Don’t worry.
I didn’t forget about him - Stewart Resnick. Her other half.
Lynda Resnick, that is.
She’s the woman when it comes to marketing. He’s the guy when it comes to M&As.
He spends money to make money.
It’s Investment 101.
And it all starts in 1956. At a Jewish fraternity on UCLA’s campus.
SR is student by day, janitor by night.
It’s rather peculiar. But hey, SR loves a good business opportunity.
And this one has a name - Clean Time Building Machine (CTBM).
He meets a guy (frat bro) with an industrial machine used to wax and scrub floors. So yeah, he cleans pizza parlors and drugstores.
He keeps his eyes up (for business opps). While keeping his eyes down to scrub.
It makes him realize:
No one’s watching the doors.
So he sells CTBM.
For $2.5 million.
And he starts watching the doors - through a security guard service. Until he finds a better angle - burglar alarms don’t need coffee breaks (hello recurring revenue, goodbye sweat equity).
This is SR we’re talking about:
So yeah, it doesn’t take long before he owns half the commercial alarm accounts in LA.
His success is rather linear.
He sees an opportunity - he goes for it. He sees another opportunity. And he risks it all.
Here’s the kicker - SR’s wife doesn’t like risk.
She’s pretty happy keeping their $5 million in a bank account (interest baby).
And he’s pretty happy risking it all.
That’s where Lynda comes along (and her advertising agency).
She wants to take over the world. And so does he.
They get married.
And:
He. Goes. Nuts.
Literally.
Together, they build an empire.
He has a deep understanding of market value:
Teleflora. Franklin Mint.
And finally - The Wonderful Company.
It’s far from low hanging fruit.
They take the money earned from previous bets to invest in new ones.
Today, their cumulative net worth is north of $4.5 billion. That’s the thing about self-made men - you half to risk it all.
So take one from Stewart Resnick. And just get started.
And that’s the skinny.