Buyers and Builders – Details, episodes & analysis

My guest today is Joel Mathew, Head of Originations at Woodson Equity. We discuss how his entrepreneurial path led him into private equity, Woodson’s “inch wide, mile deep” focus on diversified industrials and business services, and why they favor hands-on, control deals. Joel shares a live carve-out playbook, how he sources more than a 1,000 deals a year, the first-100-days operating cadence, culture as an edge, off-market vs. banked processes, and the mindset required to win in the lower middle market.

Sponsors:
This episode is sponsored by CapitalPad, the marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. Operators list live deals in one place; investors get standardized terms, governance, and distributions. If you are raising for a deal, or you want to back great operators, visit https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

Our sponsor Spacebar Studios builds and runs your newsletter end to end, so you stay top of mind with founders, brokers, LPs, talent and your customers without adding to your workload. Strategy, writing, design, sending, and list growth are handled. HoldCo Builders listeners also get a two-week free trial. Start with a free intro call at https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Intro
5:03 Focus: diversified industrials & business services
6:27 Hold period philosophy
7:07 Target size & screens
8:04 Why pursue larger deals
9:41 Value creation beyond capital; control investing
11:08 Hands-on operations (presence on the floor)
12:53 Sponsor: CapitalPad
14:16 Stewardship playbook: cost discipline, systems, people
15:24 Beyond the P&L: culture & morale
16:18 Weighing purpose vs. numbers
21:42 Factory-floor insights you won’t see in a data room
25:48 Why deal flow is “easy” (but a lot of work)
28:16 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios
29:48 Bigger vs. smaller deals
31:44 Seller types: family, PE, and carve-outs
33:50 Winning trust with founders not yet selling
38:02 Where the best off-market deals originate
39:10 Time allocation & focus blocks
41:05 Best ROI: banker processes vs. proprietary
43:40 Deals that die… and come back
44:51 What’s exciting now: volatility & tariffs
47:12 Patterns of elite operators
49:24 Staying sharp & never settling
53:16 War stories from the trenches
55:15 What’s next for Woodson (2-3 years)
57:08 “No bad deals, only bad prices”

Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

How Sid Jashnani scaled his firm into a portfolio of 15 companies and $77 million in revenue. If you’re an investor or builder, this is a masterclass in turning chaos into compounding cash flows.

Sponsors:
This episode is sponsored by CapitalPad, the marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. Operators list live deals in one place; investors get standardized terms, governance, and distributions. If you are raising for a deal, or you want to back great operators, visit https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

Our sponsor Spacebar Studios builds and runs your newsletter end to end, so you stay top of mind with founders, brokers, LPs, talent and your customers without adding to your workload. Strategy, writing, design, sending, and list growth are handled. HoldCo Builders listeners also get a two-week free trial. Start with a free intro call at https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

We discuss:
0:00 Intro: from systems integrator to 15-company HoldCo
0:34 Plateau at $4M: what wasn’t working
3:22 Discovering EOS: why it clicked and how to start
7:46 Sponsor CapitalPad: accredited investors invest in acquisition entrepreneurs
10:26 Owning product lines: vertical integration and moat
16:59 Rolling EOS across companies: the non-negotiable cadence
18:05 Before vs after EOS: escaping firefighting and gaining control
19:19 Sponsor Spacebar Studios: done-for-you newsletters for deal flow and trust
24:02 Accountability Chart: firing yourself from Ops the right way
29:05 Hiring via scorecard: finding the operator who can deliver
37:20 Eight Cash Drivers: terms, inventory discipline, margin expansion
49:02 Portfolio snapshot: 15 companies and current metrics
52:44 Build vs buy: when to create your own product
1:03:00 Raising a fund: de-risking and scaling the platform
1:06:54 Partnering with PE: timing, structures, and trade-offs

Support our Sponsors:
CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/
SpaceBar Studios: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Subscribe on Spotify:
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Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
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Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

My guest today is Nick Hatchka, founder of Cub Investments, which has completed over a dozen acquisitions. Nick is now building a regional platform of generator dealers and service businesses in California alongside his operating partner, Dylan Ferguson. We discuss his journey:

- to independent sponsorship,
- lessons from 12+ acquisitions,
- what makes a good business model,
- partnering with operators,
- and buying seller-dependent companies.

