“Wait,” I said, “You’re a software guy. How did you end up building ships?”
Last night, I was at a happy hour with the Rotary Club and struck up a conversation with a retired entrepreneur. He told me how he started in Silicon Valley, made a bunch of money in software, then bought a ship building business, and then went back into software and services before retiring.
The sandwich of software and huge transportation vehicles piqued my interest so I asked how he had made this transition?
He explained that flush off the success of a VC startup, him and a friend began asking around about businesses that they might acquire. They knew an attorney who heard of a business in the local shipyards that was on the verge of folding. They raised a little money from investors and put in a lot of their own money and bought the business.
“What’s your criteria for buying a business?” I asked.
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