Sample Case Histories
Following is a selection of examples and description of the range and types of services that Stoller & Associates can provide. Case histories are listed by client (in no particular order). The nature of the service rendered is indicated. The type of business is in parentheses below.
Cloud 9 Interactive Media, Inc., is a children's entertainment software company which raised $3,000,000 for its start-up. Stoller & Associates was retained by the founder at the inception to work with her to develop a complete business plan. Given an outline of the concept and approach, Stoller & Associates researched and prepared the entire plan, from marketing to budgeting, income and cash flow projections. Stoller & Associates did not assist in selection of management personnel. However, Jeffrey Stoller served as interim Chief Financial Officer to assist in the fund-raising effort, during which period he met with investors (a venture capital company) and participated in the presentation which, ultimately, proved successful in raising the initial $3,000,000. (The company has since raised an additional $5,250,000 in equity.) Debra Streicker, President and CEO of Cloud 9, said, "I believe the business plan was instrumental in getting our funding. All the venture capital companies we went to said it was one of the best they’d ever seen. We had to get it right the first time; and we made a good choice. Now we use the plan internally to keep us on track."
International Bay Clubs, Inc., is the holding company for several resort and private club properties including the Balboa Bay Club and The Newport Beach Country Club, both in Newport Beach, California. Stoller & Associates acted as financial advisor to the Executive Committee over the course of a year, although our participation was not strictly limited to financial matters. Among the issues we addressed were structuring of a $24 million re-financing, investment of the proceeds from such re-financing, a proposed re-zoning plan that would require the Balboa Bay Club to give up a portion of its property (the club is on land leased from the city), review of various investment proposals, renegotiation of leases with the Irvine Company (for the Newport Beach Country Club), development and marketing of a resort property near San Marcos Island, Florida, and a variety of other matters.
Already the largest agency in the world with more than 4,000 models, BHTM was relatively unknown because it was "captive" to a large chain of entertainment nightclubs. The goal was to spin off the agency as an independent vehicle and capitalize on its vast resources. Stoller & Associates, with its experience in the entertainment, agency and nightclub industry, in particular, formulated the strategy for implementing the spin-off, developed marketing plans, recommended a management team, and prepared budgets and projections.
Western Publishing Group’s diversified printing division, with combined sales of approximately $2 Billion, includes, among many other lines, the "Golden Book" children’s books. Stoller & Associates has provided 3 separate services for Western: (1) Upon the acquisition of Western Publishing from Mattel, we conducted a facilities assessment to ascertain capabilities, capacity, conditions and needs for the printing facility and its related equipment. (2) We then produced a "Situation Report" in which we surveyed the manufacturing process and function of the entire company, and provided recommendations. This included running speeds of presses, industry standards, sales personnel selling strategies, environmental issues, internal quality control, sales approaches and credit & collection. (3) Approximately one year after the Situation Report was concluded, the company decided which recommendations to adopt, we were asked to prepare a plan for implementing those recommendations.