HoldCo Builders

Meet ​Iryna Dubylovska and Sameer Rizvi.Founders of RD Capital Partners (RDCP). Over the past eight years, they’ve made 31 investments that have been consolidated into 12 companies, employing a total of 2,000 people.A combined $400m of revenue and $40m of EBITDA.1. We pick sectors and businesses where profits and cash-flow are the main driver of value.2. Decentralize your operations, 'Hire very smart people and leave them alone, let them get on with it.'3. We ran companies nice and lean. We just reinvest those profits so rather leaving those profits to pay down debt quickly or for the improvement of our lifestyle.This is how they’ve been able to compound at almost a TRIPLE digit internal rate of return (91.4% IRR) for eight years.4. When it comes to wealth creation point of view:Private market is better than public markets.Because there is significantly less arbitrage…5. At the end of the day, it's all about how you can buy $10 million for $3 million.6. 50% industrials, 25% healthcare, 25% consumer – that’s quite a balanced portfolio in sectors and businesses which are relatively critical to the British economy.***A true buy and hold strategy experts.Acquiring manufacturing, construction, engineering and healthcare companies for 3x EBITDA to sell them (if they want to) for 8-10x EBITDA.I hope you enjoy listening.----------------------------------------------Timestamps:00:00:00 - Intro00:02:31 - Life before the first acquisition and the risk of not starting your own investment company00:07:21 - Leaving the job and going all-in finding the 1st deal00:09:43 - Details and the structure of the first acquisition00:14:22 - Improving lifestyle with every transactions00:16:04 - Overview of the portfolio and thought process behind previous investment decisions00:23:30 - Building dealflow and finding the best deals00:29:42 - Only buying businesses they really understand. No complex transactions.00:34:39 - Why did they give up buying distressed companies?00:42:41 - 12+ portfolio companies, 4 kids - how they manage it all00:46:22 - Common reasons portco CEOs approach Iryna and Sameer00:50:07 - Saying ‘no’ to outside capital00:54:36 - Why don’t more people do it?01:04:44 - How they’ve been able to do this without giving up equity-----------------------------------------------Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy Sameer on Twitter: https://x.com/sameer_rdcp This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

12 ideas and observations from the 56-minute conversation with Andrew Wilkinson, the the founder of Tiny, on building a 30+ business holding company: Starting companies is fun, but anyone who has done it knows it is a lot of work. Buying established businesses with existing cash flow isn’t as sexy so I suspect it is wildly underrated as a way of building wealth. He will occasionally pay 10x for an amazing business, but that is rare. Some CEOs will go 6 months or more without speaking with Andrew. Portfolio companies are not at all connected. They each operate independently. Cash is kept in the company based on historical working capital needs and any extra goes to the head office for new acquisitions. Andrew is willing to pay up and hire CEOs that have managed similar businesses at larger scales already before instead of trying to find underpriced less-experienced talent. They have a 60-70% success rate on hiring CEOs. Favorite interview question "What's the worst job you've ever had?" He finds that people that haven't had crappy jobs are less motivated. Incentives act as a magnet to get what you want done. Money is more meaningful to new CEOs than to founders that have been making great money for the last 5 years. The first CEO he hired was paid $250k base + a couple hundred thousand variable. Andrew’s strengths are: Laser focused on problems for a short period of time. Moves fast; Very good at 0 to 1. Burns bright for 15 days; Inch deep and a mile wide; Not good at execution or day to day details.All of these highlights come from an interview with Andrew, founder of Tiny and the research I did on him.Listening to this episode is the easiest way to download Andrew’s ideas into your brain. I hope you enjoy.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:19 - Ruthless and money focused Andrew on his early 20s00:05:42 - 1st business, billing in USD while living in Canada00:08:37 - First realization that it is better to buy a company compared to starting it00:10:28 - Buying the very first business for 3x ARR and $1.5M cash00:13:25 - Looking at companies that make a whopping $100 million in revenue but very little profit00:19:25 - Having extreme patience while waiting for excellent companies00:23:23 - Inefficient market and what many investors don’t understand00:27:32 - Everything post-acquisition and delegation00:33:45 - Andrew’s strengths and weaknesses in managing Tiny Group00:39:04 - A huge lesson about tech businesses: small $500k businesses get big00:43:52 - Big mistakes in pricing a product/service00:48:20 - Lessons from Jason Fried, Sam Parr and Sahil Bloom00:52:31 - Equity is forever. Never just give it awayFollow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Andrew on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/awilkinsonThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Selling the very first flooring business for $30k turned into a career of starting, buying and selling B2B, B2C service businesses.A total of 6 different companies in different industries: 2 residential flooring companies 2 commercial flooring companies 1 restoration company 1 commercial cleaning companyMy conversation with Robert Lombardi, the founder of Lombardi Group.He’s sharing a journey of making plenty of mistakes and falling on his face MORE than anyone would like to admit (and this being a major part of the journey and something he’s STILL grateful for).Enjoy.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:19 - Early days and making first $50,00000:06:03 - Building a flooring business, targeting commercial clients vs B2C00:20:09 - In the flooring business, B2C is good, but B2B is much better00:22:33 - There is no recurring revenue in the floor covering business00:31:56 - Structure in buying and investing in companies00:37:29 - Sale of two companies at the same time00:43:49 - Didn't know about the roll up strategy 3-4 years ago00:53:59 - Earn trust by giving away free business leads01:03:37 - A restoration company, a roofing company and 2 plumbing companies will be bought nextFollow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Robert on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/roblmakeithappeThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Forget HVAC and trade businesses…Private equity comes after your kids swim schools…Meet Josh Scott (with wife Annie): 5 locations 7 figures in revenue (30-35% margins) Spends a lot of time with family and children.Again, the riches (both time and $$$) are in niches.We discussed:- Raising prices and selling it to private equity (which they choose not to do now).- Buying more and more swimming pools (property)- Why aren't $1mm+ EBITDA deals coming to market?- The cost of building swimming pools- Why is selling pool fences going to be a very big business?- A 33% IRR and spending time with the kidsHere is my conversation with Josh Scott, co-founder of SwimSRQ and Swim Academy.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:18 - Being more interested in business than just coaching00:02:26 - Chasing a $300,000 salary vs becoming an entrepreneur00:04:56 - Started in summer 2018; "A year later, we knew we had something..."00:09:01 - Learning business00:11:36 - Growth in number and decision to buy the first property00:14:28 - Revenue streams00:22:47 - Buying more and more swimming pools (real estate)00:26:23 - The future is about following a boutique model (add gymnastics and ninja model)00:30:05 - Swimming schools and private equity00:43:17 - Competition of talent and coaches00:44:20 - Opportunity in NYC (lots of people, no water)00:47:03 - Technology and automation in the swimming business00:52:31 - Expanding into the pool fence industryFollow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Josh on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/swimschoolJoshThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

