Coffee · Acquisition Talks · Meeting Notes

Misibu — Exploratory Deal Meeting

First sit-down with Melvin, founder of Misibu coffee, on a possible investment / buyout, US export strategy, and the path toward “Indonesia’s first coffee unicorn.”

Date: Friday, July 24, 2026 Location: Café in Canggu/Berawa, Bali Present: Nick Levenstein, Gabriella, Melvin (Misibu)
Transcript note: Only Nick and Melvin were miked. Gabriella was present but her contributions were not captured, so this record reflects only the Nick–Melvin exchange. Some figures were spoken loosely and are flagged below where they should be confirmed against Melvin’s data.

Key Takeaways

  • Real business, real cash flow: Misibu is a profitable B2B coffee roaster/supplier — roughly $1M+ revenue and ~$200K net profit (~16–17% margin). Bali is the flagship; it grew strongly out of COVID.
  • Nick wants in: his instinct is there’s a deal — buy a majority stake at roughly 5× earnings (~$1M valuation), with Melvin staying on to run the company.
  • The prize is the US: Nick already has a US company (FDA + DUNS) and is securing Indonesian export permits. Coffee is currently tariff-exempt into the US and the strong USD adds ~30% margin on exports.
  • Ownership is messy: each city (Bali, Makassar, Medan, Pontianak) is a separate PT with different investors — a “PT inside PT” structure. Nick prefers to consolidate into one PT rather than buy a single fiefdom.
  • The hard blocker: Misibu’s tax filings don’t reflect true earnings and the books aren’t audited. Nick will only value and transact on official, above-board records. Melvin agreed to share official tax statements.
  • Ball is in Melvin’s court: he sends tax returns back to 2021 plus his financial data/deck; Nick then comes back with a valuation and a proposed structure.

About Misibu & Melvin

Background

Misibu (“Miss Mother” — the idea of a mother making coffee for you) is a Bali-based specialty coffee business supplying roasted beans B2B to cafés. Melvin founded it in 2019 out of a personal love of coffee, and it became the survivor among his ventures.

Melvin’s background — 30, Netherlands-educated, serial founder
  • Born 1996, age 30. Did his bachelor’s degree in the Netherlands.
  • Started roughly five businesses; Misibu is the one that survived COVID, so he went all-in on coffee.
  • Opened the business partly because it was fun and he loved coffee — it also turned out to be profitable.
“The reason why I opened it in the first place is because it’s fun for me — it’s what I love. And it turns out it’s also doing well.” — Melvin
Corporate structure — a separate PT per city, “PT inside PT”
  • Each city is its own PT with different equity holders: Bali, Makassar, Medan, Pontianak.
  • The Bali company holds a minority stake (~20%) inside the other city PTs — a nested “PT inside PT” arrangement.
  • Cities respect each other’s sales territories; Java (the biggest market) is not yet entered.
  • Melvin floated consolidating everything into one big PT and giving the other investors shares — which would also make an eventual IPO far easier.
“If you want, I can talk with all the investors — or we can make it into one big PT and give them shares.” — Melvin
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Financials & Growth

Profitable

Melvin brought data and a financial summary (built as a presentation for a Surabaya investor). Headline figures as discussed — to be confirmed against his files:

~$1M+Total revenue
~$200KNet profit
~16–17%Net margin
2019Founded (Bali)
Revenue by brand — Bali is the flagship earner
  • Bali is the largest brand because it started earliest (2019); total revenue across brands is over $1M.
  • Bali revenue trajectory (in IDR, as described): ~1.3 billion in 2020, roughly tripling the next year, then up toward ~2 billion, approaching ~1M USD-equivalent by 2025.
  • Margins are modest because it’s a B2B business.
Confirm The year-over-year figures were spoken quickly and mix IDR and USD. Pull the exact brand-by-brand revenue and net profit series from Melvin’s deck before relying on them.
COVID survival — opened into the March 2020 lockdown and came out ahead
  • Launched right as Bali locked down in March 2020.
  • Survived because Denpasar cafés (their core customers) had ample outdoor space and were allowed to reopen mid-2020 under social-distancing rules.
  • The business jumped out of COVID with strong growth.
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Business Model & Moat

How it wins

Nick probed what keeps customers locked in (the “moat”). Misibu competes on service, training, and consistency rather than price alone — though its pricing is also competitive.

After-sales, barista training & a “coffee university”
  • Every account gets after-sales support and training — e.g. supplying and training Nirvana (the gym).
  • Runs a ~3-day basic barista course; the hard part is roasting, which is the true craft (compared to a chef).
  • Loyalty/machinery program: customers hitting a certain volume get supported with equipment (grinder, espresso machine).
Custom blends & competitive pricing
  • Custom/exclusive blends on request (e.g. a Kintamani-based house blend for a customer).
  • Price list runs below competitors around Canggu.
  • Consistency via controlled roasting is the key retention lever — the same reason Starbucks automated for uniform taste.
“Consistency is one of the key[s]. And our pricing is really competitive.” — Melvin
Sourcing — buys green beans, doesn’t process; roasting margin beats processing
  • Supply chain: farmers (cherry) → processor (green beans) → Misibu buys green beans → roasts.
  • Deliberately avoids processing itself — grade clarity is poor in Indonesia and beans can go missing in the forest.
  • Pays cash upfront to secure supply; demand is high, with Chinese buyers pushing up raw-material prices.
  • Roasting margin is better than processing (processing ~6–7%), which is why they stay on the roasting side.
  • Kintamani is the only place in Bali that grows arabica; local beans are cheaper than sourcing from Aceh.
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Market & Expansion Opportunities

Upside

Where the growth could come from — and the frictions on each path.

