Think Like an Owner

My guests on this episode are Andrew Soon and Michael Novielli, co-founders of Due West Education. Due West counsels and helps Chinese students apply to top American universities and study abroad programs. I visited China in college on a school trip and it was one of the most incredible experiences I've ever had. Since then I've been looking for interesting businesses abroad to study and invite on the podcast. Andrew and Michael are incredible examples of US entrepreneurs creating new businesses in other countries around the world and I think you'll love our conversation.    We discuss China's cultural view of US education, tailwinds pushing Due West's business along, how data factors into process of helping students apply to the most elite colleges, fighting inherent incentives in the education industry with great internal communication, and how their business might be impacted by moves against after school tutoring in China. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

This is a special episode of Think Like an Owner. In this episode, Tim Ludwig turns the microphone around to interview me on where my interest in small companies came from, starting and building Think Like an Owner, memorable moments from running the podcast, my answers to my own closing questions, and much more.   We also discuss a new media company I'm incredibly excited to announce called The Operator's Handbook. The Handbook is a print publication interviewing small company operators to find new ideas on how to operate, improve, and grow small companies more effectively. Tim has been very impactful in starting The Operator's Handbook and is a close advisor of mine as I build this new media company. If you want to learn more about the Handbook, visit theoperatorshandbook.com and sign up to receive updates as we prepare the first issue for release.   Tim believed in me when I had very little to show for my ambition and has continued to be an impactful mentor in my life and career. He was the perfect person to host this special episode and I am incredibly grateful for all the time and wisdom he's shared with me. Please enjoy this turn-the-tables episode with Tim Ludwig and myself. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

