My Guest
My guest today is Zac Carman, CEO of ConsumerAffairs.com since 2010, the year in which he acquired the company from its founder, Jim Hood. ConsumerAffairs is a user-review website that helps over 7 million people per month make decisions on big questions like home warranties, debt consolidation and elder care planning.
Prior to acquiring ConsumerAffairs, Zac spent 4 years at Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm focused on buyout opportunities in technology enabled services and other highly scalable business models.
In our discussion today, among many other things, we unpack Zac’s long-term-hold strategy and discuss the extent to which it was deliberate or emergent, how he has managed liquidity requirements for both himself and his investors, the commercial and personal reasons why a long-term hold strategy makes sense for him, and if he thinks it makes sense for an entrepreneur to target a long-term hold strategy before acquiring their first company.
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Long Term Holds: With Zac Carman, CEO of ConsumerAffairs for 14+ Years – In The Trenches
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Specific Questions and When They’re Asked
0:03:26 Zach walks through the chronology of his career and major stops along the way that led him to where he is today.
0:08:13 Zach shares the circumstances around the acquisition of his company, ConsumerAffairs.com.
0:08:38 Zach discusses whether he was explicitly contemplating a long-term hold strategy when he first identified the company.
0:10:27 Zach explains at what point the long-term hold strategy first emerged as a viable alternative.
0:11:27 Zach discusses any pivotal conversations he had with himself or his investors about the merits of a longer-than-average hold period.
0:15:52 Zach explains the commercial and personal rationale for a long-term hold strategy in his specific case.
0:19:56 Zach speaks to the “broken process” of trying to recap the business in 2016 and the major lessons he extracted from it.
0:23:15 Zach discusses alignment with his investor group and any areas of misalignment with the concept of a long-term hold.
0:26:35 Zach speaks to how he has solved for personal liquidity and wealth concentration concerns.
0:31:43 Zach explains how he has managed to avoid fatigue, burnout, or boredom over his 14 years of leading the company.
0:37:58 Zach discusses any periodic sense of imposter syndrome, and the areas where he still feels particularly unsure of himself.
0:46:05 Zach provides advice for prospective entrepreneurs earlier in their careers who are explicitly contemplating a long-term hold strategy.
0:54:17 Zach shares the most meaningful lesson he has learned over the past 12 months.
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