This book has been nearly 25 years in the making, starting with the first company we took public in 1994 and then with its two successors, which we introduced to the public markets in 2004 and 2014. Throughout this three-decade journey, I was fortunate to work with and receive mentorship from a large team of leaders, starting with Mort Fleischer and his mentor, Bob Halliday. In the course of the extensive work and creativity entailed in business formation, I would often take time to write, setting down some of the earliest of my observations about business models, which formed the basis for this book. The earliest critiques I received came from the many leaders I have been fortunate to work with across our three successful companies who have been instrumental in inspiring me and helping me refine my thoughts.

I began to write this book following the onset of the global coronavirus pandemic in 2020. By the beginning of 2021, the book was starting to take shape and so I tested its content on a graduate student project workshop class I taught at Cornell University. Many of the initial edits and changes that came thereafter are owed to comments from my students and assistance from Associate Dean Alex Susskind. I was also grateful for the informative input I received from Amy Hillman and Tom Bates of Arizona State University. Paul Drake, Professor Emeritus of Physics at the University of Michigan, and a frequent contributor to Seeking Alpha, also added valuable input. Along the way, Thomas Hauck patiently edited the book twice. Brad Thomas, a fellow author and frequent writer on income-oriented investments, provided valuable input, as well as an appreciated introduction to my publisher, Wiley. Thanks also to Kevin Harreld, Susan Cerra and the entire team at Wiley for believing in this project and to my publicist, Jane Wesman, for helping me refine and deliver the final product. Bobi Seredich and EQ Inspirations worked their social media and presentational magic to improve the complete offering. Finally, as I wrote and tweaked the manuscript, I liberally submitted versions to friends, family members, securities analysts, investors, investment bankers, and university professors, as well as to STORE Capital team members and directors. To all of you who were so incredibly kind to immerse yourselves in this material, thank you! Your input has made me a better writer and this a better book.