Buyers and Builders

In this episode, Robert Irving of Buffalo Growth Partners shares what he learned from building a fire protection business from zero to $20M in revenue, selling it to private equity, rolling equity, and then helping execute a 137-company rollup.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why PE value creation is harder than it sounds
1:52 From fire protection operator to $20M in revenue
4:09 The three sales roles that drive B2B growth
6:25 Building hospitals, data centers, and complex fire systems
8:07 Selling the company and rolling equity into the platform
9:33 Going from one business to 12 offices and 800 people<...

Simon Plummer is the co-founder of Arbor Permanent Owners, a holding company built for long-term ownership.

In this episode, Simon drawing on his experience acquiring and operating three founder-led SMEs, he shares a practical playbook for the first year of ownership:
- how to settle a team,
- build trust,
- create momentum,
- improve sales,
- think about pricing,
- and know when to invest for growth.

We also discuss why investor alignment matters so much in small business, what makes founder-led companies different, and why simple strategy...

Why networks are one of the most underrated advantages in the lower middle market, and how to build them.

We explore how trust, introductions, persistence, and long-term generosity can create better deal flow, stronger relationships, and a real competitive edge for buyers, builders, and investors.

This episode is heavily inspired by the wisdom of Alix Pasquet, a Managing Partner at Prime Macaya Capital Management.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why Networks Matter More in a Crowded Lower Middle Market
1:09 Your Network as a Moat and an Alarm System
3:19 The Hidden Edge Behind Great...

In this episode, I sit down with P.V. Ramanathan, or Ram, to unpack the story of how he helped lead a management buyout of a struggling cathodic protection business in 2003 and turned it into Corrosion Technology Services ( https://ctscp.com/ ). Himself local to Dubai, Ram's company, CTS, includes 10 companies operating across 8 countries and 3 regions.

The free cash flow generation gave Ram the ability to build Neeti Fund, a fund-of-funds built around a simple but highly selective strategy: backing a small group of high-quality long-only and long-short equity managers with aligned incentives, understandable philosophies, and meaningful personal...

Dan Lifshits, co-founder of Dwelly, explains how he is building an AI-enabled roll-up in the UK lettings market by acquiring independent agencies and modernizing them with software.

Dwelly has completed 9 acquisitions in just 24 months, combining a buy-and-build strategy with a technology-first operating model designed to improve service for landlords and tenants while making agency operations far more efficient.

In this episode, we go deep on why lettings is such an attractive category for consolidation, why organic growth is limited in this market, and why Dan believes acquisitions are the fastest way to build a modern...

In this episode, we break down IDUN Industrier, a Swedish serial acquirer that has completed 20 acquisitions to date and now trades at roughly a 65x P/E multiple — an extraordinary valuation for an industrial holding company.

What makes IDUN so interesting is that it is not simply buying businesses for scale. It is building a portfolio of niche leaders: small, often overlooked companies with high market share, strong customer dependence, and positions that are difficult to replicate.

We explore how IDUN creates value through disciplined acquisitions, decentralized operations, co-ownership, and long-term capital allocation — and why inve...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks with Lacey Wismer of Hunter Search Capital ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/laceywismer/ ) about her journey from a family business background into investing in more than 100 search funds, backing operators, and building a platform around long-term business ownership.

Timestamps
0:00 Introduction: Lacey Wismer on permanent capital and long-term holds
0:30 Entrepreneurial upbringing: luck, simplicity, cash flow, and leverage
2:54 What changes when you buy to own for 30 years
5:26 Studying enduring businesses instead of trends
6:49 The anatomy of a 100x deal
8:40 Diamond Brands and the power of adjacent ac...

Why serial acquirers remain one of the most powerful business models in the world.

The best of them have acquired as many as 275 companies and traded at valuations as high as 65x earnings, yet most people still misunderstand what makes them so successful.

I explore why the best acquirers often start slow, how they solve the reinvestment problem, why balance sheet strength and specialization matter, and what investors look for when studying these businesses.