Sponsors
This episode is brought to you by CapitalPad. A marketplace that connects acquisition entrepreneurs who need capital with investors who want exposure to small-business deals. Standardized terms, governance, and distributions included. If you’re raising for a deal - or want to back operators - check out https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

Our sponsor Spacebar Studios builds and runs your newsletter so you stay top-of-mind with founders, brokers, LPs, and talent - without adding to your workload. HoldCo Builders listeners also use their two-week free trial. Go to https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire and get started for free.

We cover:
0:00 Nick Hatchka on 12+ acquisitions and a California generator platform
0:35 Background: MIT → McKinsey → 2 startups → Fortune 500 clean tech
1:54 Founding Cub (2016): SBA and personal capital for the first deal
2:49 Scaling: 12+ acquisitions across interior plants and landscaping, later divested
4:09 New platform thesis: generators in California and why the model is capital intensive
5:27 Investing focus: market and model selection over operator heroics
8:16 Capital discipline: self-funded pace vs raising outside capital
9:18 Sponsor CapitalPad: standardized terms, governance, and distributions for acquirers and investors
12:03 Generator business explained: sell, install, maintain, and test backup power (monthly, quarterly, annual PMs)
13:22 Sponsor Spacebar Studios: done-for-you newsletters with a two-week free setup
20:11 Partnering with Dylan Ferguson: 20-30 interviews and complementary skills
25:54 First acquisition Conti: sourced direct, LOI-to-close ~6 months, closed Jan 2024
28:16 Post-close playbook: replace owner-operator and rebuild systems for scale
33:39 Early lessons: grew fast to replace 4–5 seller hats and would build recruiting pipeline earlier
34:38 Results: revenue ~$3M → ~$6M and team 7 → ~14
42:13 Second acquisition PowerGen: 5–6 months later with larger C&I footprint in Bay Area and Sacramento
45:04 Capital and operating philosophy: seller note fixed ~8 years, target ≥3x DSCR, keep strong cash reserves and focus on service quality
51:32 Book and wrap: The Science of Success and expanding the circle of competence

Support our Sponsors:
CapitalPad: https://capitalpad.com/
SpaceBar Studios: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6lr5bE3SNZF2uEE7Nb0DHh?si=cP_nAarhRmep1lvnR6uk5g

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holdco-builders/id1695713724

Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Here is the dream story of many entrepreneurs:

Owning a business that generates so much free cash flow that you can invest in/acquire 8 businesses.

I’d even call him Andrew Wilkinson Jr…

Capital allocation at its best…

Started in 2017…

Today there are 8 companies in his portfolio.

All while being 32, traveling & living in 20 countries, having Tim Ferriss as an inspiration and driving a Range Rover Sports.

Most importantly, being generally happy and relaxed (my comments about him).

"The freedom of location. For the past 7 years I’ve lived and worked in 20 different companies. Only thanks to the businesses I ran.”

We discuss:

— Building a list of companies to acquire

— Finding the absolute best off-market deals

— Growing businesses 2-3 times in 18 months

— A 30-day post-acquisition action plan

— One book that changed his life forever

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:29 - Early failures turned into successful cash-flow machine

00:03:20 - Andrew Wilkinson from Tiny as a big influencer

00:05:18 - Acquiring a business using seller financing or not doing a deal at all

00:07:54 - Capital allocation at its best - buying vs. starting

00:11:19 - 8 businesses, 8 different CEOs

00:18:35 - Growing portfolio companies 2-3x in 18 months

00:21:19 - How to build a database of companies you want to acquire

00:23:52 - How to acquire a business in 30 days

00:27:59 - This is how you build a company where people want to work

00:32:11 - Turning big mistakes and failures into success

00:36:09 - Diversification, diversification, diversification

My full conversation with Lee Betts, the founder of BettsCo — Stream now.

