Episodes
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with A.J. Wasserstein, Professor at Yale School of Management where he teaches courses on SMB leadership, acquisitions, and entrepreneurship. In our conversation, we covered:
- What is a programmatic acquisition strategy and why it matters
- How AJ implemented this strategy while leading ArchivesOne, forming the third largest records management business in the US
- Lessons learned from 17 years buying small businesses at ArchivesOne
- What factors to look for when determining whether this strategy is right for a business
- How NOT to implement a programmatic acquisition strategy
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Mark Valdez, founder of Eads Bridge Holdings. Mark has a deep background in tech, previously serving as the chief of staff for Marc Andreessen before jumping ship to build a tech-enabled small business holding company. In our conversation, we covered:
The thesis behind Eads Bridge Holdings
EBH’s 4 step digital strategy
How Mark is building a tech-enabled platform for small businesses
How to implement new software systems in a small business
Mark’s experience as Marc Andreessen’s chief of staff
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Episodes manquant?
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Jeff Sands, founding partner of Dorset Partners, a firm specializing distressed business turnarounds. Jeff is also the author of "Corporate Turnaround Artistry: Fix a Business in 100 Days." In our conversation, we covered:
- What strategies Jeff uses in the first 100 days of a business turnaround
- How to negotiate with creditors
- A balance sheet turnaround vs. an income statement turnaround
- How to run a business during lean times
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Quinn Miller, founder of Blue Agave Vending and Fairway Coffee. Quinn has built a vending machine empire and is rolling his capital into new endeavors. In our conversation, we covered:
- How to get started in the vending business
- What makes a vending location great
- Cold calling tactics
- How to bootstrap an e-commerce direct to consumer biz
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Twitter personality Bauncey Chillups. Mr. Chillups currently works for a large family office and focuses purely on the public markets.
In our conversation, we covered:
The point guard analogy for public markets investing
His investment playbook for the public markets
How he underwrites the long-term earnings potential of a business
How he sources ideas and performs due diligence
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Nick Haschka, Founder of Cub Investments, a holding company for small businesses, as well as CEO of The Wright Gardner, a commercial landscaping and plant management business.
In our conversation, we covered:
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- Why Cub Investments focuses on continuous improvement rather than goal setting
- Nick's post-close playbook
- His framework for acquiring bolt-on organizations
- Nick's methodology for hiring and retaining employees in service businesses -
This week, I spoke with Andrew Wilkinson, founder of Tiny, about buying, building, and operating internet businesses.
The Big Idea: Podcasting right now is where the internet was in 1999.
Favorite Quote: "As soon as I start doing something I don't enjoy, I want someone else to do it and it turns out that's a really good quality for an entrepreneur. It's what makes an entrepreneur. Very quickly when I started my business I started delegating. And If you follow that progression over decades, the ultimate form of delegation is investing and hiring others to run your businesses."
Topics Covered:
- Business models for internet companies
- How Tiny is organized as a holding company
- Structuring incentives for executives
- Why to avoid competing with venture-backed companies
- The podcasting industry
- A local news experiment in Victoria, Canada
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Chris Fredericks, founder of Empowered Ventures, a uniquely structured holding company that is employee owned. In our conversation, we covered:
A deep dive on how ESOPs work
When ESOPs make sense in a business transition
How to implement an ESOP
The dynamics present within an employee-owned company
What types of companies are best for ESOPs--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-circle-of-competence/support -
This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Colin Keeley, co-founder of Verne, a holding company for SaaS businesses. In our conversation, we covered:
What makes a SaaS business attractive
Verne’s playbook post-close
Sizing up the software market
A SaaS business case study
The opportunity to automate back-office tasks
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with A.J. Wasserstein, Professor at Yale School of Management where he teaches courses on SMB leadership, acquisitions, and entrepreneurship. In our conversation, we covered:
What makes a business attractive
Navigating the three stages of entrepreneurship (do, manage, lead)
How to optimize a career around your values
Lifestyle design as an entrepreneur
--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/the-circle-of-competence/support -
This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Sieva Kozinsky and Xavier Helgesen, the founders of Enduring Ventures. Topics covered included:
How to select partners
How to hire the best talent (and what to look for)
How they incentivize executives
How they structured their C Corp
Their latest acquisition: a family-run HVAC company
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This week, Benton discusses his views on how feedback loops and flywheels permeate everything in life from business to interpersonal relationships to spirituality.
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This week, Victor and Benton spoke with Ed Redden, President of Evermore Industries. In our conversation, we covered the following topics:
Picking the right partner in any endeavor
Aligning long-term incentives between operators and investors
How to research an industry
The most important economic characteristics of a business
Developing talent
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This week, Victor and Benton discussed Benton’s recent acquisition of a real estate services company (property management, leasing, maintenance). They dig into what his first week was like, what’s on his immediate to-do list, and how he’s feeling as a new owner.
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This week, Victor and I spoke with Chris Williams about his current search for a lower middle market business to acquire and how he thought through choosing the right route as an ‘entrepreneurial investor.’ In our conversation, we covered the following topics:
Deep dive into search fund models
How to choose which search fund route to pursue
Structuring a SMB search fund deal
Attracting the right investors
What makes an SMB opportunity attractive
A live deal
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This week, Victor and I spoke with Chris Powers about how he built Fort Capital into the real estate company it is today - all while investing in early stage tech companies and running a podcast. This is a masterclass in delegation, hiring, and how to surround yourself with the right people. In our conversation, we covered the following topics:
- How Chris grew Fort Capital from his first real estate purchase in college
- Delegation as a prerequisite to growth
- Fort Capital’s unique bonus structure
- Fort Capital’s industrial real estate thesis & flywheel
- The massive opportunity in the proptech space
- How Chris sources both real estate and early stage tech deals
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This week, Victor and I spoke with Thomas Kim about building the Everclean Car Wash brand and how he dealt with personal tragedy as an entrepreneur. In our conversation, we covered the following topics:
- Switching from early stage tech companies to ‘boring businesses’
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- Everclean’s subscription-based business model
- How Everclean trains employees
- Thomas’ leadership principles
- Thomas’ advice for dealing with personal tragedy as an entrepreneur -
This week, Victor and I spoke with Dan Teran about building and operating a tech enabled services business in the office management space. Dan is the founder of Managed by Q which was sold to WeWork. He was also the former head of Corporate Development and Venture M&A at WeWork. In our conversation, we covered the following topics:
- Why happy employees help create happy customers
- The opportunity in tech enabled services
- His role in M&A at WeWork
- His thoughts on the office and big cities post-pandemic
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This week, Victor and I spoke with John Wilson about buying, building, and operating businesses in the trades. John is the owner of The Wilson Companies and in our conversation, we covered the following topics:
- The first 90 days post-close in a service business
- How to structure compensation and incentives in the trades
- How John sources deals through CapTarget
- Why John insists on using ServiceTitan in the trades
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This week, Victor and I spoke with Bill D'Alessandro about buying, building, and operating great e-commerce brands. Bill is the founder and CEO of Elements Brands and in our conversation, we covered the following topics:
- How to source a contract manufacturer as a CPG business
- How to apply an 80/20 approach to your business
- How Elements Brands is organized
- How to know if a company has an actual 'brand'
- Building an e-commerce brand
- How to strategically position a brand by price and quality
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