Top M&A Entrepreneurs

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Roman Beylin is the founder of DueDilio, an M&A due diligence marketplace as well as publisher of The Business Inquirer newsletter.  He began his career in investment management and moved to investment banking.  In 2013 he caught the entrepreneurial bug and co-founded one of the first alternative data consulting firms counting some of the most well-known hedge funds as clients.  After a few years, he sold that business and since then has been active in the Entrepreneurs through Acquisition space working full-time on DueDilio, The Business Inquirer as well as some smaller projects.  He resides in Boston, MA. Questions to Roman / Chapters Time Stamps00:00  Intro to Top M&A Entrepreneurs 00:37  Intro to our guest: Roman Beylin founder of DueDilio  - No Deal Better than Bad Deal02:00  How he started DueDilio  & The Business Inquirer05:00  His first acquisition - a resume business - due diligence on acquisition06:18  Marketplace's - Airbnb, LinkedIn, eBay - how is it going with DueDilio07:30  The process of finding a DD service provider on DueDilio09:40  What will we spend on Due Diligence...and timing?11:11  Does buyer have blanket NDA with service provider or do they sign one with seller too - who handles the DD requests with seller?13:40   Does service provider provide opinion (go/no go) on business?14:50   What type of analysis / research does DD service provider offer - most requested?16:15   How long does due diligence take - high end / low end?17:25   How detailed does Due Diligence Service Provider get with financials?19:28   When is a full Quality of Earnings required - what revenue level?22:17   Can you circumvent DueDilio after first order - second sale?25:44   Repeat customers? 27:35   Is DueDilio Ideal for Searchfunder backed by PE or Independent Sponsor? 28:16   What size of business, revenue, is most common due diligence requests?29:25   What is market forces are driving the due diligence requests?30:12   Are Family Offices or Private Equity firms good source of DD requests?31:35   What are "Subject Matter Experts" on DueDilio?33:45   Does DueDilio collect post DD information?34:49   How long does it take to hire, data transfer, due diligence completed?36:11   When sellers start sending pieces of the financials37:11   Can DueDilio offer Service providers to do DD on International companies?40:53   How do I "use" or "grade" the due diligence from the Service Provider?42:15   My experience not doing reputation DD on an ecommerce business - doing DD on buyer43:42   What are KPIs and Drivers / Levers for DueDilio?45:26  What is long term goal for DueDilio?47:16   Do Service Providers get "scored /rated" on DueDilio?48:43   What industry do you see most DD requests on DueDilio - demand from offline or online?52:10   Where do you think DueDilio could grow to?  53:50   What does DueDilio need to grow? 55:32   When does buyer pay on DueDilio?   Who Pays? 57:02   Does DueDilio help buyers get smarter with acquisitions ?58:03   Has the "Why" question already been answered by buyer? 59:30   What is a "Deal Sherpa"? 

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Callum is founder and CEO of MBH Corporation PLC, an agglomeration of 27 acquisitions, small, profitable companies from around the world.  By leveraging the Agglomeration strategy, MBH Corporation plc is able to create substantial shareholder value through the consistent and accretive acquisition of excellent companies   MBH Corporation plc is listed on the Frankfurt and Dusseldorf Stock Exchanges and the OTCQX in New York (MBHCF). 00:00 Intro to Callum Laing00:28 What a agglomeration is and what MBH does  - partner to Jeremy Harbour - benefits of agglomeration05:46  Comparison to Berkshire Hathaway. 07:12  How is controlling interest / stock and equity structured with agglomeration acquisitions - ultimate mastermind group09:03   Where do the profits flow up to - all acquisitions pay a management fee plus dividend to shareholders  - buying a boring 60 year old Caravan company14:48  What is assets / leverage to you bring to an acquisition proposal - difficulty for SMBs to break through glass ceiling - the balance sheet unfair advantage of an agglomeration - 1000 applications a year now19:27  How he started with the idea - starting / partnering with Jeremy Harbour - solving SMB exit issues25:00   How the agglomeration gets contracts - SMBs are great problem solvers27:47   How did the first acquisition happen - what where the challenges - how did the early "pitches" go?33:18   What are the characteristics of the motivated seller - what are needs of seller37:14  Arbitrage Multiples - the Master Minded Effect and Covid - working through challenges39:52  Adjacent "tactical" Acquisitions - teaching his acquisitions to grow through acquisitions43:12   Landscaping like a SaaS business - recurring revenue 44:57   Working on the strategy for 6 years - biggest obstacle - internal biggest hurdle to Callum -financial markets - huge learning curve - how they communicate / transparency with everyone50:08  Challenges with OTC markets - 15C-211 purge /  International trade volume issues. 54:26   What is best investment he made to change his life.

