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What does it take to acquire companies, build a serial acquisition platform, and never sell? My guest today is Giuseppe Balzano, founder of Novaterra, an Italian permanent capital holding company acquiring niche industrial businesses with defensible technology and intellectual property. At just 30, Giuseppe has secured $25 million in equity commitments, pursued two acquisitions, and set out to build an industrial group that could endure for generations. We discuss why Italy's overlooked industrial champions present an extraordinary opportunity, how to find businesses with near-monopoly positions, the realities of raising permanent capital, and why patience may be the greatest competitive advantage in investing. We also explore Giuseppe's unconventional journey from venture capital to business ownership, his approach to acquiring and operating companies, and his ambition to build something his children might one day own. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Building a company he never wants to sell 3:56 The mentor who shaped his long-term thinking 7:20 Why he left venture capital to build something permanent 9:42 Why Italy's industrial businesses are overlooked 12:29 Solo founders, co-founders, and playing the long game 15:05 How he learns and makes investment decisions 18:29 Inside his first two industrial acquisitions 23:37 The next acquisition: water management 24:25 Growing businesses without chasing growth 29:44 Finding acquisition targets other buyers miss 34:14 How to win the trust of family business owners 40:07 The brutal reality of raising $25 million 44:22 The numbers behind his fundraising process 48:12 Deal structuring: debt, equity, and ownership 50:09 Managing acquisitions without replacing CEOs 57:22 Founder incentives and building an ownership culture 1:02:49 Why finding great people is harder than finding deals 1:05:11 Building a legacy despite the odds 1:10:49 The road to a self-funding industrial compounder This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

What does it actually take to build a world-class roll-up? After spending a day at the RollUpEurope Serial Acquirers Summit with some of Europe’s most active serial acquirers, we break down the operating playbooks behind groups that have completed hundreds of acquisitions—and the lessons that matter whether you’re pursuing acquisition #1 or #50. This episode covers how great acquirers choose markets, build proprietary deal flow, win sellers without simply paying the highest price, keep founders engaged after closing, integrate without destroying what made a business special, and eventually turn a collection of companies into an institutional platform. The examples are remarkable: one group has acquired roughly 680 pharmacies. Evergreen has completed roughly 160 acquisitions. Another platform deliberately stopped acquiring for nearly a year after its first two deals because the founders wanted to understand the operating model before scaling it. Later, they completed an additional 18 acquisitions. Roll-ups look like finance from a distance. Up close, they are a combination of sales, psychology, operations, hiring, negotiation, capital allocation, culture, and endurance. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Inside Europe’s most active roll-up builders 2:36 Find the pain you actually enjoy 6:11 Why the best roll-ups start extremely niche 7:22 Your acquisition pipeline is part of the research 9:23 Seller psychology: why the highest price doesn’t always win 11:58 Don’t scale a roll-up you don’t understand 13:09 M&A is not value creation 15:08 Integration, capital partners & building an institutional platform 18:54 Reputation as an economic asset 20:08 The roll-up flywheel This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

My guests today are Deiya and Dean Pernas, founders of Pernas Research, who have compounded capital at roughly 30% annually over the past nine years. We explore their private equity-like approach to public markets: understanding businesses from the inside out, judging management teams and capital allocation, and finding inflection points before they show up in the financials. We also discuss their “motor” investing framework, why trajectory matters more than absolute quality, lessons from poker and bankroll management, and how they think about position sizing, averaging down, and knowing when a thesis is broken. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The opportunity in public markets 2:49 From poker and engineering to investing 6:08 Private equity lessons for public investors 11:35 The Motor investing framework 14:40 Finding potential before the numbers 17:02 When to sell 19:20 How to judge great CEOs 23:39 Capital allocation: good and bad 29:59 Trajectory over quality 33:32 Finding inflection points 36:45 Incentives and shareholder alignment 41:48 Poker lessons for portfolio management 45:16 Position sizing, averaging down, and surviving mistakes This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

