Talking Billions with Bogumil Baranowski

Whit Huguley: The Microcap Hunter - The Quest for America's Most Overlooked Companies - How a New Orleans fund manager applies private equity rigor to $30-600M market cap gems

26 snips
Aug 25, 2025
Whit Huguley, founder and portfolio manager of River Oaks Capital, dives into the intriguing world of microcap investments. He shares his journey from a startup employee to applying private equity-like rigor in analyzing companies with market caps between $30M and $600M. Huguley discusses the importance of personal CEO meetings and the virtues of 'A-plus leadership' in driving company success. He highlights the evolving landscape of public companies and encourages thorough due diligence to uncover hidden gems in the market.
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ANECDOTE

First Visit That Changed Everything

  • Whit's first company visit revealed few investors ever met management and annual meetings were sparsely attended.
  • That experience convinced him boots-on-the-ground due diligence would be his edge in microcaps.
ANECDOTE

Private Equity Training Applied Publicly

  • Whit describes his private equity role buying minority stakes and doing full deal-level due diligence.
  • He carried that same private-equity rigor into public microcap investing despite buying small stakes.
ADVICE

Meet CEOs Face-to-Face

  • Meet management in person and judge if they speak like business owners, not salespeople.
  • Prioritize CEOs who show humility, professional will, and deep operational candor.
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