⏸ Didn't happen 6/12. Jeremy got busy after the 9am build call. Topher is following up next week. Crib below is still valid — just undated. Blake intro already requested via Eric (waiting on Eric).
The call
Platform vision
Separate from the 9am build call
On it
Jeremy + Eric + you
Invite sent to jeremy@uglyjohns.com
Objective
Draw out Jeremy's terms
Don't pitch back yet
Mode
LISTEN FIRST
Locked with Eric on the pre-call
The play in one line
Jeremy wants to build UJ's own financing platform — be the lender, App One-style, then resell the system to other boat dealers. He sprang it on Eric this morning. This is the exact marine-financing-SaaS wedge you + Eric have circled since 5/8 — now with the owner's decision-maker pulling it forward.
Eric wants you in as a business partner ("I'd rather be in bed with you than do this alone"). He'll position you in the room; you position him: "Eric's your guy."
Roles Eric is casting to Jeremy: Eric = credit/strategy/industry credibility · you = platform build ("pull it all together") · Jaime = UX ("partner in crime," not introduced as your wife).
The rule — you + Eric locked this
▸Let Jeremy talk first. He'll talk himself into it — your job is to listen, not sell.
▸Show no cards. Don't name an equity split. Don't anchor — if he's thinking 90/10 or 50/50, naming a number first loses in either direction.
▸Take notes, then regroup. You + Eric debrief in parallel, then come back with "here's how Eric and I are thinking about this."
▸Eric's line: "Let him tell us what bed he wants to be in." Your line: "Let them negotiate with themselves."
Questions to draw Jeremy out
▸"Paint me the whole picture — what does this platform look like at its biggest?"
▸"Is UJ the first customer of this, or the owner of it? How are you thinking about that?" (surfaces structure without you proposing one)
▸"What's the part you most want off your plate — financing routing, backend products, the customer experience?"
▸"Who else have you talked to about building this? What did they get wrong?" (Epic took 20–50% of backend — let him say it)
▸"What would make this a home run for you in 12 months?"
Back pocket — keep UNSPOKEN
▸Start small, modular, sticky. One module → add modules → once a dealer's on everything they can't leave. High retention is the whole moat.
▸Price near what they already pay. UJ is bleeding on a stack of point vendors — one platform at marginally more removes the headache. Don't quote this.
▸Your Synchrony edge: one platform, many clients, each with unique needs — that's literally your day job. It's the strongest card. Hint at it, don't spend it.
▸If Jeremy "tweaks the direction" mid-call (Eric warned he might) — react, don't freak. Capture it, fix it later.
Structuring flags — your lane, just be clear-eyed
▸Eric is on both sides of the fence — he said it himself. He's UJ's F&I employee and wants equity in a platform UJ would co-own or buy. Clean structure matters: is UJ a customer or a co-owner?
▸Who owns the IP? If you + Jaime build it, the platform shouldn't default to UJ just because they're the first deal.
▸Eric's salary vs equity — separate his UJ paycheck from any stake in the platform business.
▸Nothing to settle on this call. Just don't let an off-hand split or an "of course UJ owns it" slide by unchallenged.
Cast & power map
Jeremy
Owner's son, runs the companies, final decision-maker (John has veto). Sailor-mouth ×10, can seem pissed but isn't. Warm, "almost family" to Eric.
John (Ugly John)
Dad. Still very involved "in his own special way." Final veto rights.
Blake
Jeremy's son. Runs all social + marketing + video. Content is gold but not connecting. 🎯 your next key partner — you want his stored files. Don't bash the social on this call.
Cooper
Grandson (Chris's son). Sales, "biggest hustler ever." Out of Grand Lake / Afton / Thunder Bay flagship. Eric's done ~60 deals @ 50% with him.
Chris
Jeremy's brother. Was involved, no longer is. (Shares your client-facing name.)
Locations
Thunder Bay (Afton, Grand Lake) = flagship w/ the restaurant. Catoosa = corporate office.
Money signals
▸$150K profit in 3 weeks, solo — on financing alone. Backend (gap, warranty, service plans) completely untouched.
▸"I can make them millions just on backend." Staffing math: hire 2 @ ~$100K to run a $1–2M backend.
▸Platform across other dealers → he frames a "billion-dollar deal" at ~10% penetration.
⚠These are Eric's enthusiasm, not a model. Real, directional, but don't repeat the "billion" number back into the room as fact.
Handling Eric
▸Set him up in the room: "Eric's the credit leader here — well-respected, everyone in the industry knows him." That's the favor he asked for.
▸His real fear is bandwidth. Full-time → retired → two jobs in 4 months. "I didn't want this to be my second career." The staffing answer is what keeps him from backing out.
▸He's an advisor who's now also a partner — talk advisor-to-advisor, not student-to-teacher.
Pre-flight (30 seconds before you dial)
- ☐Recording + transcript ON (so Aria can journal it)
- ☐Listen first. No equity number leaves your mouth.
- ☐"Eric's your guy" — say it early
- ☐Don't bash the social (Blake = Jeremy's son)
- ☐Customer-or-co-owner question loaded and ready
Post-call
Send Aria the recording/transcript. We'll log Meeting #6, capture Jeremy's actual terms, and draft the structure response with Eric before you reply.