Shows / Acquiring Minds
Acquiring Minds
Buying a business is an amazing path for many successful entrepreneurs. Learn how to buy a business from the entrepreneurs who have already done it. 2x per week: stories, insights, & valuable advice about acquisition entrepreneurship. Hosted by Will Smith, who is on his own path to acquire a business. Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AcquiringMinds Sign up for episode summaries at: https://acquiringminds.co
Episodes
Acquiring Minds$60m Roll-Up That Started With an SBA Acquisition
Onu Okebie and Brian Boland wanted to retain 100% ownership when they began, so they used an SBA loan. It has paid off. Register for the webinars: The ABCs of…
Acquiring MindsHow to Raise $450 Million at 31 with No Track Record (and Do 90+ Deals) | Urs Wietlisbach Research
Imagine being in your early 30s, launching a private equity fund, and raising $450 million for your first fund. (No track record. No rich father or uncle.) Urs…
Acquiring MindsFounder Mode for ETA: $6m to $25m in 3 Years
Aizik Zimerman bought a home services business to build a consumer brand into his life's work. It seems to be working. Register for the webinar: The ABCs of…
Acquiring Minds9 Figure Exit How I Built and Sold to Private Equity (Alexis Sikorsky Interview)
My guest today is Alexis Sikorsky. An entrepreneur who bootstrapped, scaled, and ultimately sold a company in a 9-figure exit. We cover: 00:00 Intro 01:36 Who…
Acquiring MindsFamily Offices for Searchers: A Primer
James Bohannon of family office Belzberg & Co. explains the FO world and its untapped potential for searchers & sponsors. Topics in James’s interview: What is…
Acquiring MindsHe Bought 4 Small Businesses with ZERO Finance Experience (Nikolai Dimitrov Interview)
Nikolai Dimitrov went from pro football to building Unity Investment Partnership, where he buys small, reliable, everyday businesses, paying 3–4× cash flow…
Acquiring MindsDeciding to Exit After 2 Years of Ownership
Register for the webinar: Liquidity Options for Search Investors - Wed Sep 24th - https://bit.ly/48lptOc Jack Saville was asked if owning a small business was…
Acquiring MindsI Raised $11.7M To Back 13 Self-Funded Searchers | Grant Hensel Interview
Grant Hensel has started 10 companies (7 failed, 2 sold, 1 scaled), bought a business his wife now operates, and then got obsessed with backing self-funded…
Acquiring MindsSo Much Fun: The Buyer of Choice in a Fragmented Industry
Register for the webinars: Liquidity Options for Search Investors - Wed Sep 24th - https://bit.ly/41WmQym Employee Issues & Non-Competes When Buying a Business…
Acquiring Minds60+ Search Fund Investments: What Industries Excite Him The Most TODAY
A deep-dive on the operator-first path to buying a small business. Told through the lessons of investor-turned-operator Tim Ludwig (60+ portfolio companies…
Acquiring MindsFrom SBA Loan to High 8-Figure Exit
Register for the webinar: Employee Issues & Non-Competes When Buying a Business - Thu Sep 18th - https://bit.ly/4mbU9EI Jerod Pierce bought an HVAC business…
Acquiring MindsHow I Left PE, Bought 2 SaaS Businesses (Raising a Fund Next?) | Donza Worden Interview
Former institutional investor Donza Worden (co-founder, Clear Peak Capital) breaks down why many private equity pros aren’t truly investors—and what he’s doing…
Acquiring MindsThe Flywheel of Buying Businesses in a Single Region
Register for the webinar: Buyer of Choice Series Pt 1: Building Your Personal Buyer Brand (in a Sea of Searchers) - TODAY!- https://bit.ly/46ntJLG Doug Lepisto…
Acquiring MindsThis 70/30 Model Leads to Highest Returns
I spoke with an operator who sold his own company - then turned around and bought eight more. His playbook is specific, bank-friendly, and built for growth. In…
Acquiring MindsHow I Bought 7 Businesses and Built a $34M Holding Company | Doug Lepisto Interview
Operator-first, place-based PE done right. In this episode, Doug Lepisto (co-founder of Sleeping Giant Capital) breaks down how his team backed 7 searchers to…
Acquiring MindsHiring a CEO to Run Things (and Get Life Back)
Register for the webinar: Buyer of Choice Series Pt 1: Building Your Personal Buyer Brand (in a Sea of Searchers) - Thu Sep 11th - https://bit.ly/4pcznI8…
Acquiring MindsHow to Build a $30M HVAC HoldCo (4 Acquisitions and Next Goal $150M)
At 42, Sam Turner had the title, the pay, the lake view in Switzerland — but he was not happy. So he engineered his exit, just as COVID nuked his industry…
Acquiring MindsA Few Hours Per Week, a Few States Away
Register for the webinar: Love & Leverage: Lessons from Couples Who Acquired Together - TODAY! - https://bit.ly/4mBLyw5 Brett Maxam bought a concrete business…
Acquiring MindsBuying 500+ Businesses and Turning $100k Into $10B - Fernando De Leon of Leon Capital Group
