Masters in Small Business M&A

On today’s episode, Kyle Tucker, founder of Tucker’s Farm Corporation, joins Peter Lehrman to share his journey from big league private equity and hedge fund land to creating a unique investment platform focused on roll-ups in the lower middle market. 

Kyle shares how early inspiration from Warren Buffett and experience...

Today’s guest is Lance Fenton, a Partner at Serent Capital, a private equity fund investing in bootstrapped vertical market software businesses. In this episode, Lance breaks down Serent’s software investment thesis, how it evolved over time, and how they think about sourcing, returns, hold period, and the future prospects of these niche businesses.

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This episode features guests Royce Yudkoff and Richard (Rick) Ruback, co-authors of the Harvard Business Review Guide to Buying a Small Business, and professors at Harvard Business School (HBS). Royce and Rick have spent more than 15 years teaching Entrepreneurship Through Acquisiti...

Do you love your home “IT and AV guy”? We didn’t think so.  

In this episode, Peter Lehrman sits down with Hagan Kappler, co-founder of Daisy, an emerging national player leader in home technology installation, integration, and servicing. Daisy has acquired eight companies in roughly 12 months, and is beginning to integ...

In this episode, Peter Lehrman sits down with Adam Breslawsky, founding partner and managing director of lower middle market investment bank Oberon Securities. Adam shares Oberon's origin story, detailing its humble beginnings, initial challenges, early clients and eventual growth into what is now a firm of 80 bankers across the U.S. 

In this episode, Peter Lehrman sits down with Sam Rosati, founder of Pursuant Capital and the original sponsor of Perimeter Solutions Group (PSG), to explore his approach to scaling a single commercial fencing business in the Tampa, FL region and scaling growth across the sunbelt stages through five acquisitions and meaningful organic growth.

In this episode, Peter Lehrman sits down with Michael Arrieta, founder of Garden City, to discuss his unique journey from a successful career in tech with companies like DocuSign to founding a people-first holding company focused on service-based businesses. Michael shares insights into his decision to leave tech, the principles guiding Garden City, and the...

Today’s conversation is with Ryan Sullivan, Managing Director and Co-Founder at North Park Group (https://northparkgroup.com/), a Chicago-based private investment firm focused on acquiring and operating US-based manufacturing and distribution businesses for the very long-term. 

Ryan was a multi-chapter manufacturing operator and CEO and North Park Group re...

Today’s conversation is with Tom Barber, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at SBJ Capital (https://www.sbjcap.com), a California-based private equity firm investing into the consumer and business services verticals. 

In this episode, Tom dives into how he and his team continue to build SBJ Capital, paying special attentio...

Today’s guest is Marshall Lockton. Marshall spent 15 years in sales, sales strategy and sales training roles within his family’s storied private insurance brokerage business (Lockton) before leaving to acqui...

Today’s guest is Rafael "Rafa" Quinn, co-founder and President of Alternative Holdings, a diversified holding company with subsidiaries in food services, retail, industrial sales, and business process outsourcing. 

Rafa’s origin story has already been covered in other podcasts, so we instead begin in 2011 with his first...

Today’s guest is Matt Plooster, founder and CEO of Bridgepoint, a boutique investment bank based in Omaha, Nebraska. We start the conversation with a background on private credit and its origins. From there we proceed to cover its growth, its arrival in the lower middle market, and how business owners can think about its features, risks, utility and applicability. We close out the ...

In this episode, we interview Bob Falahee, the recently exited founder of SunPro Motorized Awnings & Screens.  

Bob’s entrepreneurial origin story starts in Michigan, where he was a sales leader for a semi-truck trailer manufacturer. Bob and his family left behind the cold winters of Michigan for Florida, where he founded SunPro with $36,000 in seed ca...

In this episode, Glenn Oken, Managing Director at Mangrove Equity Partners, sits down with host Peter Lehrman to discuss the evolution of Small Business M&A, from the late ‘80s to present day. 

The conversation starts with Glenn’s entry into the M&A scene, and the challenges and opportunities of closing transact...

Today’s guest is Clint Fiore, a small business operator turned M&A broker and the President of Bison Business, a Texas-based business brokerage transacting in both Main Street deals and the lower middle market. 

Clint lays out his four different archetypes of business brokers, what makes them tick, and how private e...

In this episode, Mike Botkin, founder and CEO of OneOutdoor Holdings sits down with Peter Lehrman. The conversation starts with the OneOutdoor Holdings origin story (hint: Mike was in bed at the time). Mike goes into how and where he sourced his first deal, how he structured the deal, and OneOutdoor’s strategic shift from residential to commercial landscapi...

Today Peter Lehrman speaks with Emily Holdman, the Managing Director at Permanent Equity, about the intricacies of due diligence. The conversation delves into the importance of creating a powerful diligence team when preparing to sell a business, highlighting the roles of an M&A attorney and an M&A advisor. Emily also discusses the concept of intern...

In today’s episode, Peter Lehrman sits down with Chris Gallagher, CEO of Gallagher Fluid Seals, a family-owned distributor and manufacturer of fluid sealing products. Chris worked in the family business on the factory floor in his teens and returned to the business after a significant chapter in strategy consulting. In January 2017, the company executed the...

Today, we’re publishing Peter Lehrman’s conversation with Max Artz, a search fund expert and Partner at Peterson Search Partners, a professional investment firm focused on backing the top search fund talent. 

Max shares insights on the world of small business mergers and acquisitions including strategies for securing th...