The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 19 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 1 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Joel Clark's father borrowed $260,000 against his home to fund Target inventory
“So he went down to the bank. He got a check on his home equity line. So he had to borrow the money and he showed back up to my office with a check for 260,000 bucks.”
Clark: Kevin O'Leary offered $500,000 for 50% of Kodiak Cakes
“So the first offer was Kevin. So Kevin says, I'll give you that 500 grand, but I want half the business.”
Joel Clark projected Kodiak Cakes would surpass $200 million in 2020 revenue
“Yeah, we should go over that this year.”
John Clark launched Kodiak Cakes using $1,400 earned from flipping a truck
“John drove it around for a while, and then he sold it, and he made 1400 bucks. And so he was kind of like, look, I think I can actually start my business on this.”
Joel Clark: Kodiak Cakes generated $29,000 in total revenue in 1997
“What I do remember is so, you know, when I took it over later in two, in 1997, the revenue that year was 29,000 dollars total revenue.”
Joel Clark: John Clark sold Kodiak Cakes to him for one dollar
“What we did to actually formalize it, we actually made a little contract and John literally sold me the business for a dollar.”
Joel Clark incorporated Kodiak Cakes in 1999, returning 50% equity to John
“It was in not until about 1999 that I actually incorporated the business. And then I went back to John and I gave him half the shares back.”
Safeway Picked Up Kodiak Cakes Across 1,200 Stores in 2004
“So in 2004, I had been working on sales, you know, kind of part time and I'd been working with Safeway. And I sent some samples out to this buyer. Her name was Donna Sullivan. She called me and she's like, Hey Joel, we're going to bring your pancake mix in to …”
Safeway's Initial 1,200-Store Order for Kodiak Was ~$20K-$25K
“It was probably in the realm of 20, 25,000 bucks. You know, something like that.”
Joel Clark temporarily left Kodiak Cakes in 2008, licensing the brand
“And in early 2008, I took a job and left Kodiak cakes and I licensed the brand over to Another small business to kind of manage for me and to pay me a royalty.”
Clark: Kodiak Cakes received a $260,000 initial purchase order from Target
“So we got this PO. It was 260,000 dollar PO.”
Clark: Kodiak Cakes sought $500,000 for 10% equity on Shark Tank
“So we went on the show trying to get, we were pitching for 500,000 dollars for 10% of the business.”
Kodiak Cakes' Shark Tank appearance wiped out Target inventory for months
“So like people, particularly at Target, and I think it's because Target was mentioned on the show, and so people went to Target, and they just cleared the shelves, and so we struggled for a couple months just to keep up with it.”
Clark: Clark family and Cameron Smith hold majority ownership in Kodiak Cakes
“If, well, yeah, if you include myself, my dad, my brother, and Cameron, then we are a majority.”
Clark: Kodiak Cakes took 16 years to hit $1 million in revenue
“It took us 16 years to hit a million dollars in revenue, right?”
Joel Clark sold his mother's pancake mix door-to-door at age eight
“They totally did. I remember I knocked on it, so we lived in a cul-de-sac, and I went around to all the neighbors in the cul-de-sac, And I think everybody bought one, you know, I mean, I'm this eight year old kid. And I was actually pretty outgoing as a kid, l…”
Founders launched Kodiak Cakes packing 600 pounds of mix into a sedan
“On December first, 1995, John and I took a trip to Jackson, Wyoming. We left at, like, four a.m., four or five a.m., We got in his car, and I remember he had this Mazda six to six, and it would hold exactly 19 cases of Kodiak cakes. And the cases were big. I m…”
An early investor bought 18% of Kodiak Cakes for $35,000
“And so Gary, John and I, we all started talking and Gary said, all right, guys, I'll put 35,000 bucks in for, I can't remember, it was like 18% of the business or something like that. He's like, look, let's start with 13,000. And then when you need more, you k…”