US export — the headline opportunity right now
  • US coffee sells through, quality bar is lower than SE Asia, and prices are roughly double Indonesian retail — room for a premium play on Amazon.
  • Coffee is currently tariff-exempt into the US (0%); a ~90% tariff would otherwise have been punishing.
  • Strong USD (~17,900 IDR/USD, up ~30%) adds roughly 30% margin on exports.
  • Export logistics: need an airport certificate; product shelf life ~120 days.
“If you do export, that’s 30% more margin for you because of the rates.” — Melvin
Nespresso / pods — weak locally, but an export product
  • The local Bali pod OEM closed last year, so there’s little domestic pod market.
  • Melvin sees pods as an export product (US and Europe).
  • US context: Nespresso is ~5% of pod sales; Keurig is the larger format. Machines land cheap from Alibaba (~$30–35); a pod-packing machine is ~$35K.
  • Nick’s idea: an IndoJack Nespresso-compatible machine bundled with a year of beans to lock customers in.
Java & hospitality — big but gated
  • Java is untapped and huge (~150M people); Surabaya is a major market Melvin is already courting.
  • Hotels are avoided for now: ~90-day payment terms create cash-flow strain, and the channel runs on kickbacks (“gratification”) to purchasing/head chef/head bar — a hard, competitive market.
  • Currently focused on cafés, not hotels.
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The Deal Nick Is Proposing

Core

Nick’s framing: he’d rather buy into a going concern than build from scratch. He runs a hedge fund (moving the corporation to the British Virgin Islands on Oct 1) and has already set up the US-side infrastructure.

Structure — ~5× earnings, majority stake, Melvin stays on
  • Rough valuation: ~5× earnings on ~$200K net → about $1M for the business (pending a look at real books).
  • Nick would buy a majority (referenced ~60% in a past deal; a foreign investor wants control), with board seats split insiders/investors.
  • Melvin keeps running the company — Nick explicitly does not want to operate it.
  • Illustrative outcome: Melvin could walk away with ~$500–600K USD (~1 billion IDR) for the portion sold.
“We want you to run it… You’re the man. We don’t want to interfere.” — Nick
Consolidate first — one company, one vision
  • Nick doesn’t want to buy just the Bali PT and be boxed out of the rest of Indonesia.
  • Preference is to merge the city PTs into one group (buying out or issuing shares to the other investors) so there’s a single vision.
  • If only Bali is buyable, the fallback is to accept the domestic restriction and push overseas expansion instead.
The long game — US listing, IndoJack brand, commodity trade
  • 5–10 year vision: grow hard, then potentially go public by merging into Nick’s US company for a NYSE / American listing — sidestepping the trust discount on Indonesian minority-float stocks.
  • Nick has registered the IndoJack trade name and has ad/video creative (Gabriella’s work) that can’t run yet pending licensing.
  • Commodity angle: buy green beans, sell refined into the US; possibly layer options for extra income later.
“My gut is just — there’s a deal here. If you want, you can walk away with some money.” — Nick
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The Blocker: Books & Tax

Deal-critical

The single biggest obstacle surfaced at the end. It needs resolving before any valuation can proceed.

The issue Misibu’s tax filings don’t match true earnings (“we don’t submit 100%”) and the books are not audited. Melvin also noted that even when he reports honestly, the tax authority pushes for more — a cultural friction he flagged from experience.
Nick’s firm position — official records only, everything above board
  • A deal of this size (>$1M) can’t be based on unaudited books; Nick won’t be the only party involved.
  • Valuation will be built off official tax statements/returns — Indonesian returns require a balance sheet, from which cash flows can be derived.
  • If Melvin wants to go big (and toward a public listing), everything has to be on the books.
“Unless you have audited financial statements, I can’t really base it on that… If that’s a problem, duck out now.” — Nick
Where it landed — Melvin agreed to share official statements
  • Melvin agreed to share the official tax statements and his financial data.
  • Nick will value off whatever the official records show, then present something Melvin can accept or decline.
“Show us what you’ve got, and we’ll come up with something you like or you don’t.” — Nick
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Action Items & Next Steps

Melvin (Misibu)

  1. Send tax returns going back to founding (2021 era) for every entity to be acquired — needed for the balance-sheet-based valuation.
  2. Send the official tax statements and the raw financial data / Surabaya investor deck (brand-by-brand revenue and net profit).
  3. Clarify the multi-PT ownership map and whether the other city investors would consolidate into one PT.

Nick

  1. Once official records arrive, produce a valuation and proposed deal structure (stake size, price, board).
  2. Run industry comps against public coffee companies, as done for prior deals.
  3. Share the IndoJack Instagram / video creative with Melvin (art only for now — not runnable until licensing clears).
  4. Continue securing Indonesian export permissions to complement the existing US FDA + DUNS setup.

Open Questions

  1. Can the city PTs actually be consolidated, or is only Bali realistically buyable?
  2. Do the official books support a valuation Melvin will accept?
  3. Which brand goes to the US market — IndoJack, Misibu, or a new US brand?
July 24, 2026 · Exploratory deal meeting — Nick & Melvin (Misibu) · Notes reflect the miked Nick–Melvin exchange only