SoftBank paid $400 million for 10% of a company valued at $4 billion. The stores had 78% margins. Norwest got a 28-times return in two years by holding through criticism and believing in the business long-term.
2 years later, SoftBank came in and valued the company at $4 billion and made the— I think it was a $400 million investment. They bought 10% of the company. So, we were at a closing and I tracked the Norwest guy down. I said, "You know, you guys came in really aggressively and I was stunned by it and I tried to sell my stock." And I said, "What were you guys thinking?" He said, "Well, we had a 7 or 8-year horizon." with our fund. And we love the company. We've been tracking it for a couple of years. And Viore to their credit was profitable from almost day one after the second round of funding because the stores are ridiculously profitable. They work on like 78% margins. And the Norwest guy said, "We really like Joe. We really love the company. If we had to pay a year ahead on value, we would because it would catch up." And then they ended up making on that initial SoftBank investment, they made like 28 times their money in 2 years. But I thought it was really fascinating that they were prepared to hear the flak from their peers about, oh, they overpaid. And that's a really important lesson to me. You know, you may— if they have a longer-term vision, you know, are we going to get all caught up in our underwear about investing? And my peer group is going to give me— hammer me about it because that's what happens. You call your friends, oh, I got a behind-the-scenes deal, or it wasn't even on the market. And these guys saw something and they went against the typical grain and they've been paid handsomely for it.
