Borrower Beware
Sharks, Angels, &
Venture Capitalists
Gas Station Gourmet
Billion-Dollar
Slogans & Blunders
Drive-Thru Empires
Stacking the Deck
400

The minimum skin-in-the-game percentage you should expect to put down out of pocket on a commercial bank loan.

20%

400

The ownership stake in your company that angels and VCs will always demand in exchange for their checks.

Equity

400

The soft, chewable ice from this drive-in has people driving out of their way to buy it by the cup.

Sonic

400

Apple challenged IBM and the corporate computer establishment with this iconic, grammatically controversial 1997 tagline.

Think Different

400

Employees at a Georgia based beloved chicken chain are famously trained to never say "you're welcome," responding exclusively with this polite phrase.

My pleasure

400

The sweet spot of talent, skills, or network where the work feels effortless you, but feels like a painful grind to everyone else.

Unfair Edge

800

Financing options like credit cards and lines of credit belong in this category, which you should never use to fund a 10-year mortgage.

Short-term financing

800

Unlike VC firms managing pooled funds, angel investors typically invest their capital this way.

Individually

800

Beaver Nuggets are brown-sugar-and-caramel puffed corn snacks bought by the truckload at this buck-toothed beaver empire.

Buc-ee's

800

Jeff Bezos originally incorporated Amazon under this magical name until a lawyer thought he said "cadaver".

Cadabra

800

Famous for fresh beef and square patties that "don't cut corners," this chain made social media history by relentlessly roasting people on Twitter.

Wendy's

800

Taking a messy, customized freelance gig and selling it with fixed pricing and clear deliverables like an off-the-shelf software package.

Productized Service

1200

Entrepreneurs should build a relationship with this financial pro long before you ever walk in to ask for a loan.

Banker

1200

This type of investor usually demands significantly hands-on involvement in your day-to-day operations.

Venture Capitalists

1200

The holy grail of 2:00 AM survival: a deep-fried, piping-hot beef and bean delicacy.

Allsup's Burrito

1200

Fred DeLuca opened the very first Subway sandwich shop in 1965 under this founding name.

Pete's Super Submarines

1200

Taco Bell hit fountain gold in 2004 when they partnered with Mountain Dew to create this exclusive, teal-colored, gut-wrenching phenomenon.

Baja Blast

1200

In Step 3, you stop billing chaotic hourly rates and lock clients into this predictable recurring model.

Monthly Retainers

1600

When analyzing your Capacity, underwriters look past company revenue to scrutinize this personal ratio comparing debt payments to gross income.  

Debt-to-Income or DTI

1600

Just like receiving a grant, landing an equity investor for an everyday small business is actually this.

Rare

1600

In 1976, 7-Eleven kicked off the modern fountain drink arms race by introducing this at-the-tine gargantuan 32-ounce cup.

Big Gulp

1600

In 1893, Caleb Bradham formulated a new carbonated soda at his pharmacy and named it Brad's Drink after himself before it was later rebranded to this recognizable name.

Pepsi-Cola

1600

Texans treated it like a day of statewide mourning in 2019 when the founding Dobson family sold a majority stake in this burger titan to a private equity firm in Chicago.

Whataburger

1600

Once your twenties are over and your skills are locked in, you enter this second career phase focused on maximizing income and equity.

Earn Phase

2000

If a bank sets a $50,000 ceiling on your line of credit and you withdrawal $10,000 for emergency payroll, you pay interest on this amount.

$10,000

2000

If you want an investor who wants to both profit and help you be successful, this type of investor may be for you.

Angel Investor

2000

7-Eleven once again outdid themselves with this 64-ounce fountain drink that contains more fluid than the human stomach can physically hold at one sitting.

Double Gulp

2000

Kevin Systrom originally built Instagram as a whiskey-focused check-in app called this before stripping out everything except photo sharing.

Burbn

2000

The tracking website McBroken was built solely to monitor how many of this machine are mysteriously out of service nationwide.

McDonald's ice cream

2000

The final stage of Shaan Puri's career progression where seasoned entrepreneurs shift from building wealth to mentoring and giving back.

Legacy Phase