Skip to resource content
Founder conversationBuilder <$5m

How Taco Flats Built a $4.4M Austin Taco Business and Took a $1M Deal

Simon Madera walks through Taco Flats' revenue history, falling alcohol sales and two weak locations, then negotiates a $1M investment with Nathan.

Simon Madera · Taco Flats

Published July 29, 2026
Watch the full conversation
About this resource

Explore the lesson. Sign in to access the resource library.

What you’ll learn

Simon Madera, founder of the Austin restaurant group Taco Flats, tells Nathan the business did about $4.4M in 2025 across several locations, a food truck and an in-house tortilla operation. He explains falling alcohol sales, a new coffee and breakfast push, and two newer locations that are roughly breakeven. Nathan offers $1M, and they settle on 25% of the holding company plus all franchise revenue from selling those two locations until the $1M is repaid.

Read the source passages

Key moments

Find the ideas you need and go straight to the source.

Tortilla production volume

“We're doing about 2,000 tortillas. Yeah. And we do that twice a week, sometimes three times a week.”
Watch at 03:04

First location repaid investors

“It paid off our investors within the first three years. So 4 or 500 k in profit.”
Watch at 05:51

Why the stores were rolled up

“The the newer stores have not paid off, which is why we did the roll up.”
Watch at 08:26

Narrowing what the brand stands for

“You can't say we're the best breakfast taco, and we've got a pop up on the East Side, and we've got a coffee collaboration with three brands, and also we have a great margarita.”
Watch at 11:06

De-risking the investment

“That way I have a path basically to give you guys the offer at a higher valuation, but I'm de risking my money because I have a clear path to getting it out over time.”
Watch at 19:13

Resource files

About the speaker

Simon Madera

Founder · Taco Flats

Company revenue
$4.4M

More founder interviews