“Selling B2B SaaS is great, but owning assets is better - that's why I went and built Skaling Ventures on my own.”A portfolio of profitable niche vertical B2B SaaS businesses: $1-3M with some ARR growth (~10%) logo retention greater than 95% limited go-to-market (GTM) knowledge/investment, fragmented competition, and technical founders.We discussed how he found the best deal among the 300 deals he looked at.How he structures deals and what his game plan is 90 days after the acquisition.How 75% of private equity buyouts are add-ons – and how he does the same.And much more.I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting with Kjael Skaalerud of Skaling Ventures.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:19 - Life as a B2B Saas salesman (strategy: go-to-market)00:04:31 - Selling software to fund managers00:09:30 - SaaS, Venture capital - The importance of game selection00:16:25 - Where was Kjael financially before acquiring the 1st company00:18:20 - Details on first acquisition00:23:15 - Structure of the first transaction and Skaling Ventures Holdco00:25:30 - Lessons learned after the first 18 months as a holdco builder00:32:45 - First 90 days after acquisition00:40:53 - Buying and building a business - has it been more painful/harder than he thought00:42:15 - 75% of PE buyouts are add-ons – “we do the same”00:47:40 - 5-year holding and reinvestment for growth00:49:52 - Acquisition number two (under LOI)00:53:41 - Ways to get better at what you do and buildFollow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Kjael on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/skaalywagKjael's Substack: https://skalingventures.substack.com/ This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