 My guest on this episode is Reg Zeller. Reg worked in corporate engineering roles for many years before deciding to leave and do his own thing. His own thing ended up being rolling up foundry businesses through his holding company CaneKast, with five companies acquired so far. These companies are very hard to acquire and operate and Reg spends a lot of time sharing why most buyers can't acquire foundries and why he's best suited instead.   Over the course of this episode, Reg and I talk about how foundries operate, how he looks to acquire others, finding your strengths and leveraging them, some of his operations playbook for new foundries, and drinking too much coffee.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Mia Jackson. Prior to searching and acquiring her health care supply business, Vital Care Industries, Mia worked in consulting, engineering and supply chains, a friend's start-up for a time, and received her MBA and Masters of Science in Engineering Management from Northwestern. She brought a ton of great experience into her search business and we talk about how impactful that was in being a CEO for the first time. I haven't had too many health care entrepreneurs on the show so we also spend some time diving into Vital Care's product line and where it fits in a hospital setting. I found this part fascinating and I think you will too.   During our conversation, we also discuss her passion for health care, supply chains, and going paperless, how she wants her company culture to evolve, how she motivates her team, and how she helps team members advance in their careers and their ongoing education. This was such a fun episode and Mia's energy is impossible to ignore, I hope you enjoy the episode! For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Craig Fuller. Craig is the founder of FreightWaves, a data and media business focused on freight and supply chains. FreightWaves is a VC backed company with $19 million in revenue with editorial content, a data product, job board, video content, and multiple podcasts. Prior to FreightWaves, Craig had no background in media but has built quite a playbook for media businesses with a data component. Craig, as of a month ago, is also the new owner of Flying Magazine, an iconic, blue-chip publishing brand in the general aviation community which we discuss extensively in this episode. For a deeper background on FreightWaves, I highly recommend his episode on A Media Operator, which we'll link to in the show notes.   During our conversation, we discuss his fascinating background in his family's trucking business, starting a tech business before FreightWaves, launching FreightWaves, and his acquisition of Flying Magazine and his plans for growth and improvement.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is John Rood. John started an education business with his wife that began as a SAT and other tests prep business and eventually found its niche in MCAT testing. Together they grew the business adding tutors and a management team before selling to private equity. John has also invested in a few search funds and is contemplating a search himself in the education space.   During this episode, we talk about starting their education business, how they pivoted from tutoring to content, building a business in the context of operating systems and learning from others, and the value of organizations like Traction and Entrepreneurs Organization to small business operators. We also talk broadly about education businesses and where future business models in the space might lead.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Peter Bell. Peter and Justin Turner were guests on my fourth ever podcast episode and were very early supporters of the show. Their firm, along with two other partners, is Traction Capital Partners in Tacoma, WA. Traction is an independent sponsor which now owns 3 companies with a potential 4th on the way in the next few weeks. Peter joined in late 2018 and set to work at their first portfolio company, SeaWestern, in Kirkland, WA. SeaWestern is a distributor of firefighting equipment across the Pacific Northwest and Peter was tasked with learning the business and looking for avenues of growth and improvement. Needless to say, in the two and a half years since, he's learned a lot.   During this episode we talk about stepping into a new leadership role, learning a new business model, growth opportunities at SeaWestern, and why your resume doesn't matter in a small business. And for a thorough background on Traction, I highly recommend listening to episode 4 where Peter and Justin share Traction's mission and investment model. And now, enjoy the episode.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Brent Beshore, the founder and CEO of a lower middle market private equity firm called Permanent Equity. Permanent Equity acquires family-owned companies and has 11 in their portfolio today. They have also raised two 27 year funds, a $50 million fund in 2017 and a $248 million fund in 2019. Permanent Equity is probably the most experienced, systematized, and well-known acquirer in the small business world and I'm excited to finally have Brent on the podcast.   During this episode Brent and I talk about their marketing strategy, what competitive advantages they've built and are building for tomorrow, how businesses can build a margin of safety in their operations, and lessons learned from buying and improving family-owned businesses. I recently moved near Brent's headquarters in Columbia, MO to Omaha, NE and we also spend a few moments discussing life in the Midwest. Finally, I will be attending Brent and Patrick O'Shaughnessy's conference Capital Camp in Columbia at the end of August and I hope to see many of you there. If you're going, please reach out and let's connect beforehand. And now, enjoy the episode.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Peter Kang, who co-founded a digital branding and design company focused on direct to consumer e-commerce called Barrel. For long-time listeners of the podcast, the name Barrel may sound familiar. Barrel was one of the original sponsors of Think Like an Owner as we became a weekly podcast. Today Barrel is no longer a sponsor and thereby doesn't pose a conflict of interest, which allows us to share Peter's exciting and fascinating personal story on the podcast.   During our discussion we cover the founding of Barrel, big moments in their growth cycle which includes designing the annual report pages for large public companies, how Peter realized he as an owner didn't need to be the salesperson for the company, and how they allocate excess capital at Barrel.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Dave Waters. Dave is the founder and CEO of Alluvial Capital, a value based hedge fund focused on the smallest public companies with market caps of $5-100 million, located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Dave is fascinating to me because he has dedicated his career to investing in similar sized companies as other podcast guests of this show, but through the public markets. I wanted to learn how he views these companies through a public lens, his investment process, and his thoughts for private company owners thinking of investing in comparably sized public companies.    We also talk about how his business-owner LPs view their investment in his firm, the most unique companies he's come across, and how he evaluates managers of these small public companies. This was a super interesting discussion that I'm positive you'll enjoy.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Nick Fedele who recently acquired a 30 employee sheet metal construction business called Metal Alliance Inc near Philadelphia. Nick has a background in public accounting before taking on a management consulting role and eventually becoming a CFO. After 2 years as a CFO, he felt ready to seek out and acquire a business for himself.   Nick and I talk about the ownership transition with the previous owner who wanted to remain involved, his principles for handling situations that go wrong - hence our episode title “death, taxes, and stuff goes sideways”, his strong dislike of paper, and what he's excited for next in the company. I learned a ton from Nick in this conversation and I'm sure you will too.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Tony Cappaert. Tony started his career at Microsoft before co-founding a CRM software business for real estate agents called Contactually. The company was acquired by Compass in 2019 where Tony serves as Head of Lead Generation. As you'll see though, Tony is a busy man. He also founded a cabin rental and management company called Blue Maple and is raising a fund to invest in self-funded searchers.   Tony and I talk in-depth about niching down Contactually to target real estate brokers, his thoughts on pricing including why every company underprices, why they sold the company to Compass, and his view on the search fund world including what he looks for in prospective searchers as a former operator. If you ever want to reach out to Tony to talk software, property management, or search funds, don't hesitate to send him an email at tony@bluemaple.co.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Manny Saxena. Manny grew up in India and decided he wanted to become a CEO. To prepare for the role, he attended Kellogg's MBA program and built leadership experience at Sears and Persado. Finally, he partnered with Broadtree Partners to acquire two commercial sweeping companies called Contract Sweeping Services and Statewide Construction Sweeping in Northern California.    Manny and I talk extensively about the sweeping business, how he's learned the ropes in the sweeping industry from the previous owners, unique businesses he came across in his search, new systems and technology he's implemented in both companies, lessons from his time at Sears, and much more.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My third and final guest in this real estate miniseries is Chris Powers. Chris is the founder and GP of Fort Capital, a real estate private equity firm in Fort Worth, TX focused on industrial real estate. He's also a fellow podcast host with his show called The Fort Podcast, which is excellent and I highly recommend listening and subscribing to.   While it was a shorter episode, Chris and I covered a lot of ground. We discussed how business owners should view their ownership in company-specific industrial real estate, options available if an owner wanted to acquire other industrial property, trends he's seeing, and why he loves boring businesses. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

