Neil Mehta

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.

I tell a lot of our young team, if you're in the business of evaluating painters, you've got to study the types of tapestry you could use, paints they use, different forms. You study all the great artists of every generation through history. You talk to artists all the time. And companies are just really founders painting in many ways.

I tell a lot of our young team, if you're in the business of evaluating painters, you've got to study the types of tapestry you could use, paints they use, different forms. You study all the great artists of every generation through history. You talk to artists all the time. And companies are just really founders painting in many ways.

I think there's an appreciation I certainly got from that of what quality can look like on a comparative basis to something that's not as good quality.

I think there's an appreciation I certainly got from that of what quality can look like on a comparative basis to something that's not as good quality.

Yeah. JDCE stands for jaw dropping customer experience. If you put five drinks into everybody at Green Oaks on a Friday night and you're just like, tell me about your life. They just talk about jaw-dropping customer experiences and JDCs. It's like we have a tattoo on our arm. And if you step back

Yeah. JDCE stands for jaw dropping customer experience. If you put five drinks into everybody at Green Oaks on a Friday night and you're just like, tell me about your life. They just talk about jaw-dropping customer experiences and JDCs. It's like we have a tattoo on our arm. And if you step back

There's a fundamental tenant at Green Oaks, which is a very small number of the world's founders are going to produce a significant proportion of the value that humans enjoy. And they're going to move the world forward through the products they build and the companies they build. And everything else is just kind of a shell game along the way.

There's a fundamental tenant at Green Oaks, which is a very small number of the world's founders are going to produce a significant proportion of the value that humans enjoy. And they're going to move the world forward through the products they build and the companies they build. And everything else is just kind of a shell game along the way.