My guest today is Sam Allsopp, co-founder of Neal Roofing and Waterproofing, a home services company he started with Andrew Neal in 2020 and has since grown from zero to roughly $50 million in annual revenue—all organically. What makes Sam’s story interesting is that he didn’t come from roofing. Before starting Neal Roofing and Waterproofing, he ran a marketing agency and worked with more than a dozen roofing companies, where he began to see firsthand why some contractors could turn leads into profitable growth while others struggled. That experience eventually became the foundation for Neal Roofing and Waterproofing: build a world-class customer acquisition and sales machine, then pair it with excellent execution and fulfillment. In this conversation, Sam breaks down how the business changed at every stage—from the first few million in revenue to building management layers, professionalizing the sales organization and eventually creating the systems required to operate at $50 million of scale. We go deep on marketing spend, lead generation, speed-to-lead, booking rates, sales capacity, one-call closes, compensation plans, hiring ahead of growth and the KPIs he watches every day. We also explore how Neal Roofing and Waterproofing has remained profitable while growing aggressively, why Sam prefers opening new markets from scratch over acquiring competitors, how he thinks about incentives and accountability across the organization and why he believes the underlying playbook can work far beyond roofing. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 From zero to a $50M roofing company 1:11 The real business: customer acquisition + sales 3:25 $1M → $2.5M → $6M → $14M → $25M → $36M → $50M 8:33 What changes at every stage of growth 15:01 The KPIs Sam tracks to run the business 17:52 Facebook, PPC, LSA & the marketing mix 19:15 Why they contact leads in under a minute 23:15 Building the sales machine & one-call close 27:24 The operating system behind $50M of roofs 33:07 Growing fast while staying profitable 38:48 Hiring, incentives & performance pay 40:34 Why they prefer organic growth over M&A 46:14 How Sam actually learned sales & marketing This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

My guest today is Felix Jander, co-founder of Arsipa, a buy-and-build company focused on occupational health and safety. Felix and Stefan began exploring the idea during COVID, studying roughly 60 niche industries before choosing a fragmented market with significant room for consolidation. Arsipa went on to complete more than 40 acquisitions, grow to over 1,100 employees across 60+ locations, and surpass $100 million in annual revenue. In 2024, the company partnered with Warburg Pincus, with Felix remaining invested in the business. We discuss how they chose their market, built proprietary deal flow, and used highly personalized outreach to generate reply rates as high as 80%. Felix explains why the first acquisition matters so much, how Arsipa financed its early deals, and the operational playbook behind recruiting, finance, pricing, integration and culture. He also shares the story of splitting with his original co-founder, finding his next partner, and transitioning from operator to investor. This is a practical conversation about acquisitions, capital allocation and building an institution from a collection of small businesses. Please enjoy my conversation with Felix Jander. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 From zero to 40+ acquisitions and $100M+ in revenue 3:33 Why boring businesses beat venture-backed hypergrowth 5:08 How they chose one market from 60 niche industries 7:40 The 1% conversion math behind proprietary deal flow 11:08 Raising the first pool of acquisition capital 18:00 Buying businesses without brokers 20:41 The first acquisition changes everything 23:04 Equity first, debt later 24:58 Turning acquisitions into an operating company 28:13 Losing a co-founder in the middle of fundraising 32:27 Selling to Warburg Pincus and rolling equity 40:08 The roll-up integration and value-creation playbook 44:32 The economics of scaling a roll-up 48:06 What changes after a major private equity investment 51:24 Felix’s advice for aspiring buy-and-build founders 54:18 From operator to investor 56:12 Final lessons from building Arsipa This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

My guest today is Justin Escajeda, an entrepreneur who owns 12 trade businesses around Pittsburgh, employing roughly 250 people and generating more than $50 million in annual revenue. What makes Justin’s story interesting is that he never set out to become an acquisition entrepreneur. He started in masonry, construction and real estate before buying his first roofing company which did $600k in SDE in 2018 for $846k. That acquisition changed how he thought about building businesses. Today, Justin owns companies across masonry, roofing, insurance, material supply, general contracting, property management and luxury remodeling. His approach is unusually simple: buy businesses that already work, preserve what made them successful, put great operators in charge and resist the temptation to change things simply because you can. We also explore how he manages 12 businesses without micromanaging them, the four KPIs he watches every day and why he stopped taking cash from portfolio companies to fund new acquisitions. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Building a $50M portfolio of trade businesses 1:24 The first acquisition that changed everything 4:34 Buying a roofing company for under $1M with an SBA loan 6:21 Why Justin never wants to start another company 8:15 Why he avoids changing businesses after buying them 12:24 Inside a portfolio of 12 trade businesses 15:00 The acquisition Justin overpaid for 16:49 SBA loans, cash, and why he prefers seller financing 22:25 Solving key-person risk after an acquisition 27:14 Growing companies without micromanaging operators 31:05 Why Justin went an entire year without buying anything 34:38 The four numbers he watches every day 37:42 A $300K mistake, liquidity, and why ownership isn’t passive This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