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  John co-founded Wolverine Energy Services Inc. with Jesse Douglas in 2012 with an initial acquisition of a $5 million revenue oilfield services company. From his first acquisition to 2020, they acquired 16 more businesses, grew revenue to $240 million and took the company public (TSX:WEII)   Also President to Divestopedia - which helps sell businesses. 00:00 Intro to John Carvalho   - hat  tip to Williams English01:14  His call to adventure and decision to leave the ordinary world of Deloitte 03:08  17 Acquisitions later $240mm in rev and taking public  - not an org chart guy04:43   State of the O&G industry...so many products so many uses 05:10   How he rolled his fees in and structure the partnership - and scrambling together the capital06:48   How his deal stack looked for the first acquisition,  seller motivations,  how he leveraged assets09:22  Did seller keep any portion of business,  for 2nd bite or sell 100%  - age big factor in risky ride10:20  How it felt to get the first deal  - advising is different than signing and owning it. 11:16  How has it changed him - assessing risk.   How he looks at it today  How to Mitigate the risk. 12:35  Annie Duke book,  playing poker12:50  When did momentum happen - or was it still grinding away...   started with 3 separate businesses,  and strategy changed.   2nd acquisition - and 3rd acquisition changed deal structure - now seeking partners  - selling the 2nd bite of apple vision15:15   Types of companies he was buying, indirect, direct competitors or adjacency businesses - expansion strategy - geographic sectors - and some distressed deals17:30   How did he find the distressed opportunities?18:27   What did he learn about doing all these deals  - risk mitigation - in hindsight...wish we would made process more systematic - deal sourcing, offers,  deal stack, DD process,  capital sourcing  - always fun...always needs to be capital partner ready...blowing through credit limit...21:37  Did he accomplish what he set out to do,  helping CEO with journey - wanting to do deals - built wealth helping someone else23:43   Did he have any internal struggles being the #2 guy...  25:45   Having 5 deals in pipeline and assessing probability assessments on closing each deal 27:35  Parents - not sure they know what he does - generational creating better opportunity - proud - work ethic they instilled 29:40  Types of businesses he works with now.   Where his expertise is - best use33:17 Working backwards to get the highest EBITDA  how many acquisitions you need to do.  HVAC example34:10  HVAC example,  if $20mm HVAC CEO has never made an acquisition,  mind set change - risk appetite - triple the business or saying you are not ready because you would choke37:15   Does he assist in adjacent businesses  - why are you doing acquisitions - diversify risk38:40  Thoughts on purchasing an unprofitable business40:00  His Acquisition Playbook training - teaching others how to acquire businesses 42:10  Does he just teach people how to do it DIY or Do it with me...44:45  Bringing his expertise to parts they are missing - bringing leadership to C-Suite46:30  Working with Jesse, first meeting,  being young,  different,  assets behind him,  start of the relationship. 47:40  How this acquisition journey has changed him - breaking away from that paycheck.   Find out what you love to do,  you will

