Carter Ventures (Independent Sponsor)

At 17, Maitab was diagnosed with spinal stenosis and degenerative disc disease—a condition that made traditional physical work impossible. Forced to pivot, he discovered e-commerce and entrepreneurship. He started with a Facebook page called "Guitar Porn" during the golden age of organic reach, then evolved into semi-custom guitar runs, selling pre-order batches in partnership with retailers. The business reached low seven figures with zero capital expenditure—all pre-orders, all cash flow positive. This early success taught him the power of operational leverage and capital efficiency.

He went on to launch a menswear product company (ironic given his turban and distinctive look), a guitar pedal company with a Grammy-nominated musician, and several other ventures—all scaling to low seven figures. But each remained a niche business. By his mid-20s, he realized he wanted to scale beyond small opportunities. That's when he stumbled onto the private equity playbook.

Reading about PE firms, Maitab became fascinated by their ability to profit regardless of outcome—they structured deals so they could pull cash out quickly, reducing risk dramatically. Most entrepreneurs chase equity appreciation and pour money back in. PE firms focus on liquidity. He decided to apply this thesis to distressed D2C brands.

In 2018, he posted on Reddit's entrepreneurship subreddit looking for deal flow and co-founders. He met Alex, his current co-founder, along with an early Uber Eats engineer (who retired after Uber's IPO) and someone with traditional PE experience. Together, they started identifying broken e-commerce businesses.

Their first major deal: an adult wellness retailer (selling sex toys) doing $6M in revenue. It was distressed due to poor margins and inventory bloat. The market valued it at $10-15M based on typical D2C multiples. They invested at $1M—a fraction of market price—and structured a royalty agreement where the company paid them back first, before any equity upside. Maitab's co-founder jumped in operationally, helping boot up their first physical warehouse in Utah, hiring GMs, and transitioning from drop-shipping to in-house inventory. Maitab raised debt to fuel growth. Within months, they'd scaled the company from $6M to $12M in revenue. They later sold their equity to a VC firm via secondaries.

Maitab's thesis centers on operational moat—specifically, e-commerce businesses that require physical manufacturing or logistics that can't be easily offshored. His portfolio exemplifies this:

**Josh's Frogs**: A bootstrapped company breeding exotic frogs and their food in Michigan. No one else wants to run a frog farm. It's defensible, recurring, and can't be undercut by Chinese competition. Josh still personally catches frogs with his kids on weekends after 15-20 years. Estimated revenue: $15M+, likely higher now.

**Fast Growing Trees**: A tree-selling e-commerce company. Sold 6-7 years ago for $100-120M, likely worth double that now. Does ~3M monthly units. Net margins probably 20-25%. They own the defensible supply chain—no one ships live trees from overseas.

**Betty's**: A patent-protected duvet cover for kids with easy zippers. Bootstrapped to $40M+ in revenue. Pure product-market fit with a strong IP moat.

**SoloWood Flowers**: His flagship majority-owned platform company. Artificial flowers made in India for weddings and events. Currently pulling 15% of his time as he builds a manufacturing facility in Mexico—a move that will push EBITDA to $5-6M and improve margins dramatically.

The pattern: lean manufacturing, strong operating moat, capital efficiency, defensible supply chains, and rapid payback structures. Marketing tactics don't transfer across brands, but operational excellence does.

Maitab discovered that Mexico offers a unique advantage for talent—better retention, in-person management, higher quality applicants, and only 30-40% wage premium over the Philippines. A former ULINE director earning $5K/month could command $200K in the US. This arbitrage, combined with the ability to visit in person and build manufacturing alongside staffing, makes Mexico his preferred operating base.

At 29, Maitab oversees a portfolio worth mid-eight figures in majority-owned companies, plus $150M+ in total platform company revenue. He spends 85% of his time on SoloWood Flowers' Mexico buildout, 15% on minority equity positions. His co-founders are similarly embedded in their respective companies.

He's also become a vocal thought leader in the DTC/PE space, writing extensively on Medium/Substack about turnaround fundamentals and distressed deal structures. His writing is crisp and direct—influenced by 2010s copywriting culture and classics like *Corporate Turnaround & Artistry* by mentor Jeff Sands.

Unlike typical PE, Maitab looks for speed and defensibility over scale. He doesn't chase unicorns; he chases cash flows, operating leverage, and the kind of boring, profitable businesses that Silicon Valley ignores. And it's working spectacularly.