I also share why Evergreen Services Group may be building one of the most interesting HoldCo stories in America...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks with Eric Wiklendt of Speyside Equity ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericwiklendt/ ) about Eric's journey and how Speyside has built a highly operational lower-middle-market private equity firm with $937 million of assets under management, 38 total investments, 20 platform investments, operations across 19 countries, and portfolio companies generating approximately $2 billion in revenue.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why Eric loves messy manufacturing deals
1:40 From Detroit operator to private equity investor
4:58 Building Speyside: Fund I, the continuation vehicle, and Fund II
7:35 How PE firms decide fund size and portfolio construction
10:24 Why Elliott backed Speyside's co...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks with Kaido Veske of Livonia Partners ( https://www.livoniapartners.com/ ) about Kaido’s journey from working at a mid-cap private equity firm in the US to returning to Europe, raising a fund that now manages nearly $200 million, and completing 16 acquisitions to date.

0:00 Why start a fund
2:56 Wharton and early US exposure
3:39 US finance years and coming back to Europe
6:03 Livonia today: focus and deal size
7:06 Minority and majority deals
7:23 Fundraising as a first-time GP
8:25 Early deals: structuring and fund size limits
10:08 Fund 1 vs Fund...

Mike Markus (⁠ https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠ ) talks to Travis Jamison of CapitalPad ( https://capitalpad.com/ ) about building a deal-by-deal investing platform that’s already powered 10 acquisitions, with some deals projected to have an IRR of 25% or more.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:36 Why CapitalPad exists
3:08 Platform walkthrough
5:22 Lessons from the first 10 deals
7:16 What a typical deal looks like
9:10 Vetting sponsors/searchers
12:44 Investor improvement and portfolio construction
17:32 What top sponsors do differently

Sponsor:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

This podcast is for informational purpos...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Vic Keller of Experience Ventures ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/vickeller/ ) about building 17 companies over two decades with 9 exits, having businesses acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, and his operator-first approach to building durable, people-driven companies - including a vertically integrated car wash platform spanning manufacturing, chemistry, and service/maintenance.

0:00 Deal-by-Deal vs Fund Life
3:48 Operator Mindset in the Lower Middle Market
8:10 Buffett Lessons + Durability
18:36 Car Wash Playbook
23:46 HoldCo Structure
27:50 Recruiting A-Players
32:17 Co-Invest Partners
36:22 Bigger Deals: What Changes
39:28 Debt vs Equity
42:06 Founders: Recap vs...

Operators, independent sponsors, searchers, and lower middle market investors: this episode is about building repeatable deal flow in the $2-15M EBITDA range by making opportunities, talent, and capital come to you.

You’ll learn “relationship compounding” through two lenses: Larry Gagosian - the billionaire art dealer who engineers environments where influential people want to be (all in service of one goal: selling more art) - and TheRealEstateG6 ( https://x.com/TheRealEstateG6 ) on X, whose “yacht” framework shows how to stop restarting from zero and build platforms, venues, and proof that create real gravity.

Show notes:

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Millen Rastogi of UniversaCare ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/millenrastogi/ ) about leaving his analyst role at Deutsche Bank to build a healthcare roll-up and acquire five companies.

Show notes:
0:00 Millen Rastogi
1:05 From Deutsche Bank to home care
4:30 Walking into a mess
13:26 Funding the early years
19:54 Growth numbers + COVID hit
23:02 Margins and revenue
25:50 Building the platform to buy
27:17 First acquisition
30:56 Seller financing playbook
36:35 The “silver tsunami” sellers
41:50 Second acquisition
51:48 70% seller-financed deal example
1:09:09 Learning M&A with AI + X
...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Reza Jafer of Second Bite Capital ( https://x.com/rezajafer ) about how he left private equity to acquire three companies in three months.

Show notes:
0:00 Independent sponsor jump
3:38 Origin story
8:04 First acquisition
10:15 The motor coach platform
14:36 Deal #1 terms
18:46 Early wins
26:22 Fundraising lesson
29:44 Deal #2 raise in chaos
35:17 Platform strategy
40:41 Endgame

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

This podcast is for informational purposes only and sh...

The lower middle market runs on trust and relationship building.

In this episode, we explore Bowles Hollowell Conner & Co., the quiet Charlotte-based advisory firm that shaped how lower middle market M&A gets done. Before private equity was institutionalized asset class, BHC figured out how to turn founder-led businesses into transactions lenders could underwrite and capital could trust.