This is the second episode in a three part miniseries on real estate, which kicked off last week with Nick Huber, and is resuming with this episode focusing on residential real estate with Moses Kagan. Moses is the founder and GP of Adaptive Realty, a real estate private equity firm which acquires and remodels multi-unit residential real estate in the Los Angeles area. Moses is very thoughtful and intentional and I've thoroughly enjoyed getting to know him better.   In this episode Moses and I discuss his family's background in real estate and lessons he learned as a child, different options for small company owners to invest in residential real estate and pros and cons with each, and how he develops a unique lens for viewing assets in a different way than his competition, among other interesting topics. Enjoy! For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

Today's episode is the first in a three-part miniseries on real estate. Even though Think Like an Owner is a small company focused podcast, many small company owners also own real estate and I thought a short miniseries would be an interesting way to bring that conversation onto the podcast.   This first episode features Nick Huber, who owns self storage facilities through his company Bolt Storage across the East Coast in New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. What makes Nick so interesting is he started out owning and operating a small moving company he started in college called Storage Squad. Over the course of this episode, we talk about life running Storage Squad, why he decided to branch into real estate, using Reddit and Twitter to grow your business, and where he's taking his own podcast next.  For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guests on this episode are Eric Factor and Austin King who together raised a long-term holding company called Era Services with the mission to acquire, operate, and grow industrial service companies. Their first acquisition completed earlier this year is a company called CraneTech which installs and maintains overhead cranes fixed inside factory buildings. Eric and Austin have a connection to another Think Like an Owner podcast guest, Ross Brendel of Westerly Group, an LP of Era Services, who I interviewed on episode 57. Justin Vogt and Ed Redden of Evermore Industries from episode 59 are also an investment of Westerly Group.    During the episode, we discuss all things cranes including how they found CraneTech, challenges and tailwinds facing the business, the ins and outs of the crane labor market, how they're competing for customers and employees, and what's next for the business. If you enjoy heavy machinery, you'll love this episode. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Sam Rosati. Sam was an early supporter of the podcast and was featured on Episode 11, which I highly recommend listening to prior to this one. In that earlier episode, Sam shares his background and how he and his brother Joey together acquired a company called Alpha Dumpsters. In this episode, Sam shares that they’ve since sold Alpha Dumpsters and have started an SMB conference in Orlando scheduled for February 3-6, 2022, which I’ll be attending.    Sam also shares with me a new incubator model they have built for self-funded searchers. I’ll let Sam share most of the details, but self-funded searchers should listen to this episode and learn about this new program. Sam is doing wonderful things for the self-funded search world and I believe the incubator and conference will both be massive successes. Now, please enjoy my follow-up episode with Sam Rosati.    For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

