Claim OwnershipBuyers and Builders
Subscribed: 12Played: 378
Subscribe
© 2026 Buyers and Builders
Description
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!
162 Episodes
Reverse
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:...
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:...
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...
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...
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 ...
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...
Mike Markus ( https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks with Eric Wiklendt of Speyside Equity ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericwiklendt/ ) about Eric's journey and how Speyside has built a highly operational lower-middle-market private equity firm with $937 million of assets under management, 38 total investments, 20 platform investments, operations across 19 countries, and portfolio companies generating approximately $2 billion in revenue. Timestamps: 0:00 Why Eric loves messy manufacturing d...
Mike Markus ( https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks with Kaido Veske of Livonia Partners ( https://www.livoniapartners.com/ ) about Kaido’s journey from working at a mid-cap private equity firm in the US to returning to Europe, raising a fund that now manages nearly $200 million, and completing 16 acquisitions to date. 0:00 Why start a fund 2:56 Wharton and early US exposure 3:39 US finance years and coming back to Europe 6:03 Livonia today: focus and deal size 7:06 Minority and majority de...
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. Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:36 Why CapitalPad exists 3:08 Platform walkthrough 5:22 Lessons from the first 10 deals 7:16 What a typical deal looks like 9:10 Vetting sponsors/searchers 12:44 Investor improvement and portfolio construction 1...
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. 0:00 Deal-by-Deal vs Fund Life 3:48 Operator Mindset in the Low...
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. 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, whos...
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. Show notes: 0:00 Millen Rastogi 1:05 From Deutsche Bank to home care 4:30 Walking into a mess 13:26 Funding the early years 19:54 Growth numbers + COVID hit 23:02 Margins and revenue 25:50 Building the platform to buy 27:17 First acquisition 30:56 Seller f...
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. Show notes: 0:00 Independent sponsor jump 3:38 Origin story 8:04 First acquisition 10:15 The motor coach platform 14:36 Deal #1 terms 18:46 Early wins 26:22 Fundraising lesson 29:44 Deal #2 raise in chaos 35:17 Platform strategy 40:41 Endgame Sponsors: https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal privat...
The lower middle market runs on trust and relationship building. 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. This is a story about credibility over capital, why bad packaging can kill deals, and how prepar...
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. Snow notes: 0:00 From rural Mexico to more than 30 acquisitions 4:00 Buy-and-build thesis 6:45 Funding the first deals 11:55 The 100-day integration playbook 19:00 Using AI to scale operations and service quality 32:05 Deal sourcing at scale without spam 37:05 Man...
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. Snow notes: 0:00 Christa’s $15M to $200M scaling story 2:30 FBI operator lessons 3:37 Jump to a search fund and move to rural Virginia 11:51 First acquisition and integration learning curve 17:28 Culture reset and global expansion via acquisitions 20:05 Post acquisition playbook 23:08 7 total acquisitions a...
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. Show notes: 0:00 Special situations in the lower middle market 6:18 The perfect business is getting paid for your words and gaining access 9:44 Coordination problems and forced sellers creat...
Mike Markus ( https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy ) talks to Jeremy Yamaguchi ( https://x.com/jeremyyamaguchi ) about how he acquired 10 companies in 18 months. Show notes: 0:00 How Jeremy built and exited 3 home services businesses 5:48 Why “boring” home services were a massive tech opportunity 8:11 Why he chose venture for Lawn Love + the YC story 12:41 Why home services are still wildly fragmented and why most founders misunderstand the space 13:59 Sponsor: CapitalPad (backing searchers + prop...
This one hire is something all profitable, cash-flowing traditional businesses can do. Yes, it can be a significant investment -- great specialists aren’t cheap -- but in the right setup, it can completely change the trajectory of a company. I share two real-world examples of owner-operated, non-glamorous businesses that hired a Chief Investment Officer to professionally manage excess cash. In both cases, capital allocation quietly became the dominant profit engine, generating the majority o...
In this episode, Todd Saunders shares how one small group of customers with much better retention changed the direction of his entire business. Instead of chasing trends or going broader, he went deep into a simple, overlooked niche -- independent flooring retailers -- and ended up building the core software used across the industry. Todd explains why brand and community mattered more than features, how Facebook groups and events became his main growth drivers, and how that approach helped h...
Comments
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States