Ep.189: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Dave Thrasher (@dave-thrasher).

My guest on this episode is Dave Thrasher who along with his family in Omaha owns Thrasher, a foundation repair business with three core business units: a wholly owned foundation repair brand, an acquisition strategy of non-Thrasher branded services businesses, and Supportworks which sells industry products and offers training to customers on running more successful businesses. It’s a fascinating collection of family-owned businesses with no intention of selling.

We talk about how their never-sell mentality influences the use of debt, and profitability while scaling, and how it’s changed Dave’s role as CEO over time. Please enjoy my episode with Dave Thrasher.

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Links:

Thrasher Group

Thrasher Foundation Repair

Supportworks

The Ideal Team Player by Pat Lencioni

Great by Choice by Jim Collins

Books by Dr. Henry Cloud

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

The Infinite Game by Simon Sinek

Topics:

(00:03:57) The timeline of the Thrasher family businesses and how they interact with each other

(00:10:05) Thrasher’s acquisition strategy & mindset changes to fast track growth

(00:13:41) Ongoing evolutions to Dave’s role to become more effective

(00:18:04) Transition points in Dave’s role as the business has grown

(00:20:34) Self-evaluation strategies

(00:22:07)Lessons from being an effective CEO

(00:23:58) Becoming more comfortable with giving and receiving feedback

(00:27:41) Finding the balance between growth and profitability

(00:33:02) Becoming an effective user of debt

(00:34:58) Developing a 100-year plan for a business

(00:39:03) Headcount driving revenue vs. revenue driving headcount

(00:41:28) What to look for in hiring

(00:46:00) How core values from Thrasher are aligned with acquired companies

(00:48:14) Questions to ask when determining if a potential acquisition will be a good fit

(00:52:32) M&A rabbit holes

(00:55:40) Overcoming deal fatigue

(00:57:32) What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?

(00:59:28) What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?