10/02/2026
Jesse Itzler had a private jet company and no way to reach wealthy people who could actually afford it.
He heard wealthy Silicon Valley executives would be at a TED conference in Monterey, California. He flew out — only to get turned away at the door.
No credentials, no entry.
He didn't leave. He noticed conference attendees kept slipping out to the same coffee shop between sessions, all ordering the same thing: a latte and a muffin.
So the next morning, he showed up at 5 a.m. and bought every single muffin in the shop.
He waited. The first attendee walked in, ordered his usual latte and muffin, and was told they'd run out.
Itzler stepped in. "I happen to have an extra muffin, if you want one."
The man's name tag read Josh Kopelman — who had just sold his company, Half. com, to eBay. Kopelman asked what Itzler did for a living. When he heard "private jet company," he said he was actually in the market for one himself.
That muffin turned into Itzler's first customer. Marquis Jet went on to build a business worth billions in sales, eventually selling to Warren Buffett himself.