In 2010, Robert Finkel wrote the book The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital: Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing In this episode, I explore the ideas, decisions, successes, and failures of two people who helped define modern private equity: Joseph Rice, co-founder of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Warren Hellman, co-founder of Hellman & Friedman. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The Masters of Private Equity 2:15 Private equity is more than buying and selling companies 5:42 What separates the best private equity investors 7:14 Joseph Rice: Building Clayton, Dubilier & Rice 10:13 Jack Welch’s advice during the 2008 crisis: “Hammer them” 15:23 The failed deal that changed how Rice invested forever 19:28 Lexmark: Turning an IBM division into an entrepreneurial company 22:06 Kinko’s, a total loss, and the danger of believing you can do anything 26:20 Joseph Rice’s five lessons from 40+ years in private equity 31:03 Warren Hellman: Building Hellman & Friedman 32:23 “This time is different” — the investing lesson Hellman never forgot 36:35 Every investment is guilty until proven innocent 39:51 Think like an owner, not an employee 42:38 Levi Strauss and the deal that put Hellman & Friedman on the map 45:34 Why a great security can still be a terrible investment 49:08 Warren Hellman’s five rules for investing This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Greg Geronemus bought a ~$5M EBITDA business with no operating experience, financed half the purchase price with a seller note, and spent his first year doing something most new owners struggle to do: almost nothing. Four years later, the business was larger, professionally managed, dramatically delevered, and sold at roughly 9x EBITDA—producing just under a 5x net return and ~50% net IRR for investors. Greg breaks down the entire journey: finding the deal, negotiating the structure, taking over from a deeply embedded founder, deciding what not to change, discovering the growth channels that actually worked, and ultimately selling the company. Above all, this is an episode about buying well. Because you can change your team, strategy, marketing, systems, and operations after closing. You cannot change the price you paid or the structure you agreed to. For anyone searching for, buying, financing, or operating a business, this is a case study worth studying. Timestamps: 0:00 From Private Equity to Buying a Business 5:12 The High-Volume Strategy for Finding Deals 7:42 The Unlikely Chain of Introductions That Found smarTours 10:01 The Deal: ~5x EBITDA and 50% Seller Financing 13:50 From First Meeting to a $29M Acquisition 17:18 What Made This Business So Attractive 23:14 How the $29M Acquisition Was Financed 25:21 The First 100 Days: Don’t Screw It Up 31:35 Why Great Buyers Go Slow Before They Go Fast 35:23 Modernizing the Business—and What Didn’t Work 39:39 The Growth Breakthrough Nobody Expected 44:12 Selling the Business, ~5x Returns This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Eric Tan and Patrick Grove are building one of Southeast Asia's most interesting serial acquirers. As CEO of Catcha Digital, they've completed 14 acquisitions while creating a permanent home for market-leading businesses across digital media, B2B exhibitions, and vertical software. In this conversation, Eric shares why his failed startup became the foundation for Catcha Digital, how they evaluate hundreds of acquisition opportunities, why culture matters more than spreadsheets, and what he's learned from studying companies like Constellation Software, Danaher, Roper and Europe's leading compounders. We also dive deep into capital allocation, decentralized operations, buy-and-build strategies, and why live events may become even more valuable in the AI era. Timestamps: 0:00 Building Southeast Asia's serial acquirer 1:00 From failed startup to Catcha Digital 8:20 How Catcha Digital operates a decentralized holding company 13:05 Why 99 out of 100 acquisition opportunities get rejected 15:25 Lessons from Sweden's best serial acquirers 24:00 Why B2B trade exhibitions are exceptional businesses 28:40 The software acquisition strategy inspired by Constellation Software 30:15 The buy-and-build playbook behind Catcha Digital's growth 39:00 Learning from Danaher, Roper, Constellation & other compounders 43:50 Why live events become more valuable in an AI world 47:00 Working with Patrick Grove & building an acquisition machine 51:00 Capital allocation, going public & balancing long-term thinking with quarterly results This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Frederik Brandis was one of the key minds behind Arsipa, a buy-and-build platform focused on acquiring occupational medicine and workplace safety consultancies. As one of the earliest investors and strategic partners, he helped scale the business through dozens of acquisitions before it achieved an exit to Warburg Pincus just three years after its founding. Today, he is the Founder & General Partner of Aven Capital Partners, where he backs exceptional entrepreneurs before they even own a business—helping them acquire, integrate, and