Think Big, Buy Small

Think Big, Buy Small

Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own startup seem too risky? There's another compelling path open to you: acquiring a small business and running it as CEO. Co-hosted by Harvard Business School Professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, the show is an extension of their courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business, which has sold more than 65,000 copies. In this series, Rick and Royce guide listeners through the different milestones of the journey to acquiring an enduringly profitable small business, sharing insights on how to evaluate prospects, raise capital, and ultimately determine if this path is right for you.

Episodes

Questions and Answers with Rick and Royce

April 21, 2025 • 54 mins
At the end of each episode, Rick and Royce ask listeners to reach out with any questions they may have related to entrepreneurship through acquisition. In response, we’ve heard from people at all stages of their entrepreneurship through acquisition journeys, along with other stakeholders in search. Now, in the final episode of Season Two, our hosts address many of the queries that were received. This wide-ranging discussion include...
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A Successful Model for Roll-Ups in Automotive and Beyond

April 14, 2025 • 56 mins
A few years ago, Logan Leslie began his search with the goal of rolling up smaller, same-industry enterprises under the umbrella of one company. Fast forward to today and Logan is CEO of Main Street Auto, which is the parent company to over ninety auto repair shops around the country. In this engaging conversation, Logan shares why he believes the auto industry is ideal for roll-ups, along with his strategy for doing so therein; hi...
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The Journey and Impact of a Mission-Driven Searcher

April 7, 2025 • 54 mins
In the last three years, Adriana Garcia Ceja graduated from Harvard Business School, became a mother and, after a funded search, acquired an aging life care management business called ElderTree. Many would-be CEOs set out on their searches primarily wanting to experience the joys of operating a small business, while being more agnostic about what the company does. This was not the case for Adriana, who from the outset wanted to acq...
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Learnings From a Former Searcher, Current Investor, and Industry Wise Man

March 31, 2025 • 46 mins
Kent Weaver was an early participant in the world of search, completing a self-funded search that led to his acquisition of a healthcare company in 2002 and then, four years later, putting on his investor hat to make his first investment in search. Today, he’s one of the most experienced and highly regarded funding partners in the space, having invested in over one hundred searches, both traditional and self-funded. In this wide-ra...
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Acquiring Outdoor Recreation Programs as Co-CEOs and Spouses

March 24, 2025 • 54 mins
Connor McCarthy and Caroline Matthews are not only a married couple and new parents, but they’re also funded searchers turned co-CEOs at Canyonlands Camps. The outdoor recreation industry is little explored in the world of search and their ETA journey is also distinct in that, through the acquisition of summer camps and travel programs, they’ve taken ownership of business-to-consumer businesses, which constitute only a minority of ...
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The Acquisition, Transition, and Operation of a Technology Solutions Company in Texas

March 17, 2025 • 59 mins
William Young became CEO of Aerowave Technologies in January of 2021. While he has no regrets about his pursuit of the ETA path, his journey to the company’s helm was a difficult one. His story is distinct in that he started out in a partnered, brokered search but ended up as a solo searcher, focusing on proprietary outreach in Dallas-Fort Worth and Boston. Once he closed on Aerowave, Will was met with a number of challenges, inclu...
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Insights From a Recurring Investor in Self-Funded Searches

March 10, 2025 • 61 mins
Sam Rosati is a former searcher turned active equity investor in self-funded searches and, given his experiences, an important focus of this conversation is on the evolution of the self-funded market. It used to be the case that self-funded searchers had to create their investor base from scratch, out of pure networking. Now, however, a path is emerging where a searcher can reach out to a recurring investor in self-funded searches,...
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The Purchase, Carve Out, and Transformation of a Remote Software Company

March 3, 2025 • 53 mins
Betsy Harbison, CEO at Softrip, successfully completed a funded search in 2021. Her story, however, is rather unique in that the business she acquired is a remote, vertical software company that was also a carve out, meaning that a crucial part of Betsy’s journey involved the daunting task of untangling Softrip from its parent company. In this episode, she considers the pros and cons of self-funded versus funded search; why she end...
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From W-2 Job, To Startup Life, To Acquisition Entrepreneurship

February 24, 2025 • 49 mins
In May of 2024, after a self-funded search, Brian Seeling became CEO of PGM Service, a Florida-based company that focuses on maintenance, service, and repair of commercial food equipment. His journey to become an acquisition entrepreneur is distinct in that he first worked as a software engineer, was then involved in startup life for a number of years, and only recently embarked on the ETA path. In this episode, Brian reflects on t...
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Practical Takeaways From A Seasoned Lender To Smaller Firms

