our story
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A-6684 is a holding company that identifies, acquires, and manages operational businesses. We seek to purchase controlling stakes in profitable companies and build upon the work of its associates, managers, and owners. Our approach to managing businesses is with a long-term horizon in mind, which includes consistently seeking maximum efficiency and always striving for operational excellence
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We seek to build upon our past experiences of actively managing small and medium sized enterprises, to optimize existing structures and unlock value. While we remain agnostic with regards to specific industries and sectors, relevant investment opportunities are those that we can understand and where general management expertise is the predominant core competency required for ongoing success.
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In a world where many companies are good enough, we seek to make them the very best that they can be by focusing on business fundamentals, applying common sense, and approaching each challenge with humility and passion. The core values we adhere to, and which are instrumental in enabling us to accomplish our shared goals are meritocracy, learning and development, and continuous improvement. By operating in such a manner, we are best positioned to leverage the skill sets of our team and work in a cohesive manner that enables us to achieve our objectives.
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Our firm's name is the specific identification number of Susan Rapaport, as originated in Auschwitz during the holocaust. Susan Rapaport is the maternal grandmother of our Founder and CEO and remains a guiding force with respect to the way in which we conduct ourselves and the values we adhere to. Susan’s strength and resilience are attributes that we wish to exemplify in our dealings, as is the pursuit of meaning in all that we do.
our team
our philosophy
In an environment in which growth is vigorously pursued, we place an emphasis on the underlying value inherent in operational businesses. Such value is typically exhibited in the fundamental economics of a company’s offering and the way in which it conducts itself operationally. Traditional businesses that have achieved long standing profitability are those that ultimately possess the value attributes applicable to our investment approach.
Being value oriented requires of us to be agnostic in terms of sectors and industries, and to maintain a broad view in terms of potential investment opportunities. Our uncompromising focus is on fully comprehending the intrinsic value inherent in an investment prospect and the ways in which we can contribute to its further success. This same attribute requires of us to avoid areas in which domain expertise is the key determinant of success, but rather where general management is the ultimate contributing factor. Our disciplined approach in this area is what enables us to maintain a broader viewpoint in our search for potential businesses to acquire and retain.
Risk is a necessary and interchangeable component of any potential returns ultimately achieved for our stakeholders. We seek to purchase full or effective control in operating businesses, which enables us to mitigate the risks associated with operations. In addition, our proactive and ongoing management style enables us to unlock value in a manner that compensates for the specific risks being incurred with any given investment opportunity.
Higher returns are typically achieved by way of leverage and assuming unjustified levels of risk. While returns matter, protecting the downside of our investment activities is always more important to us than any upside potentially realized. Financial prudence begins with the management of our own operations and carries through to our portfolio companies upon commencing operations. Thereafter and throughout the entire investment cycle, we anticipate assuming healthy levels of risk in a manner that fairly compensates us for such activity.
The pursuit of excellence is an extremely challenging and everlasting ideal. While strategy is critical and reactiveness to situations is at times warranted, execution is the key ingredient to the eventual success of any initiative. As a company evolves, behavioural norms and habits that do not correlate with optimal performance become an inherent part of its culture. Such realities lead to high levels of frustration among stakeholders, bloated cost structures and a broader acceptance of mediocre performance.
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To achieve operational excellence and overcome such realities, we believe that it is critically important to have a bottom-up approach to operations. Such an approach places an emphasis on the monumental difference between building versus managing, allowing for participants to accumulate both knowledge and experience in the process. With most operational skillsets being transferable to different settings and situations, this same experience and knowledge can then be compounded over time, resulting in true differentiation and ultimately outperformance.