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”

Answers to Recurring FAQs from Current and Prospective Searchers

Listen to this Blog Post Over the course of many years speaking with current and prospective searchers on a near-daily basis, I’ve come to appreciate that many searchers understandably tend to have very similar questions and areas of uncertainty. Indeed, in most instances, I had these very same questions and areas of uncertainty myself priorContinue reading “Answers to Recurring FAQs from Current and Prospective Searchers”

Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback: Educators, Mentors, and Leaders Within the SMB Community

My Guests Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback are both professors at the Harvard Business School, and co-teach two wildly popular courses called The Financial Management of Smaller Firms and Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, both of which focus on how to acquire, finance and operate your own smaller firm. In 2017 they also co-published the widely readContinue reading “Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback: Educators, Mentors, and Leaders Within the SMB Community”

Jeff Stevens & A.J. Wasserstein on The Future of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

My Guests A.J. Wasserstein is the Eugene F. Williams, Jr. Lecturer in the Practice of Management at the Yale School of Management. His research, writing, and teaching concentrates on search funds, entrepreneurship, programmatic acquisitions, and small businesses. In addition to his role as an educator, A.J. is also a private investor in lower middle-market businesses.Continue reading “Jeff Stevens & A.J. Wasserstein on The Future of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition”

Michael Girdley on The Rise of Holding Companies

My Guest Michael Girdley is an entrepreneur and investor who has spent the past 30 years building a personal holding company boasting over $100M in annual revenue, comprised of 12 businesses across software, technology, consumer retail, and education, among others. Outside of managing his holding company, Michael is deeply involved in the North American SMBContinue reading “Michael Girdley on The Rise of Holding Companies”

Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer Before Buying (or Selling) a Small Business

Listen to this Blog Post It likely goes without saying that every transaction is different: Every company, industry, searcher, and investment opportunity presents unique considerations that in turn give rise to unique questions and areas for further due diligence. With that said, over many years of evaluating countless acquisition targets alongside searchers, I’ve found thatContinue reading “Questions You Should Be Prepared to Answer Before Buying (or Selling) a Small Business”

What I’d Change if I Could Re-Do the First 90 Days of My Search: 3 Searcher Case Studies

My Guests Today’s I speak with 3 searchers, each of whom are at different stages of their respective search journeys. As I have done in the past, I will again be asking these guests only a single question. That is: “Knowing what you know now, if you could go back and re-do the first 90Continue reading “What I’d Change if I Could Re-Do the First 90 Days of My Search: 3 Searcher Case Studies”

Dr. Victoria Medvec on the Art and Science of High Stakes Negotiations

My Guest Dr. Victoria Medvec is the Adeline Barry Davee Professor of Management and Organizations at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. In addition to her professorship, Dr. Medvec is a co-founder and the Executive Director of the Center for Executive Women at the Kellogg School and the CEO of Medvec and Associates,Continue reading “Dr. Victoria Medvec on the Art and Science of High Stakes Negotiations”

Peter Lehrman, Founder & CEO of Axial, The Largest Online Marketplace to Buy & Sell SMBs

My Guest Peter Lehrman is the Founder and CEO of Axial, North America’s #1 online platform connecting buyers and sellers of small and medium sized businesses. Axial is used by over 20,000 investors, M&A advisors and CEOs, allowing them to connect on a confidential basis to explore potential M&A, debt, buyout, and growth equity transactions,Continue reading “Peter Lehrman, Founder & CEO of Axial, The Largest Online Marketplace to Buy & Sell SMBs”

Building a $5.5B Mid-Market Private Equity Firm: Brent Belzberg, Founder of Torquest Partners

My Guest My guest today is Brent Belzberg, Founder and Senior Managing Partner of TorQuest, a middle market private equity firm that he founded in 2002 that has since grown to ~$5.5B in assets under management. Outside of TorQuest, Brent serves as a Director of The Sinai Health System, having previously acted as Chair. HeContinue reading “Building a $5.5B Mid-Market Private Equity Firm: Brent Belzberg, Founder of Torquest Partners”