I’m a big aviation geek. I love flying, looking at airplanes and seeing where they’re going via Flightaware on my phone, and collecting model aircraft. My guest today, Elliot Epstein, founded Geminijets, a company that makes metal diecast commercial airplane models. Beyond just the aviation nature of the company, this is a fascinating business for its relationship with hobbyists and collectors, the airline industry and current trends, all in addition to being a manufacturing and distribution business.   In this episode Elliot shares why he started the business, the process of creating a new model from start to finish, how coronavirus and the 737 MAX program have impacted sales and shipping, how the model business has evolved, and available growth opportunities for the company. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Chase Murdock. Chase started his career as a venture-style entrepreneur with a custom suit business after spending time working in the Philippines and Southeast Asia. After the business didn’t go as planned, Chase and his business partner Adam Malmborg decided to pursue smaller, creative, more high end businesses. Today they have two businesses, Tailor Cooperative, a local custom suit business, and Workshop SLC, a fine arts studio, both located in their hometown of Salt Lake City.   This episode was a fascinating dive into boring vs creative businesses, gathering customer feedback and NPS scores, pricing, and designing a high end client experience. I loved this episode and learned a ton and I hope you do as well.  For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Victoria Sylvester, or Vikki for short. Vikki is the founder of Acacia Training, a U.K. based training company focused on childcare, healthcare, and dental care. I was very excited for this conversation for a number of reasons. First, Vikki sold Acacia to MBH through their Agglomeration model whereby Acacia’s private stock is exchanged for MBH’s public stock. We discuss the model in great length and it’s one of the more unique models for SMB acquisitions I’ve come across through the podcast. Second, Vikki’s role as CEO has changed dramatically over time as the company has grown and I was very interested to hear about each of those stages and what tasks have been challenging for her to let go of.   Over the course of this episode we discuss the early years of Acacia, how she receives feedback from her team and her students, what she looks for when acquiring other training programs, and her perspective as an owner selling her company. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest today is Steve Ressler. Steve has been an entrepreneur for much of his career in software and government services and has recently been translating that experience into search fund investing, among other projects. A good portion of our discussion focuses on evaluating and scaling niche software businesses and whether niche means limited growth prospects or a formula for other markets. I’ve gotten to know Steve pretty well and he’s an absolute wealth of knowledge for searchers interested in software and government services, please reach out to him if those are areas of interest for you.    Over the course of this episode we discuss Steve’s experience being a founder and having his company acquired, what he looks for in search investing, tailwinds in government service businesses, and whether individuals should invest in self funded searchers. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

This is the second episode of an experiment I did on a new episode format that was shorter, 20-30 minutes, and focused entirely on ideas and challenges operating small companies. The first episode in this experiment was last week’s episode with Jason Hill on adding food to the office and some of these interesting benefits there.    On this operating focused episode, I talk with Palmer Higgins of Mainely Grass and Chenmark on why he’s getting rid of sales roles and doesn’t operate on a commission structure. We talk about the positive and negative unintended consequences of becoming a more versatile team, the training and adjustment period of shifting roles, and some of Palmer’s thinking on paired metrics and why commissions are a poor metric and incentive to use in their business. If you want to learn more about Palmer and his work, you can listen to our earlier podcast, episode 43, on his move to CEO at Mainely Grass. For now, enjoy our episode on sales roles and incentives. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

