Plumm Outta Room
Steve Lewis
February 03, 2009
Openings and closings. Re-inventings and re-hashings. Clubdom is reeling like a Detroit car company. Now Plumm, Noel Ashman's three-year-old celeb boite, is expanding to accommodate its celebrity crowd -- they need a bigger place but don't want to go anywhere. I caught up with Noel in the unused Plumm basement lounge while Saturday night raged up above. I was rather surprised as I was being whisked to Noel's table -- not only was the place packed, but the crowd was hot. Not "three years ago hot," but better than the other places I was hitting that night. A steady stream of hip hop treats led me to Noel's table, only to realize that he wasn't there. I glanced up to see who was playing, and there he was: DJ Ashman. Noel offered two more tunes, and we headed downstairs to see what could be done.
When the joint was Nell’s, I was a regular at the downstairs bar. It hasn’t changed significantly, but I was there to talk about change. We were joined by the dapper Tim Spuches and entrepreneur Damon Dash (who has an interest in the joint). An hour of “we could put this here and that there” resulted in a plan. The entire time we were meeting, young ladies heading to the restroom politely asked if they could pose for a snapshot with Damon. He accommodated every request with a pose and a smile. Noel looked at him at one point and said, “I don’t know how you do it,” referring to the constant “heys” and poses. Damon is just great about it.
I’ve got the plan in order and am mulling over design ideas. Decorating will start as soon as the investment loot is put in place. That shouldn’t be as hard to do as last month. I’ve been approached by a couple of Wall Street types interested in putting money in places with reliable operators. A great joint can return investment at a much better rate than stocks and real estate, even during the Dow 1400 days. Now with stocks and condos becoming real risky business, loot is looking for creative places to land. A bonus is that girls who never glanced once at you might start glancing twice.
Comments (9)
Posted by steve lewis on Tue Feb 3, 2009 at 09.59 pm
contact me an ill get you a meeting. he has lots of celeb money behind him but these days who knows who needs cash..
Posted by b.mades on Wed Feb 4, 2009 at 09.14 am
have always wondered what the minimum for noncelebrities to invest is. seems like every wall street guy claims to have a stake. is that how it works, you get as many people as you can to pony up 10-100K, let them use a table once in a while and tell girls they ‘own’ the spot? is that how it’s going to be going forward, you raise money from anyone you can, even if it’s say 2M over 100 people? what the smallest amount you’ve ever seen anyone invest?
seems like there should be a pretty robust secondary market for nightlife stakes...like a stake exchange...liquidity for the original investors, opportunity for those that didn’t get in originally...maybe there is a biz plan in there somewhere. what do you think uncle steve?
Posted by steve lewis on Wed Feb 4, 2009 at 10.54 am
i am talking to a number of people about this . the idea is to have a board or advisory panel with myself and a couple of other experienced types to steer this kind of money into the right investment. there is some talk of rating investments like this place will make you money but you may not want to be there. or this place has a higher risk or longer rate of return or smaller but you will find a wife for yourself ....virtually every night you go there. right now owners are looking for small amounts like 100k to upgrade or help open a new spot.. points vary for this type of money. in some places 100k gets you 1 point in others 5 or 10 points. there are so many variables. owners with strong histories pride themselves in paying back investors asap.
Posted by b.mades on Wed Feb 4, 2009 at 03.57 pm
it seems like the rating idea is a really good, especially since i bet you will do your due diligence way better than rating agencies like s&p and moody’s that rated crap debt AAA. it’s a great trade off to be able to sell your stake for less than you paid since you’ve been getting ongoing cash flows to someone who wants to park their money with an experienced operator. and the cash flows for a new establishment has huge potential, groups of young guys would be pooling money to invest.
you could basically operate like a fund of hedge funds (club of clubs?) taking a management fee for directing what is basically passive capital looking for non-monetary perks and even an incentive fee if an investment becomes the next marquee. this perfectly aligns everyone’s interests.
Posted by steve lewis on Wed Feb 4, 2009 at 07.14 pm
im taking meetings on this now
Posted by b.mades on Thu Feb 5, 2009 at 09.09 am
some musings on the vc biz from on of the the smartest and most nimble investors out there, fred wilson
Posted by b.mades on Thu Feb 5, 2009 at 09.11 am
I can see it now, partial ownership cards almost like netjets that entitle you to entrance and a preset amount of libations, the ability to sell your stake to another qualified buyer (which you should naturally take a flip tax on) and the ability to enter other establishments that you may not have invested in but that other people in the fund did (after paying a small premium or trading away some of your perks). if guys think they can essentially get in to a ‘network’ of clubs, they will agree to almost any hurdle for investment. and the number of people will be so small, no chance it ruins the experience for everyone else.
i know about 50,000 out of work finance guys who would love to work on this and take the lead for very little upfront. can’t wait for the IPO....
Posted by steve lewis on Thu Feb 5, 2009 at 07.09 pm
im easy to find.... contact me if you are indeed interested
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Posted by ad cap on Tue Feb 3, 2009 at 08.56 pm
What kind of money/lockup does a place like Plumm and an operator like Ashman look for. I’d much rather deal with someone like him, an experienced member of the industry with a sterling track record than newbies who try to say they will return your money in cash aka lowering your tax burden. You know who you are.