Mark Brooks is Chief Operating Officer and Co-President of Permanent Equity - a firm that invests with no intention of selling in small and medium-sized private businesses. In his role, Mark and his team are responsible for the operations of PE's 13 (and counting) portfolio companies spanning multiple industries including aerospace, construction, manufacturing, ad tech, and professional services.On this episode, Mark & Chris discuss:➡️ what makes a great and a terrible manager➡️ how Mark manages owners of acquired businesses➡️ how to create alignment and incentives➡️ why Management is not a TradeWe'd appreciate you filling out our audience survey, so we can continuously work on providing relevant content to our listeners. https://www.thefortpod.com/surveyAdditional Resources👉 Permanent Equity👉Mark on Twitter👉The Permanent Equity PodcastTimestamps(00:03:05) Mark’s career at AOL and The Motley Fool(00:08:21) What is a good manager and what is a bad manager?(00:11:29) What does your role look like at PE?(00:17:37) What’s the cadence of communications with the businesses under PE?(00:23:14) Are there cues in conversations with owners of a potential acquisition that put a deal in question?(00:25:07) Do any of the businesses you buy already have a board in place?(00:27:03) How do you handle owners who may not be as open to being managed?(00:31:22) How do you incentivize owners differently than other Private equity shops?(00:39:22) The 'Working with Mark' document(00:43:41) Management is not a trade(00:48:53) Do you agree that people leave managers, not companies?(00:51:23) What’s the difference between a Manager and a Principal?(00:56:03) What do you use in addition to personality tests to identify talent?(01:01:11) How do you play out a scenario when you have two equals in a business and need to have one move up to manage the other?(01:07:23) How do you know you’ve struck a balance between being too flat and being too management-heavy?(01:12:17) How do you create alignment and incentives for teams that may not necessarily be impacting the bottom line?(01:22:39) Why are incentives so much easier to understand in hindsight?(01:27:34) What should the communication cadence between managers and teams look like?(01:30:39) True Management is an inversion➡️ Fort Capital: https://bit.ly/FortCapital➡️ Follow Fort Capital on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/fort-capital/🐦 Follow Chris on Twitter: https://bit.ly/3BYIjcH💡 Follow Chris on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/➡️ Sign Up for our Newsletter: https://newsletter.thefortpod.com/📹 Subscribe to The FORT on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3oynxNX--The FORT Podcast with Chris Powers is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about entrepreneurship, real estate, investing, and more.Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!The FORT is produced by Johnny Podcasts

My guest on this episode is Mark Brooks, Managing Director of Permanent Equity. Mark leads Permanent Equity’s post-close operations team, partnering with company leaders to overcome challenges and unlock growth.Mark is a really reflective person, which you can tell from his writing on Twitter. He's thought very deeply about management and creating transformative teams, and this conversation is dense with value and insights. This episode is a fantastic dive into all things management, including brevity and effective communication, creating an environment that encourages debate and disagreement, and why great teams are crucial to combat process depreciation.Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn.Links:Mark on LinkedInPermanent EquityMark on TwitterMargin call scene: Explain it to me as if I were a childMorgan HouselBen ThompsonMatt Levine on BloombergTopics:(2:58) - How important is brevity internally in business?(8:17) - When you think about writing key messages, how would you coach communicating via email?(10:10) - How do you share ideas across companies?(13:10) - How do you make sure your companies aren’t reliant on one person?(17:13) - Is there a long term goal that operators should aim for in terms of the decisions they have to make?(19:37) - Healthy laziness in delegation(23:14) - How do you best shift the mindset of a new manager to think more about team performance vs. their individual performance?(26:40) - What are some common character traits of leaders who are great delegators?(28:23) - Building a team for space and for stress(31:45) - How do you evaluate a candidate’s ability to build a team?(33:26) - When you bring in new managers, are there common behaviors or patterns that need to be adjusted?(35:59) - The depreciation of processes(38:38) - How do you create a culture where employees feel comfortable disagreeing with management?(41:48) - How do you try to pinpoint holes in your own processes and methods?(44:34) - Of the highest performing operators you’ve seen, are there any consistencies in their daily routines?(47:55) - What’s a strongly held belief you’ve changed your mind on?(50:25) - What’s the best business you’ve ever seen?(52:10) - Which newsletter writers do you really admire?

Mark Brooks, Managing Director of Permanent Equity, shares insights on their innovative investment strategy that focuses on debt-free acquisitions. He explains the unique 30-year fund model and why it diverges from traditional private equity. The conversation discusses how they identify key business metrics and the importance of aligning incentives with cash flow rather than EBITDA. Mark also delves into managing post-sale relationships and the significance of maintaining seller engagement for long-term success. A compelling look at sustainable business growth!

You have a unique set of strengths but you might not know what they are. Because we don’t recognize these "subconscious gifts" we don't know how to flex them effectively. Mark Brooks and David Cover talk about how you can see your strengths and unlock them in yourself and in others.   LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions  Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletters Connect with Mark on twitter https://twitter.com/markbrooks  Connect with Mark on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/markbrooks1/  Connect with David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover Connect with David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/  Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more   TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Intro 1:20 David Confronts a Coworker Again 2:59 Subconscious Gifts: What Are We Even Talking About? 8:12 Why You Have Success: Seeing The Matrix 12:41 You Might Not Know Your Greatest Strength 17:15 How to See Your Hidden Strengths 19:42 David’s Never Seen Good Will Hunting & Thinks Paul Simon is Just Ok  20:36 David Tries to Identify Mark’s Subconscious Gifting 26:25 Why We Have Conflict and Disconnects at Work 31:54 Your Gifts Are Rare, Your Weaknesses Aren’t 38:34 Questions for Reflection: How to Identify Subconscious Gifts 42:56 Send This Podcast to Someone 43:46 Moment of Compliance Zen   EPISODE CREDITS Produced by David Cover Additional editing & mixing by Ryan Lipman Intro music by David Cover, Andy Freeman, & Wes White Outro music by Daniele Musto Moment of Compliance Zen music by Shimmer   WE STEWARD COMPANIES THAT CARE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT  Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter  Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions  Check out our other podcast episodes here: https://www.permanentequity.com/audio   LEGAL DISCLAIMER This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one or more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.  

Luca interviews Mark Brooks of Permanent Equity, discussing the balance between rule breakers and rule makers for business growth, evolving skills with age, effective people management strategies, navigating information overload, and unlocking employee potential through role changes.