scale small companies into market-leading platforms. In this conversation, we discuss what separates AAA entrepreneurs from everyone else, why emotional intelligence matters more than pedigree, how Frederik evaluates founders before they've built anything, why buy-and-build remains one of the most attractive opportunities in investing, and the biggest lessons from building one of Europe's most successful acquisition platforms. We also explore: • What makes an exceptional buy-and-build entrepreneur • How to evaluate people before they've built a track record • Why relationships outperform spreadsheets in acquisitions • The biggest misconceptions about roll-ups and ETA • When to sell—and why leaving value for the next owner matters • The future of buy-and-build investing Whether you're interested in private equity, entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA), search funds, capital allocation, or building businesses through acquisitions, I believe this episode is packed with practical insights. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 The gap in private equity that led to Aven Capital Partners 06:04 What makes a true "AAA Entrepreneur" 09:00 How Frederik evaluates founders before they've built anything 13:34 Is now still the best time for buy-and-build? 16:43 The Arsipa story: from first investment to major exit 20:20 Why Frederik chose investing over becoming a searcher 27:00 Holding periods, exits & leaving upside for the next owner 32:50 Designing businesses that private equity actually wants to buy 37:16 How young entrepreneurs earn credibility without pedigree 43:25 Why many searchers and roll-up founders fail 46:06 Frederik vision for building Europe's operating system for buy-and-build This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Greg Geronemus is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Footbridge Partners, where he backs entrepreneurs pursuing search funds and other forms of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). Before becoming an investor, Greg lived the search fund journey himself. In 2013, Greg and his partner David acquired a tour operator generating roughly $5 million of EBITDA. Over the next four years, they grew EBITDA by approximately 50%, paid down most of the company's $20 million debt load, and ultimately exited the business at approximately 9x EBITDA—around four turns higher than their acquisition multiple. In this episode, Greg and I explore how the search fund ecosystem has evolved from a tiny, relatively unknown corner of entrepreneurship into a rapidly growing asset class and career path. We discuss why buying a great small business has become more competitive, the differences between traditional and self-funded search, and why owning a larger percentage of a smaller company doesn't necessarily create greater economic upside. Timestamps: 0:00 Greg's acquisition story and introduction to ETA 1:03 How search funds have changed since 2010 6:40 Raising equity and debt when almost nobody understood search 10:40 Is buying businesses actually harder today? 17:30 The Harvard ETA course that changed the industry 24:42 The mindset required to survive a two-year search 27:16 Traditional search vs. self-funded search explained 35:33 The biggest misconception about ownership and wealth 40:22 Why committed capital vehicles are exploding 48:38 What Greg looks for when backing acquisition entrepreneurs 50:24 If you had $500k today—which path would you choose? 53:08 Greg's advice for future searchers This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Nathan Lindley is the CEO of Lindley Home Services, an HVAC platform that has completed 11 acquisitions across Texas. But this story almost ended before it began... After acquiring his first two companies with an SBA loan, Nathan watched revenue collapse, burned through his cash, nearly lost his father's retirement savings and came dangerously close to bankruptcy. The turning point was  a complete rethink of incentives, compensation, and how to build an acquisition platform that actually compounds. In this conversation, Nathan shares the brutal reality behind his first acquisitions, the lessons that reshaped his operating philosophy, and why he now believes buying a business is really about buying opportunities—not revenue. Timestamps: 00:00 Introduction: Nathan's 11 acquisitions and $16M run-rate HVAC platform 00:25 The acquisition timeline: from the first deal in 2020 to acquisition #11 01:24 From Christian book publishing to buying HVAC businesses 03:55 Selling real estate to fund the first acquisition 04:33 Buying a one-technician HVAC company—and the costly assumptions that followed 07:58 Losing 40% of revenue almost immediately after closing 10:26 Acquisition #2 makes every problem much bigger 11:20 Running out of cash—twice 14:18 The decision to put everyone on commission 15:15 Every employee quits on the same day 16:21 The Indeed hire who changed the entire business 18:59 The emotional toll: fear, alcohol, and nearly going bankrupt 23:13 One technician outperforms the rest of the company 25:52 Why Nathan waited a full year before doing acquisition #3 27:00 Acquisitions #3 and #4—and buying businesses the second time around 28:46 How his M&A due diligence completely changed 29:30 The "buying at-bats" framework for acquisitions 33:08 Why Lindley spends almost nothing on marketing 34:15 Turning acquired customer databases into new revenue 36:27 Hiring exceptional technicians and