This gentleman and his grocery store holdco opened 32 new stores in 90 days.Tomasz Biernacki - a true capital allocator has cracked the code on how to compound his wealth (at a staggering rate!)His grocery holding company has invested 96% of its earnings for the past 10 years. He opened 167 new stores in Q1-Q3 in 2024.Every store he opens returns 20-30% on invested capital…All while net debt to EBITDA sitting at a conservative 1.1xWild!There must be something special about Tomasz.I got curious so I spent almost 6 hours reading about him (best 6 hours I've spent in a long time).I hope you enjoy this 27-minute episode of the HoldCo Builders research edition I did on Tomasz Biernacki of Dino Polska.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:03:51 - Grocery store holding company00:06:54 - Extreme discipline on net debt00:09.01 - Real estate ownership00:13:41 - Focus on small towns with a population of 30,00000:18:11 - Own production of your highest margin products00:19:22 - No money spent on ads and marketing00:21:46 - Offer a simple product to simple small town people00:25:34 - Reinvesting earnings rather than paying dividends👉 Follow host Mikk Markus on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuyThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Not too many folks are willing to quit their job at Goldman Sachs to start a holding company.It gets even better…He even decided to move from the US to Hong Kong.That’s the story of Alex Schultz who grew a live lobster business to $11m a year; growing 20-30% per year.- Convincing the Hong Kong government to grant him a Visa to build a business- Printing out Google Maps to find the first suppliers (IT WORKED!!)- Bootstrapped business, selling $11m worth of live lobster per year in Hong KongMy conversation with Alex Schultz of Turnbury Group.Enjoy.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:24 - Early days after Goldman Sachs00:02:22 - Finding the right company00:07:37 - Moving to Hong Kong and not knowing anyone00:14:31 - The story of founders who lived in China for $1 a day00:17:40 - Printing out Google Maps to find suppliers00:22:00 - Initial investment  $25,00000:31:55 - The first 12 months and all challenges00:37:34 - Cash flow is what keeps you in or out of business00:44:50 - Building relationships with 2nd and 3rd generation business owners in Hong Kong00:49:50 - Stay in Hong Kong or go back to the US?Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Alex on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/mrturnburyThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Meet Dan Tamkin, co-founder of Resurgent Capital Partners:- Portfolio of 4 companies in different industries- $60M in revenue- $8M EBITDA- No LPs- Happy, excited about life, spends tons of time teaching kids to play hockeyThis is a must listen for someone who’s extremely good at growing and building a single company but feels that they aren’t happiest and need more moving parts on their life:“When I started to understand who I am – I get really bored if I do one thing for over 3 years. After realizing that about myself, my dream has always been owning four businesses because I thought it would keep me curious and interested – and it has! I’m the happiest right now.”I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed talking to Dan Tamkin from Resurgent Capital Partners.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:40 - Rejected by PE and “You have to start somewhere”00:04:45 - Lessons for growing businesses from losing money to break even in 30 days00:08:45 - I get really bored if I focus on one company only00:13:12 - The structure of the first deal which took almost 24 months00:20:41 - Post acquisition00:24:34 - How to incentivize CEOs00:33:58 - Organic growth vs. through M&A00:42:50 - How they find the best deals and people to run portfolio businesses00:52:59 - No PE firm wanted him, so he wasted a few years of his life trying to get a permission to succeed01:00:30 - Taking LPs money in the future (maybe...)Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Dan on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/Dan_TamkinThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Graham Duncan from East Rock Capital is so generous that wrote a letter to his friend who was considering starting an investment company.Why listen to Graham:- Started his fund at 31 years old- Today $2B in aum- Manages the capital of five families"Letter to a friend who may start a new investment platform"Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:04:50 - When everything is uncertain, are you okay with it?00:06:41 - Building a fund can even lead to divorce as risks compound00:08:12 - Life is too short to be paralyzed by the threat of a mixed reference00:12:48 - Make sure the older members of the team are capable of truly believing in you00:19:14 - A concept of “going into the cave” — spending time alone for several weeks with a blank sheet of paper00:23:48 - Make sure to call me: my partners and I would love to provide the “gas”Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Graham on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/GrahamDuncanNYCThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

James started and built a financial media holdco to the point where it was acquired for $31 million.He did it in 5 short years…We discuss:- Founding HoldCo with the most financially creative person he knew – a former commodities trader- Organic growth vs growth through mergers and acquisitions- Looking for stable year-over-year growth opportunities. “I’m not the dude who wants to do turnarounds”- The importance of distribution and surfing the right wave- The best deals have always been off-market- How to win deals over the guys who take potential sellers to Lakers games- Sales and marketing lessons from friends who run $100 mm business- Why he's betting heavily on social: Short and long-form content- Why and how ego holds too many entrepreneurs backMy conversation with James Camp, co-founder of DMO Holdings.Enjoy.Show notes:00:00:00 - Intro00:00:44 - Life before DMO Holdings00:06:10 - Launch and growth of DMO Holdings00:15:35 - Finding the best talent through your network and community00:28:35 - The importance of distribution and surfing the right wave00:33:28 - Buy and build success tory: Growing a company 6x in 11 months00:41:03 - Looking for $2-5mm EBITDA businesses00:55:55 - Ego holds so many entrepreneurs back01:03:30 - Attracting the right LPsFollow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠James on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://x.com/JamesonCampThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.