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠

Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠

Lee on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/leebetts_

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

One great acquisition can change the life of you and your children.Forever.As the smartest private market deal makers have said:"The goal is to acquire $10 bills for $3 ... and again, that's only possible in the private markets."My top 5 lessons on actively looking for exeptional $2-10 million revenue companies. (Pre-acquisition)1. Being street smart will take you further than you can imagine. Cold calling. Being likable.General soft skill, listening more than talking, asking great questions. Doing a follow up. Many don't want to do it, and most don’t know how to do it.2. VC is sexy; but old-school folks who run a cogs and gears manufacturing biz in their 50s are much happier. They make money every single day. Days become weeks. Weeks become months and years.95% of them are seriously happy with zero debt and not much stress. Time for a wife, time for kids, time for hobbies, time to travel. No Forbes but they could care less.3. An hour-long meeting that will last 2-3 hours. Take time and listen. This is their life's work. Very rarely does anyone go there and appreciate the work they’ve done. It’s their baby. It’s the company they have built. Be that person who listens.4. Without brokers, it takes years. Getting a person who does not want to sell their business to actually sell it, takes ages. You really have to enjoy the journey. If it's a great business, you play by their rules.5. Soft-skills. Forget the Excel and EBITDA. They barely use CRM. Talk in plain language: "How much money did you make last year?"That and 11 other lessons, hot takes on this week's podcast:

00:00 - Intro

00:47 - A person with average intelligence can do it

02:56 - Forget the industry

08:52 - It's a numbers game

16:12 - Emails are good. Phone calls are better. IRL meetings are the best

24:01 - Practice negotiations, make offers

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠⁠This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

The day has come! SME people, whatever you are doing, stop it.

Here is a masterclass:

How to grow ANY traditional and “boring” business 50-200% annually.

From $2.2M to $3.1M…

From $7.6M to $11.2M…

From $1.2M to $1.8M…

And why do so many boring niche businesses suck at marketing?

Masterclass notes:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:56 - Why should we listen to Priit in the first place?

00:01:25 - Customers are satisfied with my products, what next?

00:02:43 - “Yes, but I have an agency or marketing person in the office, isn’t that enough?”

00:04:46 - Posting on Instagram, running FB and Google Ads – Good but very far from enough

00:06:55 - The biggest problem is not HOW to achieve growth

00:08:52 - How to grow from $2-10 million per year mark to $20 million

00:11:06 - What is data-based marketing?

00:16:29 - I’ve been stuck at $2 million for 4 years: here’s how to grow to $5 million

00:19:27 - What does going through that kind of growth require from the owner and management

00:25:14 - How quickly can Priit turn the company around?

00:27:41 - Business owners don’t know what they don’t know

00:30:39 - “Do this and you’ll succeed!”

If you are a business that needs help with growth marketing, I highly recommend getting in touch.

Note: Alongside being a happy customer, I am also an investor in the business.

Link to Conversion-Ninja

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠⁠This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Spent 7 hours researching a true master of small cap private equity:

- 586 transactions

- Acquire $1 million to $10 million EBITDA companies

- Average deal $12 million

- 72% IRR

- 7x cash on cash returns

He had two rare public appearances on Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s and Harry Stebbings' 20VC podcast.

His name is Justin Ishbia and he is the founder of Shore Capital Partners.

