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Webinar: Running Agents in Customer Work
Agents used to answer questions. Now they're doing the work: issuing refunds, updating accounts, closing tickets end to end. Running Agents in Customer Work is four 30-minute conversations with the people building, buying, and living with agentic AI in customer operations, no pitch, no product walkthrough.
Four Tuesdays, Oct. 13 through Nov. 3, 10 a.m. PT. Register free, one sign-up covers all four.
MINDSET: What's your business love language?
The legend.
"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle."
Most people buy or start a business based on the numbers. Cash flow, margins, multiples. Those matter. But the numbers don't get you out of bed at 5 a.m. in year three, when the novelty is gone and the problems aren't.
What does is loving the actual work. Not the idea of owning a business: the daily work that business demands.
Relationships have five love languages. I'd argue businesses do too:
Building: you love making things. Products, brands, something from nothing.
Selling: you love people. The handshake, the pitch, the close.
Operating: you love systems. Fixing what's broken and making it run smoother.
Dealmaking: you love the hunt. Finding, negotiating, buying.
Investing: you love capital. Putting money to work and watching it compound.
A builder who buys a business that needs an operator will burn out. A dealmaker stuck running the day-to-day will too. The business can be great on paper and still be wrong for you.
Before your next move, starting or buying, ask yourself one question: does this business need what I love to give? If the answer is no, either hire for the gap or keep looking. Don't settle.
IN THE NEWS: Chip City crumbles
Chip City, the jumbo-cookie chain born in my hometown of Astoria, Queens, shut all 22 of its remaining stores on October 1, with no public warning. Hundreds of workers lost their jobs overnight.
The backstory makes it worth studying:
2017: childhood friends open the first shop in Astoria.
October 2022: Danny Meyer's fund (founder of Shake Shack), Enlightened Hospitality Investments, invests $10M to expand Chip into new states. Chip City has 14 stores.
May 2024: the same fund puts in another $7.5M, for $17.5M in total.
March 2026: a restructuring makes the fund the controlling investor, and the founder steps down as CEO.
July 2026: 39 stores.
September 28, 2026: the cofounder sues the company, the fund and two executives, alleging they stopped his pay and pressured him over loans he had personally guaranteed, and lawyers start licking their chops. None of it has been proven in court.
October 1, 2026: the company's president tells staff it "no longer has the funding required to operate this business" and closes every store. Well then.
Four years after the first check, it's gone. Was it a case of too many hands in the cookie jar? (Get it?)
There are lawsuits, claims, and allegations, but nothing public yet proves what caused the collapse. But the pattern is a familiar one.
STRATEGY: Why private equity deals go wrong
Last issue I made the case for partnering with private equity. This is the other side. Outside capital amplifies whatever is already there: good unit economics and a good partnership gets better, and cracks in the system get wider.
There are a few ways it can go bad:
Growing faster than the model can handle. Money buys new locations, not proven unit economics. If each store isn't strongly profitable before the check, more stores just means more losses.
The founder loses control, and the magic goes with them. A restructuring hands control to investors, the founder steps aside, and the culture and customer obsession that built the brand fade.
Timelines don't match. Investors need a return within their fund's life. Owners often want to build for decades. When patience runs out, pressure builds: faster growth, cost cuts, or a sale.
Too much debt. Leverage boosts returns on paper and leaves no cushion when sales dip.
The wrong partner. Great money from the wrong partner is still the wrong deal. Some investors bring systems and operators. Others bring only a check and a board seat.
The curse of new money. All of a sudden the slow grind is replaced with a seemingly bottomless pit of money. Spending gets reckless, bad moves are made, and it all goes to shit.
Before you take anyone's money, ask:
Is each location or unit profitable today, without the new money?
Who controls the board, the budget and the decision to sell?
What happens to my role, pay and guarantees if things go badly?
What's their timeline to exit, and does it match mine?
Can I talk to founders they've backed whose companies struggled, not just the success stories?
