When I wrote the previous article, it was July 2021. This was a really weird time when my businesses were gaining traction. I was living in France, and I remember being pretty happy that I was making some meaningful dollars again. It helped that I was in France, where everyone else was underpaid and overtaxed. I was drinking a lot of Raveneau, Overnoy, Bruyere Houillon, Selosse, Tremblay, Miroirs, Liger Belair, and the like, at bargain prices, and I felt like a nice little small business to finance it.

On many occasions in my life people have suggested to me to abandon one of my businesses and focus on the other one. The issue is even if I wanted to do that, I wouldn’t know which one to cut.

Take Glasvin for example. I think by some measures, we are now the biggest handblown wine glass sold in the US. Definitely not by brand recognition or revenue, but by units moved, I think we are. In Canada, we move absolutely nothing. You wouldn’t think the border would make that big of a difference. I guess this was a mistake a lot of companies had made previously too. But the takeaway is that you have a pretty good product but it doesn’t necessarily need to sell. Even when everyone drinks wine but certain regions are strong for us. Some are not. To some degree it’s just about catching fire. Jumping on an opportunity.

At the end of 2021, there was a strong excitement for Somm.ai. As of end of 2022 that excitement had reduced because it’s growing but not growing as fast as Glasvin. It’s not clear to me that that means anything about the product. Similarly for Somm.ai, 2023 was a great year, 2024 is a little slower. Can’t say I understand why exactly.

We just ended our 2023-2024 fiscal year and the numbers are in so I’ll share them here. Our revenue was up 45% (vs 55% and 227% in previous years) and our EBITDA was up 55%. Somm.ai makes up about a third of the revenue and probably has a little bit higher margin than the overall business, though it’s not super clear since we do not have separate financials for each business. Since we are unfunded, no one cares what the exact split is. The growth rate of 45% seems healthy for what we’re trying to do. I would expect growth to slow further next year given the base is becoming larger.

In terms of quality of life I am currently holed up in a crappy studio I own for a few weeks as I move from Hell’s Kitchen to Chelsea. To be clear a crappy studio in Manhattan has a rent of about $2500. I bought it in 2019 when I wasn’t making any money and actually a lot of Somm.ai was written in this apartment and I don’t remember feeling any disdain for that lifestyle. Honestly when you quit your job and start your business, there is a huge thrill of focusing monomanically on one thing. I don’t have that thrill anymore. But I guess I did make some sacrifices.

If you look at the progression of the apartments I lived in, you can see that the period 2019-2024 was a big step back from trendline.

  • 2014 - age 22 - $1,400
  • 2015 - age 23 - $2,000
  • 2017 - age 25 - $3,000
  • 2019 - age 27 - $2,500
  • 2022 - age 30 - $3,600
  • 2024 - age 32 - $7,800

I am starting to care more about hotels and flights so I am prioritizing getting points, which seems like the only way to travel well for less. This is how many points I expect to earn in the upcoming year, along with credit card recommendations for each spending category.

Total

  • Bilt - 550
  • Chase - 600
  • Amex - 600
  • Total - 1750k

If you ever want to talk about startups or whatever, don’t hesistate to get in touch with me