Gimme Five: A wrenching success

The second oldest of four boys, Terry Leiweke is the "street smart" one in the family And, with each bringing a different skill set and interest to the table, the Leiweke brothers forged a reputation as players in the sports entertainment business.

Combined, they were a force too large for Kansas

Terry has been in the sports entertainment industry for more than 20 years now, and it has taken him from ABC Sports to the Houston Summit.

But don't let the accent fool you: Terry has been East Hamptonite for what's now eight years. He's honed his particular craft of brand building and communication to form Leiweke Films and Advertising and launched a new restaurant. In between, there was bankruptcy, then millions made through the Internet. To that end, the former University of Houston football player and stillto-this-day NCAA Division I record holder says, "I always thought I'd be some kind of jock. That's the only thing I knew and loved. But my father was a salesman. Thank God the fruit didn't fall far from the tree."

Q. How did you get involved in Wrenchead.com?

A couple of years ago, I was approached by a venture capitalist about an auto parts company that wanted to sell parts over the Internet. My wife and I undertook the development of the front-end of Wrenchead.com. How you brand yourself is something we've done for years, but we were in a field with young people with one or two year's experience. We knew how to identify with the audience - that's what we did.

I was a founding member of Wrenchead.com and sold my shares to CBS and SFX. Now, my wife and I have the capital to do whatever we want. Before, if we had ideas, we were always in search of capital. I'm one of the few who got compensated for an idea and made money on the Internet.

Q. What led you to found The Spot?

There's a huge void in family restaurants out here on the East End. We saw a space that had been a restaurant, took it over and completely remodeled it. We had branded products for everybody, so we understood the landscape. We came up with the name because invariably someone says, "Boy, this is a great spot." It's a friendly shingle to hang. It's primarily breakfast and lunch. The last thing East Hampton needed was another menu in search of a translator. We make a hell of a hamburger.

Q. How do you identify with the audience?

I think a lot of people get caught up in "if you build it, they will come." First you have to know who "they" are. Then it's about how much money you can put into it to get a fair return. And that, in this case, dictates the kind of food we put on the menu.

Q. How did you find workers?

We do something totally unique that I've never seen done out here. You place your order at the counter, then we serve you. The labor pool in East Hampton is not waiters and waitresses. We have three kids, two in high school. So we figured we'd reach into this labor pool. We created what we call expeditors, who serve the food. And we have soda jerks. These high school kids do fantastic at this.

We have 30 high school kids on the payroll right now. I've got National Merit Scholars as expeditors. All three of my kids have part ownership in the restaurant. First, it's about teaching pride of ownership. Plus, their fellow students are the base of the labor pool. When you serve 350 meals a day, that's a lot of pressure on young kids. But they're pleasant and they don't rush people out the door, looking for the next tip.

I'm not sure if this is the kind of thing that keeps you young, or gets you old

Q. How'd you come up with that idea?

It's all part of the forethought. In any kind of business consultation, we would perform a weaknesses and strengths study. Waiters and waitresses appear here in the summer and everybody's after them. They want to work in the high-end service for big tickets and kachanga. A family business is a whole different kind of business. I work at restaurant mid-week and on weekends, when we get hammered. I'm sure people wonder what I'm doing. "He sold an Internet company for millions and he's working behind the counter?" Something must be wrong.