Editor’s note: Reading this story without a subscription? Get a year of access to Chieftain.com for $39 now through March 18 by clicking here to subscribe. We appreciate your support of local journalism.
Episode 9 of Undercover Billionaire aired Wednesday, and one of Pueblo’s staples – roasted Pueblo Chiles — was featured.
If you missed it, in the previous episode Louis Curtis, aka Grant Cardone, was pursuing a real estate deal with Kona Kai Apartments but lost the deal because of his aggressive business tactics.
Curtis must build a million-dollar business within three months, so losing the apartment deal was an incredible loss.
“I just lost a massive real estate deal,” Curtis said in a confessional. “That deal by itself could have achieved the evaluation I need. But never depend on one thing for anything.”
MORE: Connections make all the difference in ‘Undercover Billionaire’ Episode 8
At this point, Curtis is well underway in the 90-day competition and must refocus as he has only recently started gaining traction and making progress with a separate business idea — a marketing company.
Curtis partnered with Pueblo West’s Matt Smith, who helped him secure a client in Episode 8 after the Kona Kai deal went up in flames. In this week’s episode, the two businessmen are looking for more clients.
Smith’s wife, Jenny, has a relationship with Pueblo’s DiSanti Farms, so the couple take Curtis out to the chili roasting farm to see if they can secure another client.
“My wife used to work on those farms,” Smith said. “That’s a big part of the community, and the Discovery Channel was actually trying to get a hold of someone to be able to highlight the farms. So, my wife made that connection. But it’s a part of who we are, so we had to get that highlighted one way or another.”
While out there, Curtis was able to try Pueblo Chiles and roast them for the first time.
But because DiSanti Farms are a wholesale company rather than a retail company, a business connection was not made.
“These guys don’t sell direct to anyone,” Curtis said in the episode. “I need a retail customer. Somebody that is driving phones, landing pages, websites, targeted to a retail market so I can ring the bell.
“I don’t understand companies that don’t want to grow beyond what they are doing.”
After watching the episode himself, Smith said Curtis’ statements aren’t a direct reflection of Pueblo, but rather a reflection of how he views the business world as a whole.
“(Cardone’s) 10X thing is always being better,” Smith said. “It’s always you can always be better and work 10 times harder. So, his consensus was that Pueblo was sleeping and that we can work a little bit harder.
“But I wouldn’t say that’s related to Pueblo, that’s just his life mentality. You can never work hard enough, never work too many hours, he’s pretty hardcore about all of that stuff.”
After visiting Disanti Farms, Smith and Curtis were able to secure a second client for their marketing company — First Oak Bank.
MORE: Where did Undercover Billionaire go? Matt Smith explains, and reacts to Episode 3
Securing a second client brings the two entrepreneurs’ marketing company to a total of $180,000 in annual client revenue, leaving a $820,000 deficit.
In the upcoming episodes, viewers will see if Curtis is able to gain the 10-20 clients he was hoping to sign for the marketing company to build a million dollar business.
Episodes of Undercover Billionaire are available on the streaming platform Discovery+ and air Wednesday nights.
Chieftain and Pueblo West View reporter Alexis Smith can be reached by email at
as****@ch*******.com
or on Twitter @smith_alexis27.
About Author