building repeatable systems 37:35 The company today: 50 employees across three markets 39:13 How Lindley integrates acquired businesses 42:38 Teaching acquired technicians to double their income 43:17 The acquisitions that didn't work—and why 46:47 Planning an exit and doing it all over again 49:04 Where to connect with Nathan This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Chris Rolls is the founder of PieLAB Capital, a holding company with nine portfolio companies built through 13 acquisitions. After building and selling multiple businesses, Chris entered private equity to learn the investing side of the game. But he eventually became convinced that the traditional PE model forces investors to sell their best businesses too early. That realization led him to build a permanent capital holding company inspired by Berkshire Hathaway, Constellation Software, TransDigm and the Swedish serial acquirers. In this conversation, Chris explains how PieLAB sources deals, why private markets offer advantages over public markets, how he evaluates recurring revenue businesses, lessons from growing Detector Inspector, and the three primary levers he uses to create value after an acquisition. Timestamps: 0:00 From Entrepreneur to Investor 3:03 Trading Operational Help for Private Equity Experience 5:01 Why Chris Abandoned the Traditional PE Model 5:25 Discovering Constellation Software & Serial Acquirers 8:43 Why Private Markets Beat Public Markets 13:05 Building Australia's First Serial Acquirer 14:59 The Challenge of Permanent Capital & Investor Liquidity 16:24 How Detector Inspector Grew Into an Industry Leader 17:08 Why Chris Loves Compliance Businesses 20:41 The Three Levers of Value Creation 23:00 The Pricing Power Playbook 25:27 Using AI to Reduce Costs & Improve Operations 33:03 Why Every HoldCo Needs an AI Champion 41:07 Bolt-On Acquisitions vs Platform Acquisitions 43:38 Building a HoldCo for the Next 30 Years 46:06 Work-Life Balance, Curiosity & Long-Term Success This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

In this episode, David Flickinger, founder of Vellm.ai, joins Mikk Markus to explain how his journey from Marine Corps officer to AI implementation shaped his perspective on technology, and how business owners, private equity professionals, search fund operators, and CEOs can move beyond using Claude and ChatGPT as a simple productivity tool and begin building AI infrastructure that creates real enterprise value. Drawing on years of experience deploying AI solutions inside operating companies, David shares how AI agents can be connected directly into CRMs, ERPs, financial systems, proposal databases, and operating workflows to capture institutional knowledge, reduce key-man risk, improve decision-making, and dramatically increase productivity. One of the most fascinating examples comes from a commercial roofing company where an AI system analyzed 47 building plans and produced a $6.5 million estimate in 23 minutes—nearly identical to the estimate produced by a senior estimator after two weeks of work. We discuss: 0:00 Introduction: Why Most Business Owners Use AI Wrong 1:20 David Flickinger's Journey from Marine Officer to AI Operator 6:48 ChatGPT vs Real AI Infrastructure 0:24 The Roofing Company AI Case Study 6:17 How AI Learns Decades of Business Experience 20:39 Human Oversight, Trust & AI Decision-Making 25:30 What Happens to Junior Employees in an AI World? 28:07 How AI Doubled Revenue Without Hiring More Staff 32:17 AI, Key-Man Risk & Higher Business Valuations 39:02 The Biggest Risks of Implementing AI 45:05 The First AI Project Every Business Owner Should Start David on X: https://x.com/DWFlickinger David's firm - AI agents for the workflows that run your business: https://vellm.ai/

Brett Kelly is the founder and CEO of Kelly Partners Group. Since founding the firm in 2006, Brett has completed more than 90 acquisitions, compounded revenue at over 30% annually and built a business expected to generate roughly $50 million in EBITA in 2026. Timestamps: 0:00 Brett Kelly's early years and losing his job at 22 3:57 Writing to 80 successful Australians while unemployed 9:13 The moment Brett decided to start his own firm 12:24 Launching Kelly Partners with a clear long-term vision 13:22 Inspired by Disney, McDonald's, Ritz-Carlton & Berkshire Hathaway 17:10 Choosing the right clients and creating a business system 18:36 The 204-step operating system behind Kelly Partners 19:01 The acquisition strategy: becoming #1 or #2 in local markets 24:05 Winning clients through a differentiated value proposition 28:27 Lessons learned from 95 acquisitions 29:06 Why the 51/49 ownership model works 31:39 What types of firms Kelly Partners acquires 32:59 Capital allocation and building a capital-efficient roll-up 34:30 Doubling profits after acquisitions: the biggest lever 35:18 AI, accounting, and the future of professional services 36:28 Permanent capital vs. traditional private equity 37:20 Brett's biggest challenge today: financing growth 37:53 Kelly Partners' 17-step hiring process 38:28 The future: building a global accounting platform 39:45 Focus, systems, and operating at world-class standards 41:17 Why passion and meaning matter in business 43:05 How accountants can genuinely improve people's lives 44:24 Final thoughts on leadership, culture, and making a difference 45:32 30% revenue CAGR, 35% book value growth & 90+ acquisitions This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.