February 17, 2025 • 57 mins
Not only is Zach Duprey a highly experienced commercial lender to those seeking to acquire a small business but, in helping to create a national market for these loans, he has been instrumental in dramatically changing the landscape of small business lending, revolutionizing the market for search. In this episode, Zach describes the “three legs of the stool” that he and his team consider in evaluating transaction opportunities – th...
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The Acquisition of a Remarkable Recurring Revenue Business

February 10, 2025 • 56 mins
After a brokered search, Jenn Braus became CEO at Systems Design West, a company that provides customized ambulance billing, emergency medical services billing, and accounting services to fire and rescue organizations, and one that Rick and Royce believe is “the perfect recurring revenue business.” In this episode, we learn about the beauty of recurring revenue (and how it differs from repeating revenue), and also about the many ot...
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Finding One's Way To ETA

February 3, 2025 • 56 mins
In May of 2021, after a self-funded search, Nick Vandam became CEO of MCI, a telecommunications infrastructure company based in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this episode, he shares his distinct journey, including his days at West Point; competing in triathlons on the U.S. National Team; deployment in Afghanistan; work experience at a large financial services company and then at a doomed startup; followed by graduate school and employmen...
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Where Are They Now? A Conversation with Geoff Duckworth

January 21, 2025 • 18 mins
Starting in early February, we’ll begin releasing new episodes of Think Big, Buy Small, season two. Rick and Royce are looking forward to sharing some fantastic conversations with you! Ahead of these new releases, however, we've built a bridge, of sorts, between the two seasons by checking in with season one guest, Geoff Duckworth, who was featured in the episode, “The Self-Funded Journey From Searcher To Seller.”  Listeners may re...
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Listeners’ Questions, Rick and Royce's Answers

September 9, 2024 • 59 mins
Throughout the first season, Rick and Royce have asked listeners to reach out to them with any queries they may have related to entrepreneurship through acquisition. Now, in the final episode of Season One, our hosts address many of the questions that were received. This wide-ranging discussion includes reflections on common mistakes made by first-time searchers; the merits and challenges of self-funded versus traditional searches;...
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From Misfortune To Great Fortune

August 26, 2024 • 59 mins
Despite growing up in unstable and challenging circumstances, Jerod Pierce changed the trajectory of his life by embracing educational opportunities, which helped him to thrive in a series of good jobs. He then made the decision to control his own professional destiny through acquisition entrepreneurship, purchasing Mercurio's Heating & Air Conditioning and becoming its CEO. In learning about Jerod's journey from childhood misfortu...
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A Seller and Business Broker’s Perspectives

August 19, 2024 • 61 mins
In discussions of the entrepreneurship through acquisition journey, our attention is often drawn to the experiences of the searchers, those looking to acquire an enduringly profitable small business. However, two other crucial perspectives to consider are those of the sellers and of the brokers who they have partnered with to help sell their companies. In this episode, we meet Greg Edwards, Founder & CEO of Onsight Healthcare, and ...
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An Acquisition Entrepreneur’s First Months As CEO

August 12, 2024 • 62 mins
In February of 2024, after a self-funded search, Nick Wheeler took the helm at NSCA & Tra-Cal, an enduringly profitable small business that’s been serving the electronics, manufacturing, and telecom industries since 1988. In this episode, he reflects on his entrepreneurship through acquisition journey to-date, with a particular focus on his experience of “drinking from the firehose” during his first months as CEO. Nick shares the p...
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Searching Where Few Have Searched Before

August 5, 2024 • 52 mins
After years spent studying and working in the United States, Alexander Wallace recently returned to his native New Zealand to launch a self-funded search for an enduringly profitable small business to buy. In this episode, Alexander reflects on his decision to leave a conventional job in someone else's company in order to become a searcher; the reasons he decided to launch a geographically-focused search in New Zealand, where few h...
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The Fantastic Economics of SBA Loans

July 29, 2024 • 47 mins
The Small Business Administration (SBA) loan program offers acquisition entrepreneurs an incredible opportunity to buy a company with little equity, and on very advantageous terms. Heather Endresen has decades of experience in SBA lending and is now Owner of Viso Business Capital, where she helps searchers in a variety of ways, including finding banks that are most appropriate for their SBA loans. In this episode, Heather explores ...
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Explaining The Success Of First-Time CEOs

July 22, 2024 • 57 mins
How is it that so many searchers become successful CEOs, even when many have never run a company before and may not have the relevant industry experience? Personal characteristics count for a lot, but so too do company attributes. Sticky customers, for example, are hugely important, as this creates space for a new CEO to learn the ropes of the business. In this episode, we meet Michael Orzetti, an acquisition entrepreneur who, in A...
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