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Daniel Sweet specializes in taking healthy Texas small businesses ranging from $1MM - $20MM in revenue, partnering with a management team and financing partners to build a plan to take the business to the next logical level.  Our specialty industries are Technology-, Energy-, and Construction related businesses headquartered in the Great State of Texas. 00:00 Intro to Daniel Sweet.   Buy businesses in his / founders background 01:36 How they, the partners started,  asking the question is there any reason why this M&A could not be done on a smaller scale. 03:24  1000 different ways to finance the deals - 1st deal used SBA loan.  eLearning Company around $1 million in sales05:00  How he found the first deal -  his personal warm network05:42   How he assessed the opportunity - could he grow the eLearning company? 06:47   What was blocking new sales in the eLearning company - only way he got new customers07:00  What was multiple that they agreed on - 2 and change.   Nice set up.  07:45   What salary was owner taking out of business - $100k plus distributions08:05  How long he stayed on - SBA rules09:17  How was ownership sliced up - equally?  10:22 How did the "books" look, how clean/messy - was he lifestyle spreadsheet business - bank statements / tax statements only way to validate?11:45   Did he see $5mm -$10mm growth opportunity 12:45    Where are profits going?     When will profits be paid out to the owners?   What has happened since acquisition  - revenue trending at $2mm ++15:45   Has Daniel found a system or perfect type of Professional Services firm to buy and build?16:30  what is plan for the eLearning company hold,  grow and sell  - 2nd acquisition - where he found the 2nd acquisition,  how he finds his acquisitions18:10  His 2nd acquisition - Sherpa Consulting - almost same opportunities as first acquisition - lots of cross selling opportunities  - rev was at $1.3 mm - lots of untapped fruit - customer concentration concerns - combined with eLearning no longer problem - how he financed 2nd acquisition - what he did with the legacy people22:19  What was important to 2nd acquisition seller - really important23:33  his 3rd acquisition - Oil Engineering firm Scada Systems - was doing $1.6mm in rev - what is upside potential with this 3rd company  - the Law of Supply and Demand in Oil world28:00  Was 3rd acquisition profitable,  how old was company - financing deal stack - seller main concern - what was acquisition multiple ?33:45  What do think growth potential in 3rd acquisition - what is that dependent on?34:30  Acquisitions now doing $5mm boring business - what is next? 36:36  What is structure of his acquisition company  - what is vision or annual acquisition goal  rules - goal for 2021  - what for 2022?  38:26  How are they paying themselves - employee or equity law firm distribution partners - what IRR are they looking for?  - focus is on health of acquisition - low hang fruit - profitable result.42:11  What a crucible of fire stress test taught him about his partners - risk tolerance - does each partner have equal veto power on deals - Doing B2B deals,  what B2C deals are they looking at?45:30  What has he learned about himself through the acquisition process? 46:59 is he working on a fund or partnering with a fund - becoming equity partners - rule- money will never control the company - no 51% funded deals - helping people they turn away.

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Managing Partner at Verde Holdings- Verde Holdings multi-family office that invests in: Control investments in middle market service companies in the Western U.S. Multi unit and commercial real estate nationally, Early stage technology companies.  CEO at CAPTARGET which provides M&A research and deal origination services to middle market M&A and Private Equity firms.00:00  Intro to Gabe Galvez - where it got started - where deal making started - pawn shop. 03:35  What does CAPTARGET do and how do they create deal lead flow for buyers?13:58  CAPTARGET in volume game - does not ask for points - conflict of interest/scale - working for 100 vs 519:36  How did he make decision to Volume vs than a few clients21:30  What types of clients he works on23:26 Lehman standard to double Lehman to classic fixed fee = how to pay for the ball. 26:34  The accidental start to Verde Holdings - buying companies for himself. 29:15  Verde Holdings original investment thesis - Ghetto   simple selfish wants - 20% IRR goals36:35   Acquisition or Investment in non controlling interest  - acquiring a platform company39:00   His process for the warm lead deal - offer and close in 40 days and serendipity43:45   How to repeat or scale acquisitions in different industries - simple deal criteria 48:00   Buying revenue for his platform landscape acquisition - goal $4mm in ebidta in 24 months49:52   Creating the operating constitution and a operating methodology with his partner  - saying yes or no on a deal in 24 hours.   55:45  How many to date: 4 acquisitions,  5th in closing - 2021 first year of deploying capital59:25  The entrepreneurs journey - how has it changed him - where he gleans knowledge from