This is a story about credibility over capital, why bad packaging can kill deals, and how preparation - not promotion - closes deals in the lower middle market.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why great investing ecosystems can...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Luis Reyes of Iberian Ventures ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/luiz/ ) about how he has completed over 30 acquisitions in 4 years and is building a fire safety rollup in Europe.

Snow notes:
0:00 From rural Mexico to more than 30 acquisitions
4:00 Buy-and-build thesis
6:45 Funding the first deals
11:55 The 100-day integration playbook
19:00 Using AI to scale operations and service quality
32:05 Deal sourcing at scale without spam
37:05 Managing risk, customer concentration, and diligence
44:35 Takeaways for other buyers
53:00 Hold vs sell and capital discipline

Sp...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Christa Glassburn about how she joined a search fund, acquired seven companies and scaled revenue from $15 million to $200 million.

Snow notes:
0:00 Christa’s $15M to $200M scaling story
2:30 FBI operator lessons
3:37 Jump to a search fund and move to rural Virginia
11:51 First acquisition and integration learning curve
17:28 Culture reset and global expansion via acquisitions
20:05 Post acquisition playbook
23:08 7 total acquisitions and off market sourcing
30:25 Transition to launching Harbor Capital
39:36 How to find invisible small town deals

Sponsors:
https://capi...

This episode breaks down how Jeremy Giffon ( https://x.com/jeremygiffon ) thinks about special situations, forced sellers, and overlooked businesses, showing why the best investments come from understanding incentives, human behavior, and coordination problems rather than complex models or market timing.

Show notes:
0:00 Special situations in the lower middle market
6:18 The perfect business is getting paid for your words and gaining access
9:44 Coordination problems and forced sellers create the best deals
11:44 Ghost ship companies and orphaned assets that VCs misunderstand
15:28 Patience and selectivity outperform constant deal activity
18:42 Negotiation and the 25 million...

Mike Markus ( ⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Jeremy Yamaguchi ( https://x.com/jeremyyamaguchi ) about how he acquired 10 companies in 18 months.

Show notes:
0:00 How Jeremy built and exited 3 home services businesses
5:48 Why “boring” home services were a massive tech opportunity
8:11 Why he chose venture for Lawn Love + the YC story
12:41 Why home services are still wildly fragmented and why most founders misunderstand the space
13:59 Sponsor: CapitalPad (backing searchers + proprietary deal access)
17:36 Game selection
27:23 Cabana thesis: national pool brand via M&A + ops + vertical software
28:45 Sponsor: SpaceBar Studios (35,000 newsletter subs in 90...

This one hire is something all profitable, cash-flowing traditional businesses can do. Yes, it can be a significant investment -- great specialists aren’t cheap -- but in the right setup, it can completely change the trajectory of a company.

I share two real-world examples of owner-operated, non-glamorous businesses that hired a Chief Investment Officer to professionally manage excess cash. In both cases, capital allocation quietly became the dominant profit engine, generating the majority of group earnings while the core operations remained stable and conservative.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The hidden problem of excess cash in profitable bu...

In this episode, Todd Saunders shares how one small group of customers with much better retention changed the direction of his entire business. Instead of chasing trends or going broader, he went deep into a simple, overlooked niche -- independent flooring retailers -- and ended up building the core software used across the industry.

Todd explains why brand and community mattered more than features, how Facebook groups and events became his main growth drivers, and how that approach helped him roll up 8 niche software companies, grow past $30M in revenue, and exit for $100M+.

Show...

We go deep on Justin Ishbia, co-founder and Managing Partner of Shore Capital Partners - one of the most successful lower-middle-market private equity firms in the U.S.

After inviting Justin on the podcast and being asked to reconnect in early 2026, I used the time to study Shore’s work more closely. This episode is the result: a synthesis of Justin’s long-form interviews, public commentary, and Shore’s operating history, focused on the systems behind their results.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why to study Justin Ishbia
1:30 Buy small, professionalize, roll up, sell the platform
2:20 The nu...

Steve Lawrence, the founder of Uncomplicated Group went from middle management at a $14B manufacturer to buying five businesses in a few short years -- now running two injection-molding factories, employing 45 people, and shipping 200M parts a year.

