HoldCo Builders

Mac Lackey, a serial entrepreneur with a knack for strategic exits, joins the conversation. He shares his journey from the early internet boom to owning a Spanish football club. Mac reveals his unique 'exit lens' approach that helped a struggling company skyrocket its sale from $25 million to $42 million. He discusses the psychology behind selling businesses, the importance of creating urgency, and how becoming a father reshaped his priorities. Plus, he offers valuable insights on mentoring and designing sellable companies.

What happens after a big financial success? The podcast delves into the art of preserving wealth for generations, highlighting the difference between builders and wealth stewards. Through a two-bucket philosophy, it emphasizes stability and income strategies over risky gambles. Listeners learn the importance of conservative fixed income and investing in durable businesses, while cautioning against lifestyle inflation. Ultimately, it advocates for treating wealth as a foundation for legacy, integrating values and purpose into financial management.

Reggie Pryor Jr., a value-driven investor and turnaround specialist, shares insights from his journey in rebuilding overlooked assets into cash flow machines. He discusses the importance of finding mentors like Jimmy Gibbs and highlights how simply asking for opportunities can change your path. Reggie reveals his strategy of borrowing against appreciating assets rather than selling them. Through stories of successful investments, including Mortex, he emphasizes the joy of the investing game, the future potential for younger operators, and his commitment to preserving American manufacturing.

The greatest builders in history share one habit that changed their fortunes.You’ll hear how a single paragraph led Munger to a $500 million investment, how Jeff Bezos started Amazon because of one statistic in an article, and how Elon Musk saw an opportunity through the absence of information.This episode is about building your mental warehouse of ideas, training your intuition, and developing the kind of insight that compounds for life.The SponsorsThis episode is brought to you by CapitalPad. A marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs who need capital with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. If you’re raising for a deal - or want to back operators - check out https://capitalpad.com/Our sponsor Spacebar Studios builds and runs your newsletter so you stay top-of-mind with founders, brokers, LPs, and talent. HoldCo Builders listeners also use their two-week free trial. Go to https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire and get started for free.Timestamps0:00 Intro: The compounding power of reading0:49 Investor quotes on reading2:04 A real competitive advantage2:32 A 50-year habit and the $500M outcome3:25 The Tenecco idea and the $8M to $80M jump4:42 Sponsor: CapitalPad5:52 Jeff Bezos: One stat that launched Amazon6:09 Morris Chang (TSMC): A textbook insight that rewired an industry6:36 Elon Musk: no Mars plan6:50 Dietrich Mateschitz7:11 Bill Gates: The Altair 8800 moment7:25 Phil Knight: Japanese trade finance to Nike’s supply chain7:43 Reading dividends vs. “luck”8:28 Reading as an edge: Building a mental warehouse8:55 Naval Ravikant on lifelong reading9:23 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios10:27 $8M to $80M to $500M10:50 “5 to 10 great insights in a life”11:10 BYD: The Asian counterpart insight11:40 The 29x BYD outcome11:48 How reading trains intuition: “You can almost smell it”12:22 The ultimate unfair advantage of reading13:00 Final challenge: Are you reading like your life depends on it?Support our Sponsors:CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/SpaceBar Studios: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquireSubscribe on Spotify:https://open.spotify.com/show/6lr5bE3SNZF2uEE7Nb0DHh?si=cP_nAarhRmep1lvnR6uk5gSubscribe on Apple Podcasts:https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holdco-builders/id1695713724Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuyThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Grant Hensel, an operator and investor with Entrepreneurial Capital, shares insights from Peter Lang's advanced M&A masterclass. He highlights the importance of practical tactics like a 128-question pre-LOI audit, effective first-call bonding, and using LinkedIn for outreach. Grant discusses setting ambitious goals for scaling his fund and the math behind achieving 5× returns. He emphasizes M&A as a problem-solving tool and introduces innovative strategies for off-market acquisitions, aiming to help searchers generate proprietary deal flow.

Discover the fascinating insights of Joe Liemandt, a billionaire who turned sleepy software into profitable assets. He emphasizes that leaders must raise standards and motivate employees, viewing motivation as the key to success over mere information. Liemandt challenges companies to adopt value-based pricing to unlock their true worth and advocates for hiring self-motivated individuals. With a focus on building a culture of curiosity and excellence, he shares the importance of listening to customers directly for continuous improvement.

Steve Carroll, CEO and co-founder of Kelso Industries, shares his journey from nearly bankrupt to managing a billion-dollar company through strategic acquisitions of HVAC and mechanical businesses. He discusses the pivot from a broken first deal to a partnership-driven acquisition model that retains owner expertise. Discover the importance of local operations, innovative cash management, and recruiting talent to scale while preserving company culture. Plus, Steve reveals his best investment advice: invest in hardworking leaders!

Nick Hatchka, founder of Cube Investments, shares his impressive journey in acquiring over a dozen businesses. He discusses the allure of building a generator services platform in California, driven by growing power demands. Nick emphasizes the importance of choosing the right business models and partners, highlighting lessons learned from navigating seller-dependent companies. He also touches on the challenges and strategies of scaling operations, maintaining customer relationships, and fostering a conservative financial approach for sustained growth.

Explore the ambitious journey of raising $450 million for a private equity fund without any prior track record. Discover the importance of having complementary founder strengths and the lessons learned from costly fundraising mistakes, like hiring a disappearing rainmaker. Urs emphasizes a long-term focus on partnerships, especially with pensioners, and shares insights on thematic research that drives their investment strategies. Learn how innovative hiring practices and proactive due diligence set them apart in a competitive market.

In this insightful discussion, Alexis Sikorsky, an entrepreneur who achieved a nine-figure exit from his software company, shares his remarkable journey from launching West Africa's first ISP to navigating the pitfalls of growth and survival during economic downturns. He discusses his innovative APEX methodology for advising founders on successful exits, emphasizing the importance of agility and planning. Alexis also reveals the transformative power of M&A as a growth strategy and reflects on personal lessons learned throughout his entrepreneurial endeavors.