Think Like an Owner

Ep. 173 Alex Bridgeman (@Aebridgeman) is joined by Clayton Collins (@ClaytonACollins). Today's episode was recorded live in late April 2023 at SMBash in Austin, Texas, with my boss, Clayton Collins, CEO of HW Media. We opened up talking about how the role came together, but for a short preview, I took a Chief of Staff role with HW Media in March 2022 to help build a media and data company in the housing industry. It's been an exciting journey with a steep learning curve that I'm thoroughly enjoying. In the episode, we talk about acquiring within your industry, the acquisition journey at HW Media, the case for acquisitions as a compliment to organic growth, what a bad acquisition looks like, and so much more. This event is fantastic for all those looking to pursue entrepreneurship through acquiring a company, and I hope to see you all at next year's event. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links: HW Media Clayton on Twitter SMBash Timestamps (00:03:56) Introducing Clayton (00:05:36) The Chief of Staff role (00:08:26) Growth through Acquisition (00:11:15) HW Media's 3 acquisitions (00:14:53) What Clayton looks for in potential acquisitions (00:18:47) Evaluating a team inside a company being acquired (00:20:33) Building relationships in an industry (00:22:00) Avoiding train wreck acquisitions (00:26:13) Debt (00:27:24) Advice for CEOs wanting to build a repeatable acquisition process

#172: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Doug Cook (@DougCook). This episode was a live recording at a joint event in Chicago between the Booth and Kellogg Business Schools. My guest was Doug Cook, Chairman of several companies throughout Illinois in windows and siding, chimney care, garages, elevators, and more; With windows and siding being his most notable business in Feldco. Doug gives a deeper walkthrough of his very impressive and entrepreneurial career at the start of our conversation. We also talk deeply about empathy and how to develop it as a skill, empathy when building a team and selling to customers, trust and respect as a CEO, lessons that are the hardest to be taught, and much more. Doug is a fantastic person, I think that will come through loud and clear throughout the episode. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links Doug on LinkedIn Feldco Jack Welch Books YPO Timestamps (00:04:47) Doug's background and career (00:12:10) Lessons Learned: Less is more (00:16:50) Common Skillsets in CEOs (00:28:09) Developing empathy as a skill (00:34:30) Finding the line between becoming too friendly with employees (00:35:14) Developing empathy with customers (00:37:10) The CEO's role with customers (00:40:37) Refining a Product line (00:47:49) Difficulties in Growth through Acquisition (00:50:37) Building Trust and Respect with Employees (00:56:33) Are there any CEOs you admire? (00:58:32) What's a strongly held belief you've changed your mind on? (00:59:49) What's the best business you've ever seen?

Ep. 171: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Justin Nassiri (@JustinNassiri). My guest today is Justin Nassiri, founder and CEO of Executive Presence, a managed social media service for ambitious CEOs, with a focus on LinkedIn today. We talk about why CEOs should care and focus on building a social media following, and how CEOs can optimize their social presence, including a walkthrough of the most important things to optimize on your LinkedIn profile. We also compare the top platforms for CEOs, LinkedIn and Twitter, and the pros/cons of each and where to start. Justin also draws on his experience being a founder of two prior companies, Captivate and StoryBox, to be a more effective and balanced CEO in his current business. He has a lot of lessons learned and advice for CEOs looking to expand their reach and improve individual performance. This episode was super interesting and rich with actionable ideas and I think you'll come away with a lot to apply to your own company. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links: Justin on LinkedIn Executive Presence Beyond the Uniform Podcast Thumbtack SmartShoot Timestamps (00:04:05) Justin's career prior to Executive Presence (00:09:47) Capturing authenticity in a client (00:15:04) Thoughts on different Social Media platforms for CEOs (00:19:06) How to use LinkedIn in a more optimized fashion (00:23:15) Growth pattern differences between Twitter & LinkedIn (00:24:58) How to optimize your profile (00:36:51) How CEOs can benefit from an increased presence on LinkedIn? (00:41:32) Being Transparent on Social Media (00:47:42) Lessons learned from founding 3 companies (00:57:47) Finding work-life balance and creating high-quality work (01:03:54) What's a strongly held belief you've changed your mind on? (01:05:10) What's the best business you've ever seen?

In this episode, Aaron Perrine and Kevin Oxendine discuss the importance of industry research and its impact on finding a good deal. They explore preferred industries, avoiding complicated business models, effective ways to conduct industry research, and the importance of bias to action. They also highlight the two levels of research in the acquisition process: developing an initial thesis and revalidating industry elements for the specific company.