But this episode isn’t about the highlight reel. It’s about the real path: quitting his job for a deal that collapsed at the finish line, burning cash on diligence, watching funding evaporate, and learning what “the seller isn’t emotionally ready” actually means -- when the mortgage clock is ticking.

We dig into how Steve rebuilt hi...

For the last 20 years, private equity followed a simple formula: buy with leverage, cut costs, rely on multiple expansion, exit at a higher valuation.

That playbook worked incredibly well.

But it no longer does.

In this episode, I break down why the old private equity model is structurally broken - not just cyclically - and why a new model is emerging. A model where cheap debt doesn’t save you, multiple expansion can’t be assumed, and real value creation matters more than spreadsheets.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Why the old private equity play...

In this episode, I’m joined by John Seiffer - the person investors, company buyers and operators call when growth starts getting expensive, messy, or fragile. John has spent decades across manufacturing, software, restaurants, chemicals, and professional services, and he sees the same pattern over and over: founders are great at the product and the sale… but the company can’t scale until the structure scales.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Deals are great, but the money is made in operations
02:15 The real business model: CAC, LTV, gross margin
07:06 What a “healthy company” looks like + why founders get stuck on s...

The future of private equity talent is moving toward ownership.

We explore why the traditional PE career path is breaking, why carry no longer delivers the upside it once promised, and why more professionals are choosing to build - not wait - for real equity.

You will discover:
0:00 The Quiet Exodus Inside Private Equity
1:45 Carry That Never Materializes
2:56 “I Didn’t Join PE to Be an Operator”
3:38 No Real Path to Ownership
5:27 Where PE Talent Is Going Next

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity invest...

In this episode, we break down a powerful idea from Jeffrey Walker, a private equity veteran who backed thousands of entrepreneurs and watched success and failure up close. His conclusion is uncomfortable but freeing: the people who win don’t follow a path, they create one.

You’ll hear why talent is overrated, why “perfect careers” quietly fail, how one pathless founder built a $200M company, and a practical framework for building a career or business that actually compounds over decades.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The dangerous myth of “the path”
1:04 Jeffrey Walker’s core insight: there is no pa...

Today’s guest, David Dowda (Dowda Holdings), went from burned-out insurance salesman working 80-100 hour weeks to buying his first business doing just $30,000 a year - fully seller-financed.

Ten years later, he owns nine companies across multiple industries - all acquired with zero outside equity and often minimal cash down.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 How he bought a $30k revenue business with zero cash down
3:00 Rolling up a beach town with chairs, linens, golf carts and a coffee shop
8:03 Buying a construction company 6 hours away with no experience
10:31 Sponsor: CapitalPad - investing alongside small bu...

How these serial acquirers generate 20-40% annual returns for decades?

They buy small, niche, profitable companies again and again.

In this episode, we break down the strategy, the structure, and what private buyers can learn from the greatest acquisition machines on earth.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why tiny acquisitions beat big deals
1:12 21x, 120x, 375x: Lifco, Addtech, Constellation & Heico’s insane returns
2:07 The simple playbook: buying small boring companies again and again
3:56 Engine #1 - Organic growth in the “unsexy” corners of the economy
6:50 Engine #2 - Programmatic M&A: what these serial acquir...

In this episode, Cyrus Hessabi from Shore Capital Partners breaks down what it really looks like to build AI-enabled services, transition from VC to micro-cap private equity, and back searchers buying “boring” but powerful businesses.

Cyrus has lived every chapter of the operator-investor journey: aerospace engineering, Salesforce sales, venture capital, architecting AI rollups at OpenOcean, and now backing searchers at Shore Capital Partners.

We dive into how AI is transforming traditional service industries, where real opportunities (and risks) lie, how to evaluate founders, and why the best investing often happens in industries that don’t change...

Most people in ETA quote the Stanford Search Fund Study, but almost no one looks at what investors actually earn. In this episode, we break down new Yale data from 1,192 investor-level outcomes and shows why access, not modeling, is the #1 driver of 10x MOIC, 30%+ IRR results.

You’ll learn why your portfolio will never be “the index”, how a tiny % of deals drive almost all returns, and what elite investors do differently to consistently catch those outliers. If you’re a searcher, investor, fund, or holdco, this is the episode that will change how you think about ETA retu...

