OUR STORY

Built by the son of a Baskin-Robbins owner

The story of Rejigg doesn't start with Silicon Valley. It starts with my mom behind the counter of an ice cream shop.

From post-war Seoul to the American Dream

Born in post-war Seoul as the youngest of five kids, my Mom grew up intoxicated by the opportunity provided by the American dream, accelerated by a growing love of John Denver and all things Americana.

In her 20s, she followed that yearning and immigrated to the US, first landing in the cornfields of northern Iowa. While there, she met my dad and they later settled down in San Jose.

Mom with the opening day team at Baskin Robbins

Mom working the cash register at her first Subway opening day

Grit, intelligence, and ice cream

After they had my brother and I, my mom struggled to find employment. Minimal prior work experience and an art degree made it tough.

But she had grit and intelligence and struck out on her own: she piled our family's life savings into opening an ice cream shop in Santa Clara.

Over the next many decades, my mom lived the American Dream. Her sweat and tears turned that first shop into an empire of a dozen successful quick service restaurants all across the South Bay.

Then came time to retire

A few years ago, as she entered her mid-sixties she was ready to retire, but found that this was much more difficult than she expected.

"We can sell your business for only 10% of its value (hundreds of thousands of dollars). And if you don't do it with one of us, you won't be able to do it at all."

What brokers told her over free lunches

She refused to believe that.

My mom, a self-made business owner, was infuriated by the idea of giving these guys that kind of money. She figured that if she could just find a buyer, she could figure out the rest of the nuts and bolts herself. After all, she'd been negotiating and making contracts, figured out how to do accounting, and worked with enough financing partners to know her way around a spreadsheet.

My mom went to work and happened upon a vein of women 30 years her junior at the Korean church. They had young families, husbands that were working, intelligence, ambition and grit but no professional experience. Basically carbon copies of my mom from 30 years prior.

My mom ended up taking 4 of these women through 4 transactions. They figured out SBA financing, how to use M&A attorneys and how to work the corporate structures of BR and Subway to finalize the deals.

As they wound their way through these processes, I was struck by the fact that my mom, who had no background in corp dev, M&A or even any real grounding in finance, could take 4 different women who were essentially total "business" novices through these transactions. So much for what those brokers said.

That's what we're building at Rejigg

Selling a business doesn't have to be so complicated. My mom is living proof that you can do it on your own. If you've built a business worth buying, you already have the skills to sell it. You just need to meet the right buyer.

For Sellers

Aggressive brokers. Shady platforms. Everyone wants a huge cut. The whole process feels like chewing glass.

For Buyers

Most platforms just aggregate stale listings. You send 100s of messages to get a few replies. And when you do hear back, you're often talking to a broker.

Rejigg is a safe haven from all of that

Free for Sellers

Buyers pay to be on the platform, which means sellers are talking with realistic, intentional candidates.

Hand-Picked Deals

We source all our deals ourselves. Every business on Rejigg is carefully vetted.

Your Terms

We let buyers and sellers figure out details the way they want. No complicated formal process.

The woman behind it all

Today, my mom enjoys a well-deserved retirement. Proof that small business owners can exit on their own terms. Her journey from a young immigrant with a dream to a successful entrepreneur who built an empire inspires everything we do at Rejigg.

Mom happily retired, holding her first granddaughter

Happily retired and holding her first granddaughter

Meet the Team

Barrett

Co-Founder

Son of a Baskin Robbins & Subway empire builder.

Alex