Ep 169: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Amir Haboosheh (@amirhaboosheh) My guest on this episode is Amir Haboosheh, Co-Founder and CEO of Snowball Industries, a home services holding company with 4 portfolio companies today. Their vision is to build a permanent, publicly traded home for these companies, and Amir and I talk extensively about what an IPO looks like and the benefits and tradeoffs it brings. We also talk a lot about empathy, a skill ambitious CEOs cannot get enough of, lessons from Amir's family on empathy, and how he coaches new managers on empathy and leadership. This conversation had a lot of depth and I think you'll be able to take away many of these lessons to your own company. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links: Snowball Industries Amir on LinkedIn Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters $FIX - Comfort Systems John Wilson on Think Like an Owner Color Code Timestamps: (00:00:00) Intro (00:03:45) Favorite Warren Buffet Lessons: Reputations (00:07:28) Being flexible in purchase agreements (00:09:31) Snowball's Origin and business strategy (00:14:52) Home Services companies going Public (00:16:48) Revenue required to go Public (00:19:27) How the role of the CEO changes through company growth and Going Public (00:25:45) The power and importance of Empathy (00:41:28) Screening for empathy in candidates (00:44:14) Color Code (00:49:06) Giving feedback (00:53:35) Leaning on a board for expertise (00:57:29) What strongly held belief have you changed your mind on? (01:00:01) What's the best business you've ever seen?

Ep. 168: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Daniel Hudspeth (@danielhudspeth). My guest today, Daniel Hudspeth, is the CEO of Discover Health, a concierge medical practice business with locations in California, Boston, and soon to be Seattle. During his search Daniel did extensive research on private pay healthcare and eventually developed a thesis to acquire multiple concierge practices across the country. We talk about this pivot during his search, what the concierge model looks like for patients and doctors, why it's an attractive business as an investor and operator, and what growth could look like over the coming years. Given my mom is a family physician, this episode felt close to home and I enjoyed the chance to connect with an entrepreneur like Daniel who's looking to build a better model in patient healthcare. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/ Links: Discover Health Concierge Medicine Today ROAMD The Predictive Index Founders Podcast - Yvon Chouinard: Patagonia's Founding Principles Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:23) - Daniel's Search Journey (00:14:31) - Investor hesitations force the Search to go longer (00:17:28) - Recruiting Doctors to the Organization (00:25:57) - Churn dynamics (00:29:47) - Staffing requirements (00:31:45) - Establishing a playbook for how these businesses are run (00:35:18) - Concierge-centric Podcasts (00:37:23) - Defining Executive roles (00:40:09) - How the CEO role has changed (00:43:06) - Utilizing peer networks (00:46:05) - Tools for hiring and recruiting (00:50:13) - What strongly held belief have you changed your mind on? (00:52:47) - What's the best business you've ever seen?

Episode 167: Alex Bridgeman (@aebridgeman) is joined by Chris Hoffman (Chris-Hoffman). My guest, Chris Hoffmann, is the President and CEO of Hoffmann Brothers, a home services business based in St. Louis. Hoffmann Brothers have scaled from $10 million in 2015 to over $100 million in revenue in 2023. We talk about how that journey happened, their experience building executive teams, investing in people through a training university they started for ongoing training, and investing activity for home services today. We also talk about what perpetual non-private equity ownership enables them to do, including their unique strategy for managing cash investments and liquidity as a growing family office. This was a ton of fun for me and I hope you enjoy this conversation as well. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at www.AlexBridgeman.com Links: Chris on LinkedIn Hoffmann Brothers NexStar Network Chapters: (00:03:38) - Hoffman Training University & NexStar (00:08:26) - Enabling scale and revenue growth (00:10:55) - Differences in PE-backed company structures (00:14:25) - Retention and morale-boosting tactics (00:17:59) - Leadership team composition (00:21:17)- Surfacing high-performers & evaluating management teams (0:28:53) - Using Search Firms to find talent (00:30:25) - Choosing an Executive Search firm (00:33:30) - Financial sponsor interest in the HVAC and Home Services market (00:36:15) - Reasons Consolidators are failing (00:38:41) - Debt, Public Equity Strategies & Fund Investing (00:48:00) - Goals for the family office (00:49:47) - Building new locations from scratch vs. acquiring existing companies (00:55:37) - Acquiring a school (00:58:53) - Changing strongly held beliefs (00:59:54) - Chris' favorite business