What happens when a holding company thinks like an immigrant, moves like an entrepreneur, and plays the long game with permanent capital? In this episode, we…
Acquiring MindsThe Joy & Pain of Buying a Tech Business
Register for the webinar: Love & Leverage: Lessons from Couples Who Acquired Together - Thu Sep 4th - https://bit.ly/47PpZ6L Felipe Corcuera bought an…
Acquiring Minds$2 Million of Fun: Big Margins in Play Centers
About fall conferences: Southeast Entrepreneurship through Acquisition Conference 2025 Buy Then Build Summit McguireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference M &A…
Acquiring MindsHow I Bought 20+ Small Farms and Built a $350M HoldCo in My 30s | Jack McCarthy Interview
Jack McCarthy, co-founder & CEO of Goldleaf Farming, shares how he’s building one of the largest specialty-crop platforms in the U.S. We cover why almonds &…
Acquiring MindsStacking Small Acquisitions to $5m in Revenue
About fall conferences: Southeast Entrepreneurship through Acquisition Conference 2025 Buy Then Build Summit McguireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference M &A…
Acquiring MindsThis Is the Best $1M EBITDA Business (A Lesson From Talking to 2,000 Business Owners)
Rand Larson helps small business owners beat the loneliness of operating by building tight, ROI-driven peer groups. We dig into what actually works…
Acquiring Minds4th Time's the Charm: 3 Broken Deals to Buy a Great Business
Register for the webinar: Overcoming Common Deal Sticking Points - Thu Aug 21st - https://bit.ly/4oB4zAk Bryan Houck was fatigued of his search and broken deal…
Acquiring MindsWe closed 7 deals in 14 months (first $140m and a portfolio of 13 companies)
Today’s guests are Lizzie Ryan and Darrel Connell, Managing Partners at IMBIBA, one of the UK’s leading specialist investors in leisure, education, and health…
Acquiring MindsBuying and Building a Xerox Dealer to $30m
Register for the webinar: Overcoming Common Deal Sticking Points - Thu Aug 21st - https://bit.ly/3UrzG3F Jeff Horn left a lucrative path to buy a $5m copier…
Acquiring MindsLarry Gagosian Makes $1B+ a Year Brokering Off-Market Art (While Still Owning 100% Of The Business)
A concise, hard-nosed breakdown of Larry Gagosian’s operator toolkit—how a relentless deal engine, secondary-market focus, and absolute control compound into…
Acquiring MindsA Searcher’s Second Act: Building a $25m Holdco
Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one: Smithlist - Operate & Lead a…
Acquiring MindsThe Next Andrew Wilkinson? Building a 6-Company HoldCo (Bootstrapped with a 7-Figure Exit)
Brandon Pindulic sold his first company for 7 figures, then built Space Bar Ventures — a bootstrapped holding company with 6 cash-flowing digital businesses…
Acquiring Minds2 Years to $40m: The Anatomy of a High-Velocity Roll-up
Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one: Smithlist - Operate & Lead a…
Acquiring MindsFrom 16 Years in Corporate to a $1m SDE Acquisition
Register for the webinar: The "Plant Your Flag" Strategy: Build an Empire with ETA + Franchising - TODAY - https://bit.ly/3UH3w45 After years of corporate…
Acquiring MindsHow Michael Ovitz and Steve Schwarzman From BlackStone Find 10s
What if your next CEO hire could 10x—or destroy—your portfolio company? Michael Ovitz, legendary founder of CAA, built a $100M+ firm by spotting raw, misfit…
Acquiring MindsBuilding a $25m FedEx Route Empire from $100k Equity
Register for the webinar: The "Plant Your Flag" Strategy: Build an Empire with ETA + Franchising - Thu Aug 7 - https://bit.ly/45i7eGe Avery Tomek bought his…
Acquiring MindsHow I Bought 4 Companies After Raising Millions from 35 Investors | Danny Vivier Interview
Danny Vivier is quietly building one of the most thoughtful vertical SaaS portfolios in the game. Buying founder-led software companies and grow them forever…
Acquiring MindsBuying a $200m Franchisor (Not Units, the Whole System)
Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one: Smithlist - Operate & Lead a…
Acquiring MindsFollow This Private Equity Model and You'll Win (They Turned a $25K Loan Into a $15B AUM Fund)
In this episode of HoldCo Builders, I dive deep into the playbook of one of the most consistently high-performing investors in the world: Graham Weaver…
Acquiring MindsA $10m Acquisition for Freedom and Family
Smithlist is a job board for leadership roles at small businesses. If you're not ready to buy a business but want to lead one: Smithlist - Operate & Lead a…
Acquiring MindsHow to Build a $200M HVAC HoldCo Without Outside Capital (2 Acquisitions and Organic Growth)
Today on HoldCo Builders, I’m joined by Chris Hoffman, CEO of HP Solutions Group, the $200M+ holding company behind one of America’s fastest-growing…
Acquiring MindsYou’ve Been Served: Buying a $1.3m Process-Serving Company
