My guest on this episode is Brendan Anderson. Brendan started his post-banking entrepreneurial career by acquiring Stam, Inc., which manufactures custom bent tubing before founding a private equity firm called ScaleCo where he has raised three funds and acquired 21 companies to date.

He built his career by being an operator first and learned to become an investor, a path that's given them a big leg up when talking to other CEOs and potential sellers. One subject I've wanted to study more deeply is building a team that naturally attracts great people, and this is a major topic of our discussion and something Brendan has given a lot of thought to.

We also talk about the use of debt combined with long term investment time horizons, how they facilitate data and information sharing across the portfolio, and what the top idea on his mind is today.

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Links:

Brendan on LinkedIn

ScaleCo

Patrick Lencioni Books

Gino Wickman books

Topics:

(4:21) - Are there any market indicators you focus on that have broad implications for your portfolio of companies

(5:31) - Where do your CEOs get most of their information?

(6:37) - How are you bringing your companies together to share best practices?

(8:40) - Can you walk us through the TAC method?

(13:47) - Brendan’s background and career

(23:16) - What were some notable misses you’ve seen across your 3 funds and what did you learn from them?

(27:16) - How do you find great talent locally in your area?

(29:35) - How do you think about scaling your recruiting pipeline?

(31:03) - How do you retain great people?

(33:52) - What is the “fund route” you offer people?

(34:52) - Are there career advancement opportunities for people working in your portfolio who may want to jump to another company under your umbrella?

(35:49) - How does your mindset shift when you’re operating with a long-term hold mindset rather than selling within a few years?

(37:30) - What kind of freedom does someone at a ScaleCo company have relative to working elsewhere?

(39:03) - How do you view debt within a long-term time horizon?

(42:19) - What's the top-of-mind idea for you right now?

(43:36) - What college class would you teach if it could be on any subject?

(46:52) - What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?

(47:55) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?