STEAL THIS IDEA: Greek-Mexican Fusion
Gyro tacos. Moussaka enchiladas. Tzatziki next to the salsa verde. Once you taste it, you wonder why it isn't everywhere.
The two cuisines fit naturally. Both are built on grilled meats, something wrapped (pita or tortilla), bright sauces and fresh herbs. The ingredient lists overlap, which keeps the kitchen simple and the food fast.
I only know of only two places doing it well:
Ziki, Austin, TX (Website). Founder Nick Nanakos grew it to eight Austin locations by early 2023, with no seed oils or soy on the menu.
Grexicana, Farmingdale, NY (Instagram). Opened in December 2023 by Kallie Pappas, who was born and raised in Queens and comes from a diner family. Think lamb-and-beef gyro tacos and baklava for dessert.
If you know of others, reply and tell me where.
Either way, we need more of it, especially in NYC. And around the world.
How to steal it with little risk:
Test it as a pop-up, food truck or delivery-only kitchen before signing a lease.
Already own a diner or a Greek or Mexican restaurant? Add a fusion section to the menu and see what sells.
Keep the menu to 8–10 items. Fast, focused and easy to train.
And check your work love language first. If you love building, this is a brand waiting to happen. If you'd hate running a kitchen, partner with someone who loves it.
DEAL FLOW TIME
[Business type] · [Location] · [Price]
Physical Businesses
High Volume Pizzeria · Woodbury, NY · $125K · On Market Only Last Night · This pizzeria is on a fire sale. Owner needs out, it’s being shown this week nonstop. $1.7M gross revenue, $15K monthly rent. Come make an offer.
Trucking Company · Staten Island, NY · $1M · Pre-Market · $400K Net on 1.6M Gross Revenue. 7 trucks. Single massive contract in place. Absentee run (owner hasn’t seen his trucks in months). Clean books/SBA eligible.
Bridal Boutique Franchise · Huntington, NY · $199K · On Market · $120K cash flow on $600K gross revenue. Turnkey, hands-off franchise model with employees and systems in place. Great for a first-time business owner who loves working in the wedding space.
HVAC/Plumbing/Electrical Contractor · Morrisdale, PA · $3.45M · On Market · $500K EBITDA on $2.46M gross revenue. In business for over 30 years. 9 employees. 3 acres of property included.
Online Businesses
Turnkey Marketing Agency with recurring clients · Anywhere · $500K · On Market · $145K cash flow on $185K revenue — low overhead, all remote, transition support available.
Profitable SaaS Platform Driving Higher Connection Rates For Outbound Callers · Anywhere · $5M · On Market · $1.34M cash flow on $2.3M revenue. Another remote-run, recurring revenue monster.
Buyer tip: never trust a screenshot. Ask for read-only access to the analytics and the payment processor, and check how much revenue depends on one platform, one traffic source or one customer.
Real Estate
5-Unit/2 Garage Building · Jackson Heights, NY · $1.35M · On Market · NOI: $65,790 (4.9% Cap Rate) — 3 free market units, empty garages and basement. Great long term hold.
Reply to this email with what you want more info on.
MY WISH FOR YOU
I hope you build something you love so much that the hard days still feel like yours. With partners who make it better, at a pace you choose, and in a way that doesn't fall apart when someone else's money or patience runs out. If you are not there yet, let this be the catalyst to push you to get there.
YOUR TURN
What's your business love language, and does the business you run (or want to buy) actually speak it?
I read every reply, and the best answers may show up in a future issue.
LOOKING TO BUY SOMETHING THAT CASH FLOWS?
My team of 30 agents offers a free buyer concierge service. We'll match you with opportunities from our confidential database of 700+ active and soon-to-launch listings, most of which you won't find online.
Reply and tell me two things:
What you'd be most interested in owning (industry, size, price range)
Where you want to do business
We'll send you opportunities that fit your style. No pressure, no spam.
Until next week…
- JM