Jens Grudno Bought a Bankrupt 117-Year-Old Straight Razor Maker Out of Insolvency

The Setup DOVO is a 117-year-old German straight razor maker. Heritage brand, differentiated product, small operation, and by the time Jens Grudno looked at it, bankrupt. Jens had no prior acquisition experience. What he did have was an investment framework drilled in as a teenager from Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor, and a preference for situations where the downside was already on the floor. He was not searching for a clean, cash-flowing SMB with three years of stable EBITDA. He was looking for risk-reward asymmetry. A bankrupt 117-year-old blade manufacturer six hours from where he lived fit that profile: the brand equity was real, the product was genuinely differentiated, and the price reflected the distress rather than the IP underneath it. The Deal - Target: DOVO, straight razor manufacturer, founded over a century ago - Status at close: in insolvency proceedings - Purchase: characterized as inexpensive, reflecting distressed status - Buyer: Jens Grudno, first-time acquirer, operating remotely at roughly six hours' travel distance - Thesis: brand and product quality were intact; operational and financial mismanagement, not product-market fit, had driven the bankruptcy The asymmetry Jens priced in: if he could keep the lights on and the craftsmen producing, the brand alone was worth more than he paid. If he could also rebuild the commercial side, the upside was multiples. If it failed, he had paid distressed-asset pricing for a known outcome. Operating Moves The first job was stabilization. Bankrupt manufacturers lose suppliers, skilled labor, and distributor confidence in that order, and all three leak out faster than a new owner expects. Jens' early work was keeping the craft intact: the people who actually know how to grind and finish a straight razor are not interchangeable, and that tribal knowledge was the real balance sheet item. Once production was steady, focus shifted to product. DOVO is preparing a new product line Jens expects to materially lift revenue and reclaim category share. The logic: a heritage brand with genuine craft credibility can extend into adjacent products at premium pricing in a way a generic manufacturer cannot. The brand is the moat; the new SKU is how you monetize it. Operating Lessons - Distressed deals are priced on downside, not upside. Pay for the floor, underwrite the ceiling separately, and do not confuse the two. - In heritage manufacturing, the craftspeople are the asset. Losing two senior grinders can cost more than any line item in the purchase agreement. - Turnarounds eat time and cash on a schedule you cannot predict. Budget both at 2x your first estimate, then hold a reserve on top. - A strong brand does not save a broken operation, but a broken operation does not destroy a strong brand if you move fast enough. - First-time buyers can take on turnarounds, but only if the downside is genuinely capped by price. Do not learn the craft on a deal where you also need operational leverage to survive. - New product launches off a heritage brand are the highest-ROI...