Danis Fickewirth

American entrepreneur & investor. Building businesses in Moldova & Eastern Europe through Alafina Capital. Sharing the wins, mistakes and weird parts.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

We had the water at Ileana Foods analyzed in a lab before setting up the filtration system.

Water affects taste, consistency, equipment and the final product, so we want it optimized properly.

A lot of food manufacturing is about getting the details right. #Moldova

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

The longer I invest, the less interested I am in being a passive investor.

Writing the check is easy.

Who sells? Who executes? Who fixes the problem when the supplier doesn't deliver or the plan doesn't work?

Good partners solve problems. Bad ones send explanations.

The spreadsheet comes after that.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

Being an “investor” sounds more glamorous than it is.

Part of my week was spent hunting meat suppliers for Ileana Foods in Moldova. Beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey. Price, cuts, delivery, reliability.

Turns out businesses are mostly a collection of very specific problems that somebody has to actually solve.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

One operating rule I keep coming back to:

Don’t build the company you hope to have. Build the company today’s demand actually requires.

In manufacturing, capacity without sales is just expensive confidence. Start lean. Prove demand. Then scale. That is how we are approaching Ileana Foods in Moldova.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

American entrepreneur. Increasingly building my life and businesses around Moldova. Manufacturing, real estate, distribution, investing ... and plenty of mistakes along the way. I’m going to start sharing more of what it actually takes to build companies there.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@TansuYegen TransiT

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@D0cCupCake Yes. Same outcome.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@AdrianDittmann Robinhood drops DOGE yeeeah

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk Stop touching my Dittman

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@TrumpDailyPolls Ballooning national debt.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk I submitted a document for a federal apostille and have been waiting for a month now. Even the website says 3 weeks for what should really take one day. Maybe we could charge more to make it faster and/or do something to speed it up. The only way to expedite it is to go to DC.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk Don't hinge on me!

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk Don't hinge on me!

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk I think she may be the one they don't want using the restroom in Washington, nor sure though 🤷‍♂️

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@jarrylew List it on our marketplace, https://t.co/YWAofXmwQ8

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@SteelersUnite Was there. Can confirm.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk We watch Netflix.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@elonmusk It's Murvey.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@NoContextHumans Don't steal.

[Danis Fickewirth @fickewirth]

@NoContextHumans ZERO. Lol, the store made money. They took the employee whose cash register was short out back and nicely explained that he must replace the $100....and then they made money on the sale. They wrote off the stolen money, form 4684. And the thief was too jacked by the store owner.