In this candid on‑site interview, host Mike Andes sits down with Faizen, the owner of Cobra Landscape Construction, and a third participant Manny to discuss the company’s rapid growth and subsequent cash‑flow collapse. Faizen explains that after pulling in about $300K and pocketing $200K, the business expanded too quickly, leaving it with less than $10,000 in the bank, no new jobs, and massive seasonal revenue swings. To keep operations afloat, Faizen resorted to high‑interest “shark” loans that cost roughly $1,000 per day, with rates around 30% or higher. Large deposits of $47,000 are coming in, but they represent payments for jobs not yet completed, creating a “rob Peter to pay Paul” situation. The interview also reveals operational chaos: missing tools, a disorganized yard, and a general sense of panic as the company teeters on the brink of failure. The tone is informal, profanity‑laden, and highly candid, emphasizing the personal stress and imminent financial danger faced by the business.
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And I pulled in like $300K, and I think I walked with $200K of it in my pocket after 2 and a half, 3 months. If I get a good winter, I'm gonna be rich.
If, if.
That kind of fucked us the last 2 winters. We were bleeding so much fucking money, and then it got fucked. It got absolutely fucked.
Today we're in Canada visiting Faizen from Cobra Landscape Construction. What is it? Oh my God. You're done. He built a million-dollar business.
But I grew too big and too fast. But has less than $10,000 in the bank. There's nothing left to collect. There's no new jobs. I'm like, what the fuck is going on? Then I panicked. I was not gonna be able to pay anything. I almost fucked it all up. I was sitting on a fucking line right here, and it was just like one move away from fucking failing.
He also has Shark loans that suck $1,000 per day in payments.
I took some of those crappy 30% interest loans. Probably more if you're doing $1,000 a day.
These deposits, oh, we got $47,000 coming in. How much cash do you have in the bank now?
$10,000. There's a lot of deposits about to come. We're just robbing Peter to pay Paul.
These are jobs you have not done yet. You have not paid for the material. You're not paid for the labor. You've not been profitable on them. You have not completed them. It's not owed to you. These are just deposits. Like, jobs have been sold.
Hey, um, can I get into your garage real quick?
There's nothing in there, bro. Everything's at the yard, Manny. I should have grabbed it.
From everything I have seen, there's a lot of chaos. Like, if someone came in here and said that to me and like they swore at me, I'm sorry, you're out.
When I went through the yard, there's just so much fucking shit that's not in the yard. All our tools are fucking depleted, dude. Like, there's nothing fucking I don't know what's happening if we're leaving them places and shit, but we're losing all our fucking tools. They forgot the tools.
It's 3 and a half hours and they have not performed any labor for this business.
There's no hammers, there's no fucking mallets, bro. There's nothing. Half the power tools, half the fucking DeWalt, Milwaukee shit like that we've bought, it's all fucking missing. They do not care about this business or you at all.