This episode and next week’s episode are both experiments I did a while back with Think Like an Owner when I was considering launching a new podcast series. The aim for these was to have short, 20-30 minute episodes on specific ideas and challenges operating small companies. I may eventually launch the new series, but I have other projects I’m excited about and want to invest more time into. Let me know what you think of these next two episodes and if you want to see more episodes with a similar format.   This first one is with Jason Hill. Jason appeared in episode 50 to share his learnings acquiring and growing his father-in-law’s countertop business. In this episode, we talk all about food at the office and some of the benefits to making food a stronger priority at work. Jason has done a lot including adding coffee machines, more microwaves, and even doing company pig roasts at his house. I’d advise listening to this episode on your lunch break, it’ll probably make you hungry.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guests, Justin Vogt and Ed Redden are the co-founders of Evermore Industries, a holding company looking to acquire industrial service companies with a time horizon measured in decades. Justin and Ed also happen to be the co-founders of the Stanford Search Fund Club during their time at Stanford. They hosted over 20 events and met professionals all across the search space and used that experience to shape what they wanted to create with Evermore. One interesting podcast connection, Westerly Group, through podcast guest Ross Brendel on episode 57 and co-founder Rich Littlehale, are investors in Evermore Industries, among other long term investment vehicles.    During our conversation, we talk about their time running the search fund club at Stanford, their views on search funds, how they raised capital for Evermore Industries, and benefits of being acquirers with an ultra long term view.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Deepa Talwar. Deepa is currently searching for a company from her home in Fort Collins, CO. Her background includes working with prominent Silicon Valley tech companies like Uber, Thumbtack, and Stripe, and she decided she wanted to become an entrepreneur, but not in the typical Silicon Valley way. During our conversation, we talk about how her tech experience gives her a new perspective when looking at companies, red flags she’s seen looking at deals, how she seeks the truth from owners and brokers, helpful advice she’s received along the way, and her own advice learned through experience. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

Ross Brendel is the cofounder and managing partner of Westerly Group alongside cofounder Rich Littlehale. Westerly Group was founded on the principle of supporting acquisition entrepreneurs with committed, permanent capital to pursue a specific industry thesis over an indefinite time horizon. Groups they’ve invested in thus far have theses in the water industry, mission-critical B2B services, industrial services, and route-based and multi-site consumer businesses. Permanent capital and longer hold periods have become much more popular in recent years and Ross and Rich take an incredibly interesting and unique angle in their study and investing in the model.    In this conversation, Ross and I discuss Westerly’s permanent capital thesis and model, whether buying a business has become harder or easier and how to think about a purchase price with a longer term view, the types of entrepreneurs Westerly seeks to invest in, and nuanced advantages of committed capital in pursuing acquisitions.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

Ayo Phillips has the wildest story I’ve ever heard on the podcast. He’s from Nigeria, immigrated to the U.S. when he was young, worked in engineering before getting his MBA at Kellogg, acquired countertop and bathtub refinishing company called Perfect Surface in Houston while his wife had their second child in Chicago, and went on to discover major structural problems in the business including the use of strippers and suspicious financial activity. Oh, and he recently became a U.S. citizen. He has an incredible story we can all learn a lot from. In this episode we discuss his experience acquiring Perfect Surface, warning signs to look out for when buying a company, how he looks at hiring and growing his team, and so much more. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest, Mark Valdez, is starting a new permanent capital holding company called Eads Bridge Holdings to acquire small profitable, durable companies with a long-term focus. What I found so interesting about Mark is he began his career in venture capital and was one of the early employees at Andreesen Horrowitz, an extremely successful and storied venture capital firm. We talk about Mark’s time in venture and parallels to the search fund world, a thesis of Eads Bridge they are exploring, and how we might apply some elements of the venture capital content playbook to small company investing. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

Mark Hunter is a treasure trove of insights and stories from a career in micro private equity. Mark is a co-founder of KLH Capital in St. Petersburg, Florida and has been a part of deals all over the country from all walks of life. In this episode he shares many counter-intuitive methods he’s used in buying companies, how to develop emotional intelligence, be more thoughtful about who you work with, and what felt like dozens of stories buying and running companies. This conversation is loaded with advice and experience and I hope you walk away with a few ideas for your own life and career.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest, Kelcey Lehrich, is the co-founder of 365 Holdings, a firm that acquires and grows e-commerce brands with a focus on shared services and vertical integration. He and his firm view e-commerce with an interesting lens, one of their most interesting ideas being their view on product vs customer focused brands, which we dive into. During the episode, we discuss which services they began sharing across portfolio companies and the timing on when those became shared, a story of a failed e-commerce growth plan, building 365’s brand, and more.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest Ryan Callaghan and his partner Nick Parisi set out to finding an enduring business where the owner was in need of a transition and continue what they started. Through a friend of a friend they found a company named Oilstop and made it their first acquisition. Oilstop is a car service business on the west coast with 30 locations across 4 states and a strong customer focused culture. During this episode, Ryan and I dive into what makes Oilstop’s culture so unique and what he and Nick are looking to do next through their investment firm Cojourn.  For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

