How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers—with Casey Brown

My Guest If you have ever had to decide how to price a product or a service, or if you foresee yourself having to make such a decision one day, I implore you to listen to today’s episode, in no small part because of how many practical takeaways you’re likely to leave with. I’m joinedContinue reading “How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers—with Casey Brown”

The Art (and Science) of Building a High-Performance Sales Organization

My Guest One of the most common investment theses among acquisition entrepreneurs revolves around building an internal sales function where no such function has existed in the past. While this makes intuitive sense on the surface, just how easy is it to build a sales team from scratch? Do you hire the leader first, orContinue reading “The Art (and Science) of Building a High-Performance Sales Organization”

Leverage: Doing More With Less

Listen to this Blog Post “Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth.”– Archimedes “Leverage” is one of those concepts that tends to be interpreted as being more complex than it actually is. The simplest way to define leverage might be “the ability to do moreContinue reading “Leverage: Doing More With Less”

Achieving the Entrepreneurial Dream Through Franchise Ownership

My Guest Michael is the Founder of Streetlight Capital, a firm that invests in search funds and other forms of entrepreneurship through acquisition​. Through Streetlight Capital, Michael successfully acquired, operated, and exited Buckeye Restaurant Group, an operator of franchised Wingstop restaurants. Michael acquired Buckeye’s first restaurants via a self-funded search in 2018, and via newContinue reading “Achieving the Entrepreneurial Dream Through Franchise Ownership”

An Investing Masterclass with Brent Beshore

My Guest Back by popular demand, for his second tour of duty on the podcast, is Brent Beshore. Brent is the Founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a private investment firm that invests in Founder-owned small to medium sized businesses. They are a (very) long-term investor that looks to hold portfolio companies indefinitely, often withoutContinue reading “An Investing Masterclass with Brent Beshore”

From Combat to Classrooms: How Jim Vesterman Went from Special Forces to a 13.5x Return in 8 Years

My Guest My guest today is Jim Vesterman, currently a lecturer at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the faculty at Wharton, Jim was the CEO of Raptor Technologies between 2012 to 2020, where he grew the company from serving 7,000 schools in the United States to serving over 40,000Continue reading “From Combat to Classrooms: How Jim Vesterman Went from Special Forces to a 13.5x Return in 8 Years”

Evaluating The Most Common Forms of Debt Used to Finance Small Business Acquisitions

Listen to this Blog Post Though it is correct to suggest that all acquisitions are funded through some combination of cash-on-hand, debt, or equity, it’s also a bit of an oversimplification. Indeed, the financing options available to prospective acquirors are numerous, and in today’s blog post, I focus specifically on debt, and evaluate the fourContinue reading “Evaluating The Most Common Forms of Debt Used to Finance Small Business Acquisitions”

From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos

My Guests After graduating from business school in 2008, Jay Davis & Jason Pananos acquired Vector Disease Control, a company that they grew from ~$7M to ~$50M in revenue in 7 years through successfully executing on 14 bolt-on acquisitions. They were able to grow the business by a 43% compounded annual growth rate before sellingContinue reading “From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos”

Why You May Want to Reconsider Your Industry Roll-up Strategy

Listen to this Blog Post In its simplest form, a “roll-up” or consolidation thesis would see the acquisition of a single (often larger) “platform” company, to be followed by subsequent acquisitions of other (often smaller) “bolt-on” companies within the same industry. The industries in which this thesis is most prevalent tend to demonstrate the followingContinue reading “Why You May Want to Reconsider Your Industry Roll-up Strategy”

The Constellation Software Playbook for Acquiring and Growing Software Companies

My Guest Constellation Software is one of the world’s most admired, well-followed, and well-respected software acquirors. Since their founding in 1995, they have acquired over 500 individual software companies, and have grown to achieve $8.4B in revenue and a $77B market capitalization. They have achieved these staggering metrics through their exclusive focus on the lowerContinue reading “The Constellation Software Playbook for Acquiring and Growing Software Companies”