This newsletter is now sponsored by Dad Fuel (not really) but you should go check it out: https://dadfuel.com/. My buddy Brandon sent me some a while back and I could really use some right now.

Impact Industry Cacao - Update 4

It’s Sunday morning and Saturday we were still moving!

Will go into it more below but we are now at over $300,000 in commitments. Some of the firm commitments committed to serving on the board and the board requires a certain level of commitment.

And I’m just now reaching out to my prior network, AKA warm leads. Most of this is just from Twitter.

You also probably just got a personal follow up, I think I just sent over 100 emails!

Daily Thrill of the Schill - SCHEDULE A MEETING

If you are new today, you can find previous updates here

This is quickly getting to be much bigger than me.

For those of you that still haven’t scheduled a meeting. Reply to this email with a time or schedule time here, the deck is attached in the link. I’m tracking you in an Airtable so until you say no, I’m going to figure out a way to meet you.

I expect to have another 60 meetings before next Wednesday! This weekend I get to breathe a little.

New Update: I opened 9-12pm at night if you are worried about your boss (or wife) getting too excited about chocolate and cacao industry in Puerto Rico

Key Highlights from Today:

1. BeeHiiV Sent over our earnings! That means we are cash flow positive right?

   

2. Finalized 2 out of 3 board positions. Read on as that is what most of this email is about.

3. MOST IMPORTANT- had the most EPIC surf session with the kids. directors It was always my dream to live by the beach and now the I have kids who surf. Go check them out

My Biggest Mistake

One big thing I got wrong the first go around was not having enough external accountability for the businesses. There is a reason all publicly traded companies have boards: It’s because they are important!

But boards aren’t just there to guide the company they are really there to support, guide, and help the CEO.

All of these people don’t realize that when you buy businesses you become a fiduciary - or putting it nicely signing up to get yourself sued.

The first go around I didn’t think I needed a board or outside accountability because I owned 85%, but it would have been really nice to have thought partners to navigate the turbulent waters of the businesses we were running.

And now the risks are even higher for me, the strategy that we are going to execute requires my (and my family’s) life to be put under scrutiny. Instead of driving the 10s of millions of eyeballs I have driven right now we want to execute driving hundred of millions of eyeballs to the island of Puerto Rico

That comes with huge risks to me, my family, faith, etc. But I do feel called and that my steps are being ordered right now.

But I want a group of people put in place that are responsible for keeping me humble, keeping my feet on the ground, and ultimately stewarding millions of dollars.

Which is why we are creating a Board of Directors…

Board of Directors and Governance

I already have 3 of the board members lined up and boy are they rock stars. They are people that are top of their fields and have proven success, but this board is a little different. There are going to be all the normal duties of a board BUT there are a couple of other things I’m accountable to them for:

1. Faith - Keep the main thing the main thing, I’m accountable to this person to keep me on track with getting in the word, prayer, and keeping the main thing the main thing.

2. Family - With this role, I could be on the road 24/7 but I’m accountable to this person that my family is in a healthy spot.

3. Finances - There are going to be a lot of moving pieces both personally and the business level. I’m accountable to this person for keeping finances in check. He’s also REALLY good at spreadsheets

4. Fiduciary - See above, this person is to keep me out of trouble and make sure I’m executing my fiduciary duty.

5. Outside Investors - This individual will be from the outside investor group. I’m accountable to him for acknowledging the interests of others.

These individuals are also FINANCIALLY invested, they are committing their capital and earmarking it for my salary for two years. That way the full $1.7M I’m raising from other investors goes straight to the balance sheet.

This makes everyone aligned towards growing this thing as big as possible.

Lastly, they will have POWERS. I will own at least 51% of the company but the board will have some veto rights. Will continue to share more as it get’s finalized.

Here’s How you can Help

• Engage with this Tweet - my goal is to drive 100K impressions per day right now. This one is getting some traction about Family offices.

• Send this Deck (okay it’s a calendly link but the deck is in there)

• Forward this email.

It’s humbling to have you a part of this journey.

-Hunter

(Feel free to send this to a friend.)