Buyers and Builders

Епізоди

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  Masters of Private Equity: Warren Hellman, Tully Friedman and Joseph Rice 18.08.2026 51хв

  In 2010, Robert Finkel wrote the book The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital: Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing In this episode, I explore the ideas, decisions, successes, and failures of two people who helped define modern private equity: Joseph Rice, co-founder of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Warren Hellman, co-founder of Hellman & Friedman. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The Masters of Private Equity 2:15 Private equity is more than buying and selling compani...
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  How Two First-Time CEOs Bought a $5M EBITDA Business | Greg Geronemus Interview 12.08.2026 56хв

  Greg Geronemus bought a ~$5M EBITDA business with no operating experience, financed half the purchase price with a seller note, and spent his first year doing something most new owners struggle to do: almost nothing. Four years later, the business was larger, professionally managed, dramatically delevered, and sold at roughly 9x EBITDA—producing just under a 5x net return and ~50% net IRR for investors. Greg breaks down the entire journey: finding the deal, negotiating the structure, taking...
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  Inside a Public 14-Acquisition Compounder | Eric Tan and Patrick Grove 05.08.2026 1год 1хв

  Eric Tan and Patrick Grove are building one of Southeast Asia's most interesting serial acquirers. As CEO of Catcha Digital, they've completed 14 acquisitions while creating a permanent home for market-leading businesses across digital media, B2B exhibitions, and vertical software. In this conversation, Eric shares why his failed startup became the foundation for Catcha Digital, how they evaluate hundreds of acquisition opportunities, why culture matters more than spreadsheets, and what he's...
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  Why Buy-and-Build Is One of the Best Investment Opportunities | Frederik Brandis Interview 24.07.2026 49хв

  Frederik Brandis was one of the key minds behind Arsipa, a buy-and-build platform focused on acquiring occupational medicine and workplace safety consultancies. As one of the earliest investors and strategic partners, he helped scale the business through dozens of acquisitions before it achieved an exit to Warburg Pincus just three years after its founding. Today, he is the Founder & General Partner of Aven Capital Partners, where he backs exceptional entrepreneurs before they even own a...
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  Search Funds, Buy-and-Builds & the Future of ETA | Greg Geronemus Interview 16.07.2026 55хв

  Greg Geronemus is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Footbridge Partners, where he backs entrepreneurs pursuing search funds and other forms of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). Before becoming an investor, Greg lived the search fund journey himself. In 2013, Greg and his partner David acquired a tour operator generating roughly $5 million of EBITDA. Over the next four years, they grew EBITDA by approximately 50%, paid down most of the company's $20 million debt load, and ultim...
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  How to Build a Roll-Up to 8-Figure Revenue | Nathan Lindley Interview 06.07.2026 49хв

  Nathan Lindley is the CEO of Lindley Home Services, an HVAC platform that has completed 11 acquisitions across Texas. But this story almost ended before it began... After acquiring his first two companies with an SBA loan, Nathan watched revenue collapse, burned through his cash, nearly lost his father's retirement savings and came dangerously close to bankruptcy. The turning point was a complete rethink of incentives, compensation, and how to build an acquisition platform that actual...
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  13 Acquisitions and Why Permanent Capital Beats Private Equity | Chris Rolls of PieLab Capital 24.06.2026 48хв

  Chris Rolls is the founder of PieLAB Capital, a holding company with nine portfolio companies built through 13 acquisitions. After building and selling multiple businesses, Chris entered private equity to learn the investing side of the game. But he eventually became convinced that the traditional PE model forces investors to sell their best businesses too early. That realization led him to build a permanent capital holding company inspired by Berkshire Hathaway, Constellation Software, Tran...
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  A $6.5M Estimate in 23 Minutes: How AI Is Rewiring SMBs | David Flickinger Interview 15.06.2026 50хв