Episode 166: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Ed Redden (@Edward-Redden). Ed and his partner Justin Vogt are former podcast guests from episode 59 where we talked about starting Evermore Industries, an industrial services holding company. Last year they acquired AVUITY, based in Cincinnati, which sells physical commercial office sensors that detect motion, temperature, humidity, and more, along with a data and analytics subscription. Ed and I talk about making the first acquisition in a holding company strategy, working at the intersection of hardware and software, talent planning and sales development, and life running a company while being a new parent. Enjoy! Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at www.AlexBridgeman.com Links: Ed on LinkedIn AVUITY Evermore Industries Topics: (00:00:00) - Intro (00:03:23) - Acquiring AVUITY (00:07:20) - Characteristics that make a great business to acquire (00:11:38) - Competing with Venture-backed businesses (00:13:34) - Advice from investors (00:17:25) - Accelerating Revenue Growth (00:22:44) - Measuring customer ROI (00:25:09) - Data application between customers (00:29:30) - Hiring plans (00:36:33) - Growth pain points (00:38:55) - Learning to sell (00:40:26) - Life as a new parent & operator

This is the third and final episode in our three-part series on Chenmark, a highly successful small business holding company founded in 2015. Today they have acquired 11 operating companies, completed 30+ acquisitions when including add-ons, and have over 600 employees today. This third episode takes a deep dive into their CEO recruiting function and what has to happen to keep Chenmark on its growth trajectory. We discuss their GVP program where they recruit young hungry leaders to eventually be placed in CEO roles, their GA program for associate-level recruiting, and earning the right to take risks and what that means for them today. I hope you enjoy this third part of the series with Trish Higgins and James Higgins. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Links: Chenmark Trish on LinkedIn James on LinkedIn Will Thorndike on Invest Like the Best Legacy by James Kerr Chenmark Series 1 Chenmark Series 2 Topics: (00:04:51) Earning the right to take risks (00:11:10) Accelerating acquisitions and faster processes (00:13:04) Expanding capacity beyond headcount growth (00:17:25) Reinvestment in current companies vs. new platforms (00:22:08) Not having a full-time person searching for deals (00:26:13) Chenmark's GVP Associate's Program (00:36:31) Hiring CEOs and Operators (01:04:16) How to make Chenmark be successful for another 20 years (01:07:17) How to carry on a Newsletter long-term

Please take 2 minutes to complete this audience poll and give feedback on the podcast This episode is the second in a three-part series we are running on Chenmark, a highly successful small business holding company founded in 2015. Today they have acquired 11 operating companies, completed 30+ acquisitions when including add-ons, and have over 600 employees today. This second episode focuses on their operating ethos, culture, and incentive structures. We discuss meeting cadence and formats across the company, the use of debt, CEO incentive models, broad incentives beyond CEOs, and lessons learned from building and maintaining good cultures. I hope you enjoy this second part of the series with James Higgins and Palmer Higgins. Listen weekly and follow the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Breaker, and TuneIn. Links: James on LinkedIn Palmer on LinkedIn Chenmark The Weekly Thoughts Newsletter Listen to Part 1 of this series here Topics: (4:26) - How do your core values extend to your portfolio companies? (6:13) - What are some ways you learn about the culture and core values of a company you acquire? (8:32) - Is there a wide range in terms of how quickly teams can adapt to these new core values? (10:52) - How do you assess the willingness to change the culture in new ownership? (13:57) - Are there a set of recurring meetings you have in the early days of ownership? (20:02) - Is there an ideal set of principles and tools you're looking to reach internally for portfolio companies? (21:26) - Is there a way you're storing past decisions in a database? (27:43) - What's the next piece of the communication cadence journey for you? (29:00) - How many acquisitions are you making per year? (32:34) - Are there any other flywheels you didn't anticipate coming to fruition? (35:14) - What's been the evolution of CEO incentives? (38:53) - Chenmark's stock purchase program (42:54) - What companies do you look to for inspiration on compensation plans? (44:30) - Does the incentive plan change across roles? (47:06) - Are there any negative consequences of a Free Cash Flow Compensation plan? (51:51) - What's the philosophy behind the FCF compensation plan? (55:18) - Are there any other common principles around compensation or budgets that don't fit with what you want to do?