00:00:00 - Intro

00:01:28 - Mentors

00:02:05 - Lessons from dad

00:04:05 - Early days of Shore Capital Partners

00:09:45 - Margin of safety

00:11:50 - Making mistakes

00:14:40 - 80% are the first time CEOs

00:17:19 - How Justin finds six to seven talented Board of Directors for each of his portfolio business

00:21:45 - How to build systems that works 8 times out of 10

00:23:25 - Which people succeed in Shore Capital Partners

Here's what I learned:

1. “Constellation Software, Mark Leonard is a friend and a mentor. I'm not smart. I know who to copy. And did I copy -- they did all in software. We've done it in operating businesses,”

   
   

2. Biggest lesson from dad: “Don’t do things you don’t understand. You do what you understand and you can execute on it well.”

   
   

3. Industry, industry, industry! “If you go into the publishing industry right now, he doesn't care if you are Jack Welsh’s at his prime, you'll probably not end up having a bunch of success.”

   
   

4. 80% of our CEOs are first time CEOs. Big believer in early career energy. It takes a really smart person about 18 months to learn 90% of the industry.

   
   

5. Margin of safety. Most private equities commit $100 to a thesis, investing between $60 and $80 of that investment for the platform and reserving $20 to $40 for add-ons. Justin and Shore Capital have almost the exact inverse. They’re committing $100 to the thesis, and deploy $5 to $25 for the platform. It gives that great opportunity, he thinks, to increase your margin of safety, increase an opportunity for success.

The biggest take away was how Justin hires 6-7 board of directors for portfolio companies with almost zero $$$.

As the board of directors themselves say when they very first time show up:

“There's more people on the board than there's millions of revenue.”

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Very first acquisition in November 2016

As of March 2024, they manage a portfolio of 12 companies.

All done with their own capital.

(Except the one they did in late 2023)

95% of acquisitions have been owner succession & retirement driven buy-outs.

Cub Investments with Nick Haschka makes long term buy & hold equity investments in growth-oriented field services companies.

Most importantly, all this while raising three beautiful children.

Their biggest competitive advantage – looking for companies with an extremely small universe of buyers.

“What we do is very different from corporate America, strategic consulting, investment banking, PE, McKinsey….”

We discuss:

— Finding the absolute best deals

— Location as your biggest advantage

— How to get the buyer to sell the business

— Doing everything with their own $$$

— Using SaaS as a difference maker in those boring businesses— Post-acquisition before and after

— Finding a perfect co-founder

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:19 - Current portfolio and Nick’s dream acquisition...

00:02:10 - Background story and why small business PE is not for most people

00:05:50 - How Nick finds the best deals

00:10:55 - Location and industry knowledge as your biggest advantages

00:13:30 - Red flags when acquiring a company

00:16:25 - 2023 and raising capital in a short 4 weeks

00:24:40 - What made the biggest difference in their MOST successful deal

00:32:07 - Craziest post-acquisition stories

00:39:30 - Founders relying on their memory,not CRM

00:44:19 - Partnership with the co-founder

00:51:01 - The work never stops - how to manage it all

My full conversation with Nick Haschka, the co-founder of Cub Investments.

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠

Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe

⁠⁠Nick on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/NickHaschka

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

What if you can't code and you're not good at tech?

You go and start a business that makes $1.7 million per year.

This is what Ben Wolff did with little money and reasonably short period of time.

Today, he manages more than $65 million worth of real estate.

"With our properties, we achieve industry-leading margins of, say, 52-55% NOI."

We discuss:

— Opening first property

— Starting an real estate management company

— Secrets of using social media platforms in short stay

— Achieving 52-55% NOI margins

— How to really own customers

— Not relying on booking platforms

00:00 - Intro

00:40 - Being broke, $30,000 in debt, what next...

07:05 - REIT (a public company) acquires the majority of the company

11:00 - Revenue and size of the business

14:02 - Fundraising with no track record used to be easy

20:17 - Luxury hotel stays and 50%+ IRR

24:49 - Using social media to achieve industry leading margins

30:45 - 100% overship of a customer

31:50 – How traditional businesses should use social media to their advantage

34:34 - The biggest lesson as an operator - quality!

42:05 - The benefits of sharing everything publicly

54:30 - Reinvesting all real estate profits in the media

