oftentimes internally at Green Oaks describe a company as an artist painting a painting.

And if you think about the business I'm in today is evaluating founders, building what we think are generational companies and being a partner to them. And I do think there's an artistic form to it. I mean, we oftentimes internally at Green Oaks describe a company as an artist painting a painting.