Sequoya Borgman has quietly built one of the most interesting retail-funded private equity machines in America. Since launching Borgman Capital in 2017, he’s acquired 20 companies across 8 platforms and raised deal-by-deal from 500+ individual investors instead of institutions.

In this episode, we break down how he sources mostly off-market deals in second-tier cities, structures conservative, over-capitalized balance sheets, manages messy founder transitions, and keeps hundreds of retail LPs aligned while staying oversubscribed on almost every deal.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Biggest risk in PE founder transitions and bad leadership fit
0:44 Why the “retail private equity” model
4:37 Working with P...

Akshay Ramachandran is a retired family office investor. In his last role, Akshay was the sole analyst at a New York-based single family office, reporting directly to the portfolio manager. Together they analyzed over 60 industries using a simple strategy: buy and hold great businesses run by great management teams. In this episode, he explains his biggest winner and covers the whole story.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
1:43 Defining retirement: cost of living vs net worth
3:04 Immigrant upbringing & discovering value investing
4:40 From NYU to Wall Street & joining a family office
7:58 Learning to analyze businesses & six key...

There’s a holding company that almost no one talks about, yet it might be one of the most efficient compounding engines.

RÖKO owns 29 niche, traditional businesses, runs 21% margins, generates 14.5% returns on capital and keeps acquiring new companies every quarter. And they do all of this with a headquarters team of just eight people.

In this episode, I break down the full story behind RÖKO and its 63-year-old founder Fredrik Karlsson, the former CEO of Lifco - one of Sweden’s legendary serial acquirers. After two decades mastering the art of permanent capital, Karlss...

Ian Rickwood, Founder and CEO of Henley Group, has quietly deployed $4B+ across US and Europe, built and sold food chains, and is now rolling up US car washes using AI-driven site selection. We also dive into what great operator partners look like, how to handle bad deals, and what it’s really like to build a serious firm with your spouse and kids.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 “Don’t give up” Ian’s core lesson on entrepreneurship and resilience
0:34 Who is Ian Rickwood and what is Henley Group?
1:04 The scale of Henley today: capital, sectors, and strategy

One of the most underrated skills in business acquisitions. Beyond financial models and deal structures, many great acquisitions happen because buyers know how to connect with sellers on a human level.

#BusinessAcquisitions #DueDiligence #MergersAndAcquisitions #HoldCoBuilders
#ListeningSkills #DealMaking #EntrepreneurshipThroughAcquisition #PrivateEquity #BusinessBuying #SMBacquisition

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The overlooked M&A superpower
4:55 Warren Buffett & Mrs. B: a deal built on trust
8:04 Shopify lesson: empathy that wins founders
11:54 David Cote at Honeywell: listening as diagnostic precision
15:47 How to practice it: questions, plant walks, and strategic silence

My guest today is Joel Mathew, Head of Originations at Woodson Equity. We discuss how his entrepreneurial path led him into private equity, Woodson’s “inch wide, mile deep” focus on diversified industrials and business services, and why they favor hands-on, control deals. Joel shares a live carve-out playbook, how he sources more than a 1,000 deals a year, the first-100-days operating cadence, culture as an edge, off-market vs. banked processes, and the mindset required to win in the lower middle market.

Sponsors:
This episode is sponsored by CapitalPad, the marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs with invest...

How Sid Jashnani scaled his firm into a portfolio of 15 companies and $77 million in revenue. If you’re an investor or builder, this is a masterclass in turning chaos into compounding cash flows.

Sponsors:
This episode is sponsored by CapitalPad, the marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. Operators list live deals in one place; investors get standardized terms, governance, and distributions. If you are raising for a deal, or you want to back great operators, visit https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

Our spo...

Buying a small business and raising the equity shouldn’t take a roadshow.

In this episode, Donza Worden (ex–institutional PE, Clear Peak Capital) and Travis Jamison (multi-exit founder turned investor) break down how CapitalPad makes both sides easier:
1) curated deal flow for accredited investors;
2) and a streamlined path to capital for independent sponsors/searchers.

Start deploying today with CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

We cover:
00:00 Intro — making buying businesses & raising capital easier
00:27 Danza’s path: IB/PE → Clear Peak → the CapitalPad problem
0...