My conversation today is with Mike Boyd. Mike is originally from Brisbane, Australia and currently lives in Singapore where he runs one of the leading car rental comparison websites in the world - Vroom, Vroom, Vroom, among other portfolio companies. He has been an entrepreneur for virtually his entire life, starting at a very young age. Mike built on his experience starting businesses and has evolved to buying them whole. Today he invests his own money, permanent capital, into digital-only companies and intangibles globally, with the goal being to build a portfolio of cash-flow producing companies for the very long term.

Our conversation includes discussion on his early entrepreneurial stories, how he became CEO at such a young age, what he looks for in digital investments, and his experience building a remote team. This one, and our prior phone call, are two of the most memorable conversations I've had about business and investing. I hope once you finish listening, you will feel the same way.

I got to know Mike after he reached out over Twitter after seeing my conversation with Trish Higgins and was very generous with his time and experience. If you work in micro private equity or permanent capital, or know someone who does, please feel free to reach out through my website or Twitter - I'd love to have a conversation.

Links mentioned

Mudbrick Capital

video on future of workplaces

Vroom Vroom Vroom

Upwork

CEO AMA

Hiccup Insurance

CarHire

Envato

Show notes

0:00 Introduction

1:49 Early entrepreneurial businesses, keg rental business, video on future of workplaces

2:15 Planning 18th birthday party

4:50 Decision to start keg rental business, Coolybar Keg Hire

6:50 Story about inbox filled with orders for keg rentals, top of Google results for “keg hire Brisbane”

8:40 Evolving beyond college, moving from Brisbane to Singapore, started non-profit called The Hive

10:20 Getting to know various entrepreneurs through starting non-profit program, mentorship

11:45 Using photos to market Coolybar Keg Hire

12:12 Digital/social media consulting

12:50 Vroom Vroom Vroom opportunity

13:30 Owners of Vroom Vroom Vroom reached out

15:26 Offered, and accepted, to run Vroom Vroom Vroom as CEO

17:01 Starting adding/fixing processes within the company, scaled

21:20 Frequently seeing poor business skills within digital world

22:10 Discussion on why only digital companies, finding these companies, filtering

23:28 Vroom Vroom Vroom business model

25:45 Why Mike moved to Singapore, remote workforce

27:30 Training freelancers for remote work 

28:50 CEO AMA’s, http://ceoama.co/

33:40 Sourcing acquisitions and deals, finding new digital companies, filtering

34:25 Hiccup insurance

35:44 Mudbrick Capital, private company diversification

36:20 Finding opportunities in digital intangible space

38:05 Types of digital companies sought out

40:12 Challenges in reinvesting capital in digital companies

42:20 Types of companies found, examples, transacting sellers

45:40 Purchase price multiples 

48:00 Example prospective acquisition company

52:30 Demographics of owners

53:27 Benefits of permanent capital for sellers, Mudbrick value proposition to sellers

57:54 Reasons why digital companies with great economics don’t receive higher multiples than 2-4 times EBITDA

1:01:08 Add backs/withdrawals from EBITDA to get to true “owner earners”

1:04:02 Reinvestment risk, if Mudbrick Capital is in part solution to this risk

1:07:01 Carhire

1:09:38 Can only really reinvest in marketing when it comes to digital companies

1:10:26 Most fortunate event to have happened that was completely by chance

1:16:34 Best business you’ve ever seen, Envato