Buyers and Builders
The Buyers and Builders podcast with PrivateEquityGuy is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about holding companies, buying and building businesses, entrepreneurship, investing, and more. Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!
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10 Acquisitions in 24 Months, No Fund | Travis Jamison Interview
<p>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.<br/><br/>Timestamps:<br/>0:00 Intro<br/>0:36 Why CapitalPad exists<br/>3:08 Platform walkthrough<br/>5:22 Lessons from the first 10 deals<br/>7:16 What a typical deal looks like<br/>9:10 Vetting sponsors/searchers<br/>12:44 Investor improvement and portfolio construction<br/>17:32 What top sponsors do differently<br/><br/>Sponsor:<br/>https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform<br/><br/>This podcast is for informational purpos...
Why This Operator Won’t Raise a Fund (17 Companies, 9 Exits) | Vic Keller
<p>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.<br/><br/>0:00 Deal-by-Deal vs Fund Life<br/>3:48 Operator Mindset in the Lower Middle Market<br/>8:10 Buffett Lessons + Durability<br/>18:36 Car Wash Playbook<br/>23:46 HoldCo Structure<br/>27:50 Recruiting A-Players<br/>32:17 Co-Invest Partners<br/>36:22 Bigger Deals: What Changes<br/>39:28 Debt vs Equity<br/>42:06 Founders: Recap vs...
Off-Market Deal Flow for $2M-$200M Founder-Led Companies
<p>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Show notes:<br...
5 Acquisitions in 24 Months: How I Got 60-70% Seller Financing | Millen Rastogi Interview
<p>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.<br/><br/>Show notes:<br/>0:00 Millen Rastogi<br/>1:05 From Deutsche Bank to home care<br/>4:30 Walking into a mess<br/>13:26 Funding the early years<br/>19:54 Growth numbers + COVID hit<br/>23:02 Margins and revenue<br/>25:50 Building the platform to buy<br/>27:17 First acquisition<br/>30:56 Seller financing playbook<br/>36:35 The “silver tsunami” sellers<br/>41:50 Second acquisition<br/>51:48 70% seller-financed deal example<br/>1:09:09 Learning M&A with AI + X<br/>...
How I Left PE to Buy Three Businesses in 90 Days | Reza Jafer Interview
<p>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.<br/><br/>Show notes:<br/>0:00 Independent sponsor jump<br/>3:38 Origin story<br/>8:04 First acquisition<br/>10:15 The motor coach platform<br/>14:36 Deal #1 terms<br/>18:46 Early wins<br/>26:22 Fundraising lesson<br/>29:44 Deal #2 raise in chaos<br/>35:17 Platform strategy<br/>40:41 Endgame<br/><br/>Sponsors:<br/>https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform<br/>https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire<br/><br/>This podcast is for informational purposes only and sh...
The Story of Bowles, Hollowell, Conner & Co
<p>The lower middle market runs on trust and relationship building.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>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.<br/><br/>Timestamps:<br/>0:00 Why great investing ecosystems can...
30 Add-Ons in 48 Months | Luis Reyes of IBV
<p>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.<br/><br/>Snow notes:<br/>0:00 From rural Mexico to more than 30 acquisitions<br/>4:00 Buy-and-build thesis<br/>6:45 Funding the first deals<br/>11:55 The 100-day integration playbook<br/>19:00 Using AI to scale operations and service quality<br/>32:05 Deal sourcing at scale without spam<br/>37:05 Managing risk, customer concentration, and diligence<br/>44:35 Takeaways for other buyers<br/>53:00 Hold vs sell and capital discipline<br/><br/>Sp...
Search Fund Success Story: From $15M to $200M Through 7 Acquisitions
<p>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.<br/><br/>Snow notes:<br/>0:00 Christa’s $15M to $200M scaling story<br/>2:30 FBI operator lessons<br/>3:37 Jump to a search fund and move to rural Virginia<br/>11:51 First acquisition and integration learning curve<br/>17:28 Culture reset and global expansion via acquisitions<br/>20:05 Post acquisition playbook<br/>23:08 7 total acquisitions and off market sourcing<br/>30:25 Transition to launching Harbor Capital<br/>39:36 How to find invisible small town deals<br/><br/>Sponsors:<br/>https://capi...
A $25 million LOI with a Ferrari 488
<p>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.<br/><br/>Show notes:<br/>0:00 Special situations in the lower middle market<br/>6:18 The perfect business is getting paid for your words and gaining access<br/>9:44 Coordination problems and forced sellers create the best deals<br/>11:44 Ghost ship companies and orphaned assets that VCs misunderstand<br/>15:28 Patience and selectivity outperform constant deal activity<br/>18:42 Negotiation and the 25 million...
The Real Playbook Behind an Operator-Led Roll-Up (10 Acquisitions in 18 Months)
<p>Mike Markus ( https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Jeremy Yamaguchi ( https://x.com/jeremyyamaguchi ) about how he acquired 10 companies in 18 months.<br/><br/>Show notes:<br/>0:00 How Jeremy built and exited 3 home services businesses<br/>5:48 Why “boring” home services were a massive tech opportunity<br/>8:11 Why he chose venture for Lawn Love + the YC story<br/>12:41 Why home services are still wildly fragmented and why most founders misunderstand the space<br/>13:59 Sponsor: CapitalPad (backing searchers + proprietary deal access)<br/>17:36 Game selection<br/>27:23 Cabana thesis: national pool brand via M&A + ops + vertical software<br/>28:45 Sponsor: SpaceBar Studios (35,000 newsletter subs in 90...