Register for the webinar: Working Capital for SMB Acquisitions - TODAY - https://bit.ly/4kQcGGj At a low point in life, Raj Kankaria was served papers. But he…
Acquiring MindsOne Year, 3x Revenue, and a Clear Path to $15M
Register for the webinars: The Math & Logic of Deal Making - July 22nd - https://bit.ly/459kJJn Working Capital for SMB Acquisitions - July 24th -…
Acquiring MindsThis Model Beats Private Equity Returns (30-50%+ IRR)
What if the key to building real wealth wasn’t in startups or VC, but in buying simple, cash-flowing businesses? In this episode, we dive deep into the minds…
Acquiring MindsFrom Searcher to Sponsor: How to Buy a $22m Business
Register for the webinar: Common Legal Diligence Issues (and How to Handle Them) - July 17th - https://bit.ly/4kwHlbw Yan Vinarskiy began as a self-funded…
Acquiring MindsHow to Do 10+ Deals per Year ($8M in Revenue and $2.5M in EBITDA) | Jack Bennett
Jack Bennett is the co-founder of Lighthouse Capital, a firm advising and investing in small business acquisitions across the U.S. and Canada. In just under…
Acquiring MindsSaying No to CEO Roles, Yes to Ownership
Register for the webinar: Common Legal Diligence Issues (and How to Handle Them) - July 17th - https://bit.ly/4lo4Swu Accomplished CEO Marci LaRouech sought to…
Acquiring MindsHow I Left Investment Banking to Build a Search Fund (Luca Hany from Amboro Capital)
Ever wonder what it takes to start a solo search fund in Europe? Luca Hany left investment banking and bet on himself to build Amboro Capital, one of the few…
Acquiring MindsFrom Sales Freefall to $1.2m/Month
By reconceiving the paint dealership he bought as a marketing & sales organization, Ryan Adams pushed it to new heights. Topics in Ryan’s interview…
Acquiring MindsHow The Chainsmokers Built a $200M AUM Fund (Using 7 Proven Operating Principles)
Few realize Drew and Alex of The Chainsmokers are world-class operators and disciplined investors --- with over 220 portfolio companies through their…
Acquiring MindsReviving a Covid-Crushed Business: $0 to $6M in 3 Years
Adam Rao took a chance on an exhibit production business that had generated zero revenue in 15 months. It's gone well. Topics in Adam’s interview: Discovering…
Acquiring MindsHow I Bought 3 Paving Companies in 11 Months ($66M in Revenue and $7M in EBITDA) | Sam Mahmood
Sam Mahmood is the co-founder of Pave, a holding company rolling up businesses in one of the most overlooked, unsexy, yet wildly lucrative sectors in America -…
Acquiring MindsScaling a Tiny Acquisition to a PE-Backed Exit
Phil Miller turned a tiny pet shop doing $100k in sales into a regional pet boarding brand — and the ideal PE platform. Topics in Phil’s interview: Pivoting…
Acquiring MindsThe Next Warren Buffett? Turning $2.7m Into $650m by Buying 30+ Businesses
Join us for a deep dive into one of the most fascinating stories in British business. In this episode, we explore RDCP Group, a UK-based holding company that…
Acquiring MindsNew Way to Pursue ETA: Searcher-in-Residence
Register for the webinar: How to Offshore in a Blue Collar Business - July 1st - https://bit.ly/406jR5k Matt Brunnig hired aspiring SMB owner Kevin Peer for…
Acquiring MindsHow I Bought 7 Small Businesses and Had One Exit That Returned a 35x MOIC | Dev Shah Interview
Dev Shah is the founder of Pocket Fund, a HoldCo that has acquired 7 businesses. At just 23, Dev has built a growing portfolio of newsletters, SaaS products…
Acquiring MindsFrom Stalled Search to $750k SDE: The Power of Speed
Register for the webinar: How to Offshore in a Blue Collar Business - July 1st - https://bit.ly/406jR5k A friend pressed Grania Michel to change her search as…
Acquiring MindsHow I Left BlackRock to Build 3 Companies (Then Sold Two in 5 Years) | Jamal Muse Interview
I sit down with Jamal Muse, a former math teacher and former Blackrock analytics professional who reinvented himself as a serial founder. He’s built and sold…
Acquiring Minds40% CAGR for Over 15 Years: UK’s Most Profitable Roll-Up?
True Potential has quietly compounded at 40% CAGR for over 15 years, becoming the UK's largest private equity-backed wealth management consolidator. In this…
Acquiring MindsThe Path from $2.5m to $60m in a Tree Business
Register for the webinar: How to Offshore in a Blue Collar Business - July 1st - https://bit.ly/406jR5k Brian Hartman 3x'd revenue in 2 years at the tree…
Acquiring MindsHow I Left Real Estate PE, Bought 6 Companies and Sold To A Strategic Buyer In 23 Months
Mike Botkin went from being a real estate private equity COO to buying a small landscaping business doing $780K in revenue - with no prior experience and no…
Acquiring MindsHow a First-Timer Pulled Off a $52m Acquisition
Register for the webinar: How to Offshore in a Blue Collar Business - July 1st - https://bit.ly/406jR5k With no PE background, Nick Huber had to learn quickly…