Rob LaBonne has been an entrepreneur his whole life. His early business pursuits include a small summer landscaping business, web development, and a tent rental business he owned for a brief period. He now works in his family’s 6th generation grocery business, LaBonne’s Markets, and recently purchased a self-storage business. Through our conversation we talk about the long history of his family’s business, stories and lessons his family has passed down to him, operating in the grocery industry and its razor thin margins, and why he loves jiu-jitsu.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Jason Hill. Jason acquired Precision Stoneworks, a custom countertop fabrication and installation business, from his father-in-law and now runs it as the CEO. Since acquiring, he’s been relentlessly focused on customer service, improving efficiencies in the company, and making sure employees have the tools they need to do their jobs. I loved learning from Jason’s experience constantly searching for a better tool and better way of operating.  And if heavy machinery is interesting to you, you’re in for a good one.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

I’ve had my guest, Nick Haschka, on once before for episode 5 and I wanted to have him on again to talk through a thesis of his more in depth. The core element of his thesis is acquiring a small company, between $200k and $500k in cash flow, quickly can often be more beneficial for someone looking to buy a business than going the traditional search route. This is the path he’s taken and so draws a lot from personal experience as well as deals he’s seen over time.    We talk about advantages and disadvantages of acquiring small, some unconventional ideas of his such as not using accountants or lawyers, unique items to look for in due diligence, and a few stories. If your plan is to acquire a company in the next few years, this is an idea you should listen to and pay some consideration. I hope you pull a few lessons from Nick’s thinking here.

My guest Mike Botkin has recently acquired a landscaping company in Orlando, FL called B&B Landscaping and has finished his first 30 days in the business. One unique aspect of his deal is he raised his equity entirely through Twitter, which we talk about at the end of the episode. Mike and I discuss why he decided to acquire a landscaping business, what he’s learning from the seller and employees as he’s getting adjusted to being the new owner, building trust with employees and customers, and the roll-up potential of other landscaping companies in his area.    If you’re about to acquire a company and are curious on what your first few weeks are going to be like in the company, this is an episode you have to listen to. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is John Wilson. John purchased his 3rd generation family business, Wilson Plumbing, which was started by his grandfather and has grown it from 4-5 plumbers to 20 and still growing strong. I’ve had guests with just one company and those with a half dozen companies or more. John’s in the middle and we spend some time talking about his evolution into a holding company role and desire to build a portfolio of companies.    We also talk about building his plumbing business, hiring and training new plumbers including how to walk up to a customer’s house, why plumbers often don’t make good managers, and how to scale a home services business. I learned a ton about the nuances of operating in this episode and I hope you take away a few great lessons from John’s experience so far.    For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Bill D’Alessandro, CEO of Elements Brands. Elements buys digitally native consumer brands and uses their expertise and playbook to scale them upward. Bill also co-hosts a podcast called Acquisitions Anonymous with Michael Girdley and Mills Snell, which I highly recommend checking out.   Bill and I talk about his experience starting a skin care brand while working in investment banking, why he decided to acquire more brands, the use of debt to acquire them, and the growing Elements Brands ecosystem. If you want to buy any online business, this episode is for you.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Matt Hinson. Matt is a director of corporate development at Orthopedic Care Partners, a private equity group focused on acquiring orthopedic surgery practices. Matt and I talk about how he acquires these practices, some operational improvements they apply in new acquisitions, how their strategy unlocks value for physicians, and how to hold onto physicians after buying their practice.    One last note, Matt recently published two articles on Substack, one about calculating working capital in a deal process and another about how a seller might rake you over the coals in a deal. I’m adding links to these in the show notes and I highly recommend reading them if you’re involved in acquiring small companies in any way. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

