Podcast appearances and mentions of colin keeley

Colin and Brent discuss their wins and losses and lessons learned in the last year.Colin's lessons learned in year 1: https://www.colinkeeley.com/blog/hard-lessons-learned-scaling-a-startupWant to get my best breakdowns for free? Grab them here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at HireinSouth.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

saas.unbound is a podcast for and about founders who are working on scaling inspiring products that people love, brought to you by https://saas.group/, a serial acquirer of B2B SaaS companies. Episode 27 is the special episode where Tim Schumacher takes over the hosting of the podcast to welcome Colin Keeley, Co-Founder of Verne, buying SaaS companies. -----------Episode's Chapters----------- 00:00 - Introduction to Verne 06:44 - Improving Acquired Companies 14:03 - Labor Costs and Global Talent Acquisition 20:00 - Balancing Multiple Ventures and Focus Areas Tim Schumacher - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timschumacher/ Colin Keeley - https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinkeeley/ Subscribe to our channel to be the first to see the interviews that we publish twice a week - https://www.youtube.com/@saas-group Stay up to date: Twitter: https://twitter.com/SaaS_group LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/14790796

Colin and Brent discuss how Luca Ferrari & Bending Spoons built its holding company.Colin's breakdown of Bending Spoons: https://www.colinkeeley.com/blog/bending-spoons-operating-manualWant to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss great books, customer support, tech diligence, a Latin American staffing firm.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss lawsuits and ransoms they've dealt with and seen.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's learnings from Capital Camp 2024 and tough debt turnarounds.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how they are using AI to write code and do marketing for their software companies.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Brent's secret club, visiting Austin, launching a Latin American staffing company, and managing remote teams.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss the process of adding services to grow their software business. Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterHire top 1% remote talent in Latin America at JulesHQ.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss implementing Traction / EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) at their software company.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss 2023's wins, losses, and learnings building a software holding company.Want to get more breakdowns? Subscribe to my free newsletter here: https://www.colinkeeley.com/newsletterEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin Keeley is the co-founder of Verne, a holding company for SaaS businesses, and the creator of IndiePE, a course for people to learn how to buy their first small business. This episode is a great primer on hold co's and buying online SMBs for those interested in the space. — (00:27) Colin's background (01:00) What attracted him to hold co's & buying SaaS (01:40) Why the partnership with his co-founder works (02:34) Investment thesis (03:37) The investment he's most excited about (04:12) Dream investment (05:42) Why SaaS (06:46) What he's learned from Andrew Wilkinson and Mark Leonard (08:27) Proprietary deal flow (09:46) Why he creates content (10:53) 80/20 on due diligence (12:48) How to avoid sunk costs in deal negotiation (14:00) Ensuring a smooth transition post-acquisition (16:49) How to scale and delegate (18:10) What can be taught about buying SMBs (19:51) How people should get into the space (21:20) Building gradually (24:10) Biggest challenges (25:02) Missing infrastructure in SMB acquisitions (27:37) The biggest reason they'll succeed (28:21) His definition of success (29:08) How having a kid has changed his thinking about work (31:04) His early parenting advice (32:28) Final question & the work he's done to figure out what game he wants to play in life — Spencer's Twitter: https://twitter.com/sp1ns1r Spencer's blog: https://spencerkier.substack.com/ Colin's Twitter: https://twitter.com/ColinKeeley Verne: https://www.vernehq.com/ IndiePE: https://www.indiepe.com/