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Micheal is CEO and Co-Founder at Erdos Ventures.  Micheal is graduate of Techstars LA '21.  Erdos Ventures is a Techstars backed company that leverages technology to appraise, acquire, and activate portfolios of high potential niche e-commerce brands at scale.00:00 Intro to Micheal Liu00:15  What / Who is Erdos - why the name origin - finding connections between companies01:24  His acquisition thesis - what they want to build  - an infrastructure layer for small ecomm03:27  Putting his money where his mouth is...for now.04:04   Focused primarily on NON Amazon business-  not going to compete Thrasio Holdings - important distinction between amazon and Shopify business model - Owning the Customers! 08:12  What he looks for in financial criteria for acquisition - Under $1mm in Topline Rev10:05  What is it they Erdos brings to a $1mm Rev ecomm business. 12:23  Going thru a sample acquisition scenario... 1.  Finding the business, 2. Finding the "motivated" scenario - uncovering inexperienced operators - What Thrasio does..17:14   The challenges of buying an ecomm business under $1mm in revenue25:15   Decision making with products  - Product Market Fit.  products with Ephemeral connection to customer - no drop shipping - ecomm business owns the product. 29:48  How he starts the conversation with seller...  reach outs, inbound outbound deal sourcing, understanding the journey - founders story. 31:38   Terms of offer - seeking transition period sellers,  and 100% buyouts, multiples to $1mm revenue ecomm businesses - do they have a community around product34:50  Where he gets his guiding principles from,  how he does business,  paying for unseen untapped value35:37  Source of funds to acquire business,  a bootstrap start, Techstars LA '21 graduate,  actively fundraising for acquisition fund. 37:45  Closed 2nd acquisition recently,  3rd in closing,  goal is 5 per year.   Deal flow brisk40:05   Does he have "know when to fold them" - sell.   Traditional thought process - cost of holding the company.   Smart Strategy to Hold the business...for how long...   which eliminates "trending or fad" businesses - more important to ask what problem does the product solve. 44:01  Results from 1st business to date.. 2X'ed revenue 3X'ed conversion ratio,  dropped time spent on business by 80% with automation45:38  How he gets his deal flow - 3 main channels to dig for leads MicroAquire, Shopify Exchange, Referrals47:00 What his needs -  Investors, actively raising capital, connections into eco-systems,  motivated  sellers,

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Marcus Sheridan Bio - International Keynote Speaker on Digital Sales/Marketing, Ranked #1 LinkedIn Voices for Entrepreneurship, Author of "They Ask, You Answer" and "The Visual Sale"  Owner/Partner at IMPACT a Digital Marketing Agency,  Partner at River Pools - built to $15mm in sales from Warsaw, Virginia - population 140000:00 Intro to Marcus 01:56  My experience applying Marcus's work to my business04:14  Nearly filing for bankruptcy at River Pools - losing homes - not seeing path - the Hail Mary08:41  Being Vetted by buyers - answering 100% of the prospects questions15:47  River Pools What has happened since 2018,  marketing / franchise / mfg. / acquired /sales22:59  Getting Crushed because of pricing.  And clearly stating who you are not a good fit for 22:55  If goal is to the Walmart - be a an employee. 24:35  Getting Acquired by Thursday Pools - finding great partners - that are quite different / dis-match but match with value set. 29:45 Why you need to Stress test your potential business partners40:08  The decision to get into pool manufacturing. 42:58  Why he decided to franchise River Pools 47:36 Paradox of Choice - Law of Diminishing Returns48:32  Does he have mentors - No and why...  what he does pay attention to...