This is the second time I’ve had David Krock on the podcast, the first was episode 6 where we broadly discussed his investment firm, Sunset Coast Brands which has now become PermaVentures. This second episode with him goes off the beaten path a bit. We talk about his firm’s rebranding, his hospitality and wedding investments during 2020, a concept he calls serendipity-as-a-service and how he designs his companies to benefit from serendipitous moments, and a few things he’s learned from doing deals through two recessions.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Palmer Higgins, a founding partner of Chenmark along with Trish and James Higgins. I’ve had Trish on the podcast twice before, episodes 1 and 23, and in those episodes we talked about Chenmark as a whole and what they look for in companies.    In this episode with Palmer, we talk about his move to one of their operating companies, Mainely Grass, as CEO. We go over lessons learned as an operator, how he thinks about acquisitions differently now being in the seller’s shoes, how they are making Mainely Grass more efficient, tuck in acquisition opportunities, and what happened to his great podcast, Big Time Small Business.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

David Johnson started Northridge 4x4, a Jeep parts and accessories business, in his father’s garage and eventually hired his father and brother to help in the business. The company only grew from there and David has several great stories in his 20 years growing the business. Northridge also does most business online and so a good portion of our conversation revolves around running an e-commerce business model.    In the episode we talk about the hires he made to grow the company, why he still answers most emails from customers, how he hires skilled mechanics, and new ways and technologies to better serve and market to his customers.   For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest is Brandon Laughridge. Brandon lives in Kansas City and owns a property management company North Terrace and a furniture and home interior store Nell Hill’s, along with a growing real estate portfolio. This is the first episode on the podcast where we discuss how real estate overlaps with owning small companies, something I hadn’t spent much time thinking about until meeting Brandon. Those on Twitter will recognize Brandon as he has been a key contributor to SMB Twitter, perhaps most notably from a thread he did on what he believes is the most certain path to building a high net worth that I’ll link to in the show notes.   In addition to real estate and Twitter, we talk about using SBA loans to buy small companies, what drives key employees, and why Brandon moved away from online based businesses towards property management, home goods, and real estate.