In this episode we go full send on the business side of IndieRails and explore with Colin how buying/selling a small SAAS works (as small as a couple of hundred MRR to 5m ARR) and the differences in building a company and buying.Colin shares his knowledge and experience in going from many startup attempts to now buying multiple established software companies through his holding company Verne.  Colin Keeley on TwitterIndiePE.com (courses)ColinKeeley.com (writing)Verne (holding company)Scout, Ottomatik and Blinksale5:40 - Seller Financing8:40 - Selling a business9:02 - Why buy vs build?11:15 - Are you a starter or a scaler?12:30 - Getting experience running a saas as a developer13:34 - Buying/Selling example breakdown15:00 - ROI on buying a business (double your money slide)15:50 - Brokers and Marketplaces acquire.com16:05 - How to make your company attractive to PE17:25 - How much cash would you need to buy a business?18:23 - SBA Loans18:45 - How to raise money?19:40 - Constellation Software20:55 - Partial / Minority Equity21:30 - Due diligence21:54 - How do you find a partner?22:40 - Andrew Wilkinson & Chris Sparling23:50 - Due diligence on the deal side (course & community)24:30 - Working in an industry that you know. “All software tastes like chicken.”25:30 - Game plan after acquisition27:55 - Customer trust: in brand or person/founder?30:10 - Marketing and Using Twitter31:00 - https://typefully.com/ (writing threads)31:45 - Promotional channels32:45 - What should you be building right now?

Colin and Brent discuss how to self-fund / bootstrap the perfect startup from $0 to $1m in ARR and whether you need a technical co-founder. Enroll in Colin's "How To Buy a Small Business" Course & Community and SaaS Growth Playbook.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss niching down a software business to own one space to grow faster. https://www.blinksale.comEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Andrew Wilkinson and Chris Sparling going public and how to structure a holding company with LLCs, C-Corps, QSBS, and more.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss a competitor being bought and how Constellation buys so many companies.Sorry for the echo on Brent's audio. We switched to Riverside for this recording and had some issues. I fixed it as much as I could.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss 2022's wins, losses, and learnings building a software holding company.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how to build trust to close deals with sellers and investors.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss transitioning and growing Scout since they bought it.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss buying Scout, the leading dog walking and pet sitting software.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss growing a business with a broken funnel, buying the rights to an out-of-print book, and $20k AWS bill.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss growing a business with a broken funnel, buying the rights to an out-of-print book, and $20k AWS bill.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

SaaS Acquisitions w/ Colin Keeley, Founder at Verne (MicroAcquire'd 2x) Colin Keeley: https://twitter.com/ColinKeeley https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinkeeley/ https://www.vernehq.com/ https://www.blinksale.com/ (1st Microacquire'd Business) Andrew Gazdecki: https://twitter.com/agazdecki https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/ https://microacquire.com/

Colin and Brent discuss how they conduct due diligence and simplifying the legal side of acquisitions.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss pros and cons of venture capital, private equity, and startup studios.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Brent's experience at the Holding Company conference and their most recent dead deal.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Most of this comes from the book: “Cable Cowboy: John Malone and the Rise of the Modern Cable Business” by Mark Robichaux  “The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success” by William Thorndike John Malone Operating ManualEnroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss their deep work approach, productivity hacks, and sleep trainingSnoo Smart Sleeper Baby Bassinet Brent reviews.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss their content consumption and creation and why they spend so much time thinking about it.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss buying companies in a downturn and Colin's new cohort-based course.Sign up for Colin's cohort-based course on acquisitions. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Jon Matzner is the CEO of Garage Excell, a garage remodeling and organization specialists based out of Southern California. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss their failure to hire virtual assistants in the past and how they plan to do better next time.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss whether they should restart an earlier project, balancing internal and external work, and audience building on Twitter.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Acquisition Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss the podcast's new name, baremetrics price increase, Twitter hostile takeover, & product improvements. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's experience buying ads for his micro-pe course and thoughts around buying non-internet businesses.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin Keeley is an entrepreneur, investor and co-founder of Verne. He works in the micro-private equity space, acquiring small, profitable software companies and watching them grow. Although, it's actually not that simple. In this episode, Jon and Colin chat about the micro-private equity space, why so many investors are taking notice, and where there's money to be made. Colin Keeley: Linkedin | Twitter | Instagram | Website Visit JonDavids.com for more info. And follow Jon across social: Twitter - @realjondavids (twitter.com/realjondavids) Instagram - @jon_davids (instagram.com/jon_davids) LinkedIn - @jondavids (linkedin.com/in/jondavids)

