My current thought is that they should probably discontinue the conference calls. Yes, they've been nice, informative, and have helped us in our investment decisions. But, they take up a long time and effort. It's time to drop the training wheels and let these boys run a company. They are swamped in Pittsburgh, just call the HQ, a lot of energy and a lot going on. Many of us say we are long-term investors here, and I feel we need to treat it that way. We cannot agonize over every word. It's a simple business really.
The main objectives right now for management are opening new stores, maximizing revenues on these stores, and branding - IMO. If they have to spend time appeasing us each and every week indefinitely, it will take their eye off the ball. They are very polite, but I feel we now have to allow them to expand the business, maximize the use of their cash, and push this forward. What we need is time to execute. I believe 100% in communication and I've got a heck of a lot of questions to ask as well, but I'd rather see them execute their plan with brut force. They should be issuing PR's with each important development in the company, and that should suffice.
As for Fountain Capital, I'm not concerned if I ever hear anything else about what they're up to. IMO, they've served their purpose and now are a distraction. UPZS has plenty of cash per the last CC (I read this on the board here, and have heard that from calls to the company), hence they do not need them. Plus, if they need more $$$ they can access money DIRECTLY via private placements from their shareholders, contacts, Tom D could help, etc... Why pay Fountain Cap a cut to do this from here on forward, doesn't make a lick of sense! I like JD's info and hope he continues to provide us tidbits, but one piece of advice on firms like Fountain - they tend to sometimes be more concerned about themselves. One of their reps (won't name names :) ) tried convincing me it's the norm for company's to trade over 100+ times their earnings. He hasn't read much market history. If it was up to him I would have ran the opposite direction faster than a cheetah.
Jim sold me on UPZS, not Fountain Capital. Each person probably has their own unique position on this, and opinion - this is just mine. Jim's whole world is a pizza entreprenuer. We're investing in an entreprenuerial pizza company! He has surrounded himself with mostly A players and that is a close #2 behind money in getting a start-up going. You need the cash to get the players.
Good luck and have faith and hope that you invested in a management team that can execute a gameplan - if they do I believe you'll be richly rewarded. If you want to know the requirements for the BB, go to their website and check it out, don't scrutinize every word of a pizza expert for this! The company must be audited, NOT $1!
Looking forward to seeing how they do in February, and hope they more formally start communicating to the rest of the world, and not just a few <perceived> nervous shareholders!
All IMO.
AI
