From the desk

Writing for operators, by an operator.

A small library of working notes from the conversations I have most weeks with restaurant founders at a crossroads. Read what's useful. Skip what's not.

01
On valuation
What buyers actually care about — and what they pretend to.
A field guide to how restaurant valuations really get built. The three numbers that move a price, the half-dozen that don't, and the ones operators hide from themselves.
9 min read
02
On lease economics
How lease transfers really work.
Assignment clauses, personal guaranties, landlord conversations, and the three windows in a lease where the leverage actually sits. A working operator's reference.
11 min read
03
The hardest question
When not to sell.
Six situations where the right answer is to stabilize, not exit — and the framework I use to tell the difference, drawn from the conversations I have most weeks.
10 min read
04
Hidden value
How to know your restaurant still has value.
Five external signals, three internal ones, and the one no spreadsheet captures. Especially relevant when, from inside, it feels like there is nothing left.
9 min read