Colin and Brent discuss how to increase prices and keep customers happyReach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how to raise money & find investors for private equity deals.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss their latest acquisition, leverage, and danger of building in public.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how to do acquisition due diligence and smoothly transition a business. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how and why to use debt to buy a business and different options for offering it. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss how and why to use debt to buy a business and different options for offering it. Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin Keeley is a founder at Verne with a focus on giving SaaS founders straightforward dream exits. Colin Keeley: https://twitter.com/ColinKeeley https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinkeeley/ https://www.vernehq.com/ Andrew Gazdecki https://twitter.com/agazdecki https://www.linkedin.com/in/agazdecki/ https://microacquire.com/

Future of Micro Acquisitions Course, Knees Over Toes, & Tech SavingsReach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Brent' family building, standard operating procedures, DeFi issues, and productized technical diligence.Reach out if you want some tech and product diligence done.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's operating manual for Joe Liemandt (ESW Capital) Operating Manual.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss what it took to give a redesign to Blinksale and what they would have done differently.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback.Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss what Colin has learned over the last week by doing a deep dive into crypto and DeFi.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss hiring employees abroad, structuring value-add, & buying companies with PipeEnroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's operating manual for Robert F. Smith & Vista Equity Partners with $75m AUM.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss problems with a startup studio, setting up internal services in PE, and different value-add structures.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss discuss Colin's new micro-pe course and community and deal sourcing with outbound vs inbound. Pre-order Colin's Micro-PE Course at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Hi, I'm Andrew Pierno from XOXO Capital. Today on Fund Stuff Episode 3, we're talking with Verne (https://www.vernehq.com/) about micro private equity, venture studios and more!

Colin and Brent discuss discuss crowdfunding a micro PE deal from users and the public.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss discuss how to structure a private equity fund after speaking with LPs.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's operating manual for Constellation Software, owner for 500+ software companies.Enroll in Colin's Micro-PE Course & Community at IndiePE.com.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Colin Keeley, co-founder of Verne, a holding company for SaaS businesses. In our conversation, we covered: What makes a SaaS business attractive Verne's playbook post-close Sizing up the software market A SaaS business case study The opportunity to automate back-office tasks --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/the-circle-of-competence/support

Colin and Brent discuss micro-pe deal process, evergreen fund structures, and investing in funds.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss stepping off the VC treadmill, the Micro-PE course production and dealing with lawyers.Bryan Johnson (Braintree & Kernel) podcastReach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss Colin's Micro-PE course production and buying vs building Shopify apps. Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss the different places to find businesses to buy and the pros and cons of each.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss building a magnet for cool people, protecting your most valuable resource, and Basecamp's drama of the week.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss opportunities in micro-pe and picking our niche.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

Colin and Brent discuss opportunity in niche SaaS companies, avoiding analysis paralysis, and tactics to be present in life.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Sell your SaaS at VerneHQ.com 

When it launched 25 years ago, the University of Chicago's New Venture Challenge (NVC) was a pioneer in helping business school students get their startups off the ground.Now the program is consistently ranked as the nation's top university accelerator, with its alumni companies having raised nearly $2 billion in capital and achieved more than $8.5 billion in mergers and exits. Podcast host and Chicago Booth alum Colin Keeley, MBA '19, interviews three key leaders responsible for the success of the NVC: Steve Kaplan, Neubauer Family Distinguished Service Professor of Entrepreneurship and Finance at Booth and Kessenich E.P. Faculty Director at the Polsky Center; Ellen Rudnick, the first executive director of the Polsky Center and currently a professor of entrepreneurship at Booth; and Mark Tebbe, who served as an NVC judge and mentor for years before joining the Booth faculty and Polsky Center as an entrepreneur-in-residence.They dish about what distinguishes the NVC, a yearlong class capped off with a business plan competition, and how it evolved.“What is I think really differentiating about us, and I'm sort of puzzled more people don't do it, is presenting early to really smart people and to a bunch of them,” Kaplan said. “And we have now somewhere between 10 and 20 people in the room who are entrepreneurs or investors, and you really get just — bludgeoned is probably the wrong word. You get intense criticism. And it is so healthy to get that intense criticism early, because you find out where your weaknesses are.”