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  Nick McLean is founder and member Four Pillar Investments.  Nick participates in all aspects of Four Pillars’ business. Currently, most of his activities revolve around deal origination and deal execution.00:00 Intro to Nick McLean - bio00:38 Why he called his company Four Pillars Investors - and what they mean to how he operates03:27  How they qualify people from companies they acquire - 05:37 The industry sector they acquires - and why he exited the furniture company07:43  His Manufacturing,  Industrial Engineering Roots - The Tangible Importance to economy09:31 Four Pillars First Acquisition - how they found the deal - terms and price of the deal - sticking points - buying a car with no gas15:00  Applying operating efficiencies to the business and the results - steel prices rising 4X16:48  Having the plant manager ascended into the #1 role18:21  2nd Acquisition Eagle Precision larger deal and easier to get done - sourced / price 22:00  Rev / Ebidta results on Eagle Precision23:24  The bolt on company that they missed on - how they lost on the deal - why they tried to buy it24:59  Acquiring Turk Mfg. - why the company sold to Four Pillars - what it added to portfolio27:35  The Investors and financing for Eagle Precision and Turk Mfg.30:45  The Dart Casting Acquisition - how that was sourced,  who financed it - capital provider partnerships, people considerations - the process for finding capital37:24  How he works with brokers39:00  How experience has helped him in new negotiations - valuations in the same ball park40:31  His deal flow activities - all of the above - how luck and timing factor in42:26  Typical drivers that motivate seller to sell - how they position the transition44:32  Creating a bigger second bite of the apple for sellers - shooting for 8X50:34   What was your call to adventure - that moment - the better mouse trap53:15   Meeting the mentor - from intrinsic and personal experience55:12   What was biggest stumbling block to his success - overcoming lack of experience

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  E: 32 Top M&A Entrepreneurs - Matt Bodnar - 8 Successful Deals - Forbes 30 under 30,  Inc. Fastest Growing Company, Chairman of Fresh Technology, Cofounder & Managing partner of Fresh Capital, Host of Science of Success Podcast with 5 Million downloads. 00:00 Intro to Matt Bodnar 03:29  His M&A Entrepreneurial Call to Adventure - working full time or owning equity06:34  His first step - Guidance from Entrepreneurial Family - his first Zero Dollar Down Deal13:45  His dad and being active in the restaurant space 15:10  Slogging it out and eventually exiting the Aloha POS business, then acquiring an IT Data Center18:10  How he negotiated and bought - in deal terms that make sense,  then grew the Data Center business28:24  In a base line deal,  splitting upside, measuring the dollar value of contribution what the parties are bringing to the table. 31:03  What happens to a stagnant owner - how they fit in after acquisition - what happens if they don't change trajectories35:00 Categorizing the characteristic of a deal and identifying the right offers - Applicable  Deal Models40:30 Does he have an exit strategy for acquisitions  - good deals create optionality - leaving blue sky for next buyer44:22  What he learned from EPIC that he did not already know - tools in the quiver - what are different ways to do a deal - opens the door 48:13 How being a coach for EPIC helps his deal flow50:15  Is he looking for Wash, Rinse, Repeat Opportunity or just a Deal Maker - Playing World Series of Poker52:47 How he snowballed to 5 Million podcast downloads55:10 What he learned about "decision making" from professional Poker player Andy Duke

 Take the Business Buyer Readiness Assessment →  E: 31 Top M&A Entrepreneurs - Matt Fischer  8 Fitness Acquisitions , Opened 10th Location00:00 Intro Matt Fischer - 8 Fitness Acquisitions, Opened 10th Fitness Location - Fitness SaaS02:19 His Uncle's inspiration - The Mentor Entrepreneur influence04:33 Meeting his Mentor - Not much of sharer - watched from behind the scenes05:40  First Acquisition with Partner - what happened to that - did it make money - meeting expectations - the eventual sale09:05 Managing a retail fitness and the beginning of the idea to acquire more - Trying to buy Any Time Fitness Franchises - perfecting the model13:53  Acquiring operating gyms - cold calling the numbers to success15:30 KPIs and Critical Drivers - making money - simple math. 16:55  Negotiating Leases - Power - Motivated Land Owners and Transparency21:27  How much marketing he has to do on new acquisitions24:00  $9 a month versus $40  the amount of work involved - What $9 a month customers do the most25:48 Seeing the P&Ls  and the advantage of having a wife as an accountant27:45  His current corporate structure for the business & personal guarantees. 29:55   Approaching $10 million in revenue - he loves fitness and likes money - goal $30 million in revenue 31:19  hard to find gyms for sale,  Seeking adjacent businesses 33:50  Number of COVID cases with Navy SEALs35:40 Turning Costs Centers into Profit Centers37:20  Owned a supplement business - $500k a year - why google killed that business - what he learned - upselling and turning it back on. 42:35 How the M&A Entrepreneurial journey transformed him