My guest Matt Estep got his business start early in life when he started a go-kart manufacturing business in high school with dreams of eventually being a professional NASCAR driver. The business still exists today but Matt sold it with other plans in mind. Matt went to Harvard Business School, launched a search fund, and acquired Midwest Supplies. Following the sale of that business to a private equity group, Matt has invested in multiple other small companies and dozens of search funds. During the episode Matt and I talk about some of the changes and improvements he made in Midwest Supplies, a business of his that has struggled through COVID, what he looks for in new acquisitions, and some niche companies he’s found such as a fireworks retailer and a mall Santa business. This conversation was a fantastic blend of investing and operating and I hope you walk away with some great lessons from both sides. For the full episode transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest Aaron Green founded a staffing company called Professional Staffing Group, or PSG, in 1996. He has grown it along with 6 other related companies to just shy of $100m in revenue and 2,000 employees. Most of my guests operate small companies and PSG of course started small, but I wanted to learn from an owner who had managed to scale a company and their role in it over a long period of time. Frequent listeners of Think Like an Owner may notice a connection to previous guest Jared Henderson, CEO of Assist Services. Aaron is an investor in that company along with Tim Ludwig, who introduced me to both, and we chat briefly about the company near the end of our conversation. Over the course of the episode, we talk about hiring for growth, books and models for managing that have worked for Aaron, how he’s learned to delegate, and how he spends his time today as his company has grown. I learned a lot from this conversation with Aaron and I hope you walk away with a few lessons and insights too. For the full transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest, Mitchell Blackmon started Patriot Chimney, a chimney service and installation business in Roanoke, VA, last year with his brother Matt and his friend Billy. They have recently made their first hire and have another one coming shortly, a testament to the growth they’ve been experiencing. If you liked the recent episode with Rich Jordan, you’re going to like Mitchell’s story too as he’s thinking about many of the growing pains and plans. We talk about getting into college despite losing the opportunity to play college track & field due to an injury, starting a home cleaning business, how wrapping his trucks has brought in more customers, developing a new routing system, and how he’s hiring new employees. This episode is an example of what I love about the small business investing and operating space. Discovering new businesses and industries you never knew existed. I knew nothing about the chimney business and loved learning about it from Mitchell in this episode. I hope you find a few great takeaways from his story. For the full episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest on this episode is Lacey Wismer. Lacey runs her recently started search investment fund called Hunter Search Capital and has been conducting research on female searchers and unique challenges they encounter while seeking and operating a business. We talk extensively about women in search along with how she’s seen the model grow over her career, alternative models in search, constructing a searcher’s board, and how she’s instilling entrepreneurial values with her two daughters.  Speaking of, her 11 year old daughter has a bakery business for residents in the Park City, Utah area. If you live nearby, you can place an order on her website at bananasbakedgoods.com. She makes cupcakes, macarons, cakes and more, an entrepreneur in the making. This conversation was super interesting, thought-provoking, and fun and I hope you benefit from hearing her experience.  For the episode transcript and more, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest is Rich Jordan. Rich bought a home service plumbing business only a few short weeks ago in Pennsylvania. If you’re on Twitter, you might already be familiar with Rich as he has been tweeting about his time running the business and has been so much fun to follow. If you’re not already following him you’re missing out. During the episode we talk about Rich’s first few days in the business getting his hands dirty, fighting off competing offers for his plumbers from competitors, and a few moves he’s done to grow revenue 60% in only 8 weeks of ownership.  If you liked the Collin Hathaway episode from a few weeks ago you’re going to love this one as Rich reminds me of an early-days version of Collin. He is just getting started but has made tremendous progress already and I hope you enjoy getting to hear about his short journey so far.  For the full episode transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

My guest, Mark Sinatra, raised a traditional search fund with a partner in 2006 after graduated from Wharton and a year and a half later acquired an HR company called Staff One HR. I’ll let him tell the full story but there were significant ups and downs running the company including moving the company from Southern Oklahoma to Dallas, managing staff turnover of roughly 85% during that move, and losing their biggest customer who was 30% of their revenue. Despite those downs, the company grew significantly and led to a successful exit, leading eventually to what Mark focuses on today which is investing in search funds. During the episode, we also talk about hiring great employees, building culture in a growing organization, and advice to prospective searchers. Mark was very open in sharing his experience and I hope you find some great takeaways from his story. For the full transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

A.J. Gordon runs Gordon Aluminum in Schofield, WI, a company that was founded by his grandfather, passed to A.J.’s father, and eventually to A.J. himself. The company has a fascinating story told in great detail that includes machines breaking down, closing business lines, multiple recessions, and a lightning strike that set fire to their offices and burned their computers and data, forcing them to start from scratch. This is a story about a company and family’s will to survive, rebuild, flourish, and constantly improve. We also talk about lessons passed down to A.J. by his father and grandfather, what he’s teaching his kids from his experience, and the stress and excitement in running a company with a storied history. For the full episode transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.

I interview many folks with unique backgrounds and Jared is among the most unique. Jared worked at NASA, then McKinsey, got his MBA at Harvard, then alternated between working at McKinsey and Teach for America, ran for governor of Arkansas, and last year became the CEO of Assist Services. Assist is a Portland based transportation company for underprivileged children to help them get to and from school and other important locations. Jared is leading Assist Services to become a nationwide company, all remotely from his home in Arkansas. I’ve been very excited to have him as a guest because of his focus on social missions, building a great team to serve a very vulnerable group, and expanding a storied regional company to a national level. Enjoy the episode. For the full episode transcript and more information, visit alexbridgeman.com/podcast.