We all know Waffle House is where dreams are born. Well, at least they have amazing syrup.

Todd Wiebusch tells us how a series of All-Star Specials led to a partnership that has lasted to this day. Its a good thing he has a strong business partner because Todd brought his "Anti-Bio" to the podcast - a remarkable list of his top 10 eating crow moments (read, epic failures).

His resume of lessons learned is extremely self-aware, humble, retrospective and frank. It's also why I find Todd to be one of the best leaders, business operators and investors I've had the pleasure of working with. Todd values the right stuff: energy, loyalty, trust, work ethic and common decency.

Todd's Eating Crow Moments (longest list in this short podcast's history):

• Turning down a job because he already had one..and watching the person who took it retire at 41.
• Moving up north and enduring 3 brutal winters and admitting to his wife: "Yep, we should move"
• Market timing - both good and bad
• Bad investments - well, they seemed like a good idea at the time
• Foreign basketball teams - see previous bullet point
• Leverage matters, so do good negotiating skills
• LOIs are just a piece of paper with good "intentions"

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Survive. 2000/2001, 2008, 2020. Make the tough decisions, even the ones you think you can't - just survive
2. No assholes. There's more hear than you think
3. Be transparent - to investors, employees and customers - and stay close to your customers

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