Colin Keeley is the co-founder and operator of a number of companies, including Avocado, Formulated, and now Blinksale. After college, Colin worked as a Product Manager & Marketing Manager at Luma.Tv and then ran Geneva Denim for a stretch before heading to business school at the University of Chicago. During business school, Colin launched Bevy, a sharing economy startup that allowed customers to rent anything. He also launched The Tech In Chicago Podcast, the first Chicago-focused early-stage podcast.Matt caught up with Colin Keeley to discuss his latest entrepreneurial endeavors, Avocado and Formulated. They also discussed the process of starting a podcast, his plans for scaling his Micro-PE model, and the flywheel effect of big exits in Chicago.Key Takeaways Micro-PE has a boringness discount. All these startups that grow super fast, they're super sexy. But, you can actually buy product-market fit and recurring revenue for a pretty low multiple, if it isn't one of these sexy startups in a sexy space. There is an opportunity around the $100-200K MRR range, where a single developer has built something that has real product-market fit, hundreds of customers, but they don't really have that skill-set to take it to the next level. They don't have the skillset to put the processes in place or any real best practices for sales and marketing.  Audio courses are designed for a clear return on investment. They take you from A to Z in learning. You could get the same knowledge from podcasts, but you spend a lot more time doing that. People sell audio courses for that ROI and to get consumers from A to Z. Podcasts are driven by advertisements. Joe Rogan is incentivized to have a three-hour podcast so he can fit in an hour of ads. Chicago needs bigger exits. It's a flywheel - we need more people that have good outcomes that come back and become angel investors. It's progressing. We took a few steps back during COVID, but Chicago has a lot going for it. Please Enjoy!Colin's Social, Podcasts, and Companies: Linkedin  Twitter Tech in Chicago  Creator Stories,  Avocado  Formulated Blinksale  Podcast recommendations from Colin: My First Million  Let's Buy a Business. Chicago Food Recommendations:  The Weiners Circle,  Athenian Room  Big Star.  Manifold Group is a venture holding company based in Chicago with offices in Dallas, Los Angeles, and soon Atlantic Canada. Early stage private investments represent an extraordinary investment opportunity, but existing investment models in the space leave much to be desired. Manifold is a new model for growth in the new economy, designed to create and capture value at the early stage through synergies across its venture fund, incubation and acceleration studio, and advisory firm. Learn more about Manifold at https://www.manifold.group.

Colin and Brent discuss infrastructure needed to do more deals, startup studio vs holding company talent, and exploring a permanent equity structure.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss continuing to improve what we do best and building out our team of contractors.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss how to treat customers on old plans, measuring what matters, the beauty of Stripe.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss why we bought Blinksale, concerns on the deal, and the plan for more acquisitions.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss sourcing the first deal, timeline on diligence and closing, and managing the transition. Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss indemnification and liability caps, starting with a business coach, Roam & daily journalingReach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss the messy market of small acquisitions, standardized docs for transactions, automation & design sprints.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss the opportunities around OnlyFans, business vs athletics coaching, mentors and therapy.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss the SBA loan process, micro private equity, and management after purchasing.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin & Brent discuss nootropics, fractional employees, & ClubhouseReach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Colin and Brent discuss the story of BuiltWith, working with a VA, building, boting, or buying.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Brent and Colin discuss the popular trends we disagree with, favorite finds of the the year, and predictions for 2021.Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Brent and Colin discuss the struggles of Knowable, an audio course competitor, and what that means for us and the broader audio market. Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com. 

Brent and Colin discuss how good transcriptions have gotten and the fun possibilities that come with it.  Reach out to Colin Keeley and Brent Sanders on Twitter with any feedback. Publish and sell your audio courses on AvocadoAudio.com.