  In this episode, David Flickinger, founder of Vellm.ai, joins Mikk Markus to explain how his journey from Marine Corps officer to AI implementation shaped his perspective on technology, and how business owners, private equity professionals, search fund operators, and CEOs can move beyond using Claude and ChatGPT as a simple productivity tool and begin building AI infrastructure that creates real enterprise value. Drawing on years of experience deploying AI solutions inside operating companie...
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  90+ Acquisitions, 30% Revenue CAGR, 35% Book Value Growth | Brett Kelly Interview 07.06.2026 46хв

  Brett Kelly is the founder and CEO of Kelly Partners Group. Since founding the firm in 2006, Brett has completed more than 90 acquisitions, compounded revenue at over 30% annually and built a business expected to generate roughly $50 million in EBITA in 2026. Timestamps: 0:00 Brett Kelly's early years and losing his job at 22 3:57 Writing to 80 successful Australians while unemployed 9:13 The moment Brett decided to start his own firm 12:24 Launching Kelly Partners with a clear long-term vis...
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  How We Bought 14 Businesses and Built a $120M HoldCo | Andrea Allegrini of Lindbergh 22.05.2026 50хв

  Andrea Allegrini is one of the key operators behind one of Europe’s most fascinating small-cap acquisition stories. Lindbergh is building what could become the country’s first national HVAC maintenance platform through a disciplined roll-up strategy focused on fragmented, family-owned businesses. In this conversation, Andrea explains how Lindbergh evolved from a logistics operator into a serial acquirer, why Italy’s HVAC market is such an attractive hunting ground, how the company structure...
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  How We Bought 160 Businesses and Built a $1.5B HoldCo at 33 and 35 | Ramsey Sahyoun of Evergreen 13.05.2026 58хв

  Ramsey Sahyoun shares how Evergreen grew from a Berkshire-inspired idea into a $1.5B revenue, $250M EBITDA HoldCo with 160 acquisitions. We discuss proprietary sourcing, decentralization, talent, value creation, MSPs, and the lessons behind building one of America’s most interesting acquisition machines. Timestamps: 0:00 Evergreen’s scale and long-term hold model 2:06 Discovering private equity and buying private companies 4:14 Meeting Jeff Totten at Alpine Investors 5:53 Evergreen’s first ...
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  35+ Acquisitions, $1.3B Exit and Backing 80+ Searchers | Mark Sinatra of ETA Equity 07.05.2026 1год 6хв

  Mark Sinatra has lived the full search fund journey: discovering ETA at Wharton, acquiring Staff One HR, surviving the 2008 crisis, scaling the business, selling to Oasis Outsourcing, and later helping build ETA Equity. In this episode, Mark shares what he learned from nearly a decade as a search CEO, why talent unlocked the business, how he survived the hardest years, and what he now looks for after backing 80+ searchers and 35+ acquisitions. Timestamps: 0:00 Mark Sinatra’s journey from se...
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  What 137 Acquisitions Taught Me About Operational Excellence | Robert Irving Interview 27.04.2026 51хв

  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 com...
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  Buying Three Founder-Led SMEs: Lessons from the Trenches | Simon Plummer Interview 18.04.2026 59хв

  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 found...
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  The Buffett-Munger Introduction That Changed Everything 12.04.2026 25хв

  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:...
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  From Management Buyout to Fund of Funds | P. V. Ramanathan (Ram) Interview 05.04.2026 1год 13хв

  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:...
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  9 Add-Ons in 24 Months | Dan Lifshits of Dwelly Interview 28.03.2026 34хв

  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...
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  How We Built IDUN Industrier: 20 Acquisitions and 60x+ P/E Ratio 24.03.2026 20хв

  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 exp...
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  What 100+ Investments Taught Me About Great Acquirers | Lacey Wismer Interview 21.03.2026 58хв

  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 ...
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  A Serial Acquirer Masterclass and The Story Of 47 Acquisitions Per Year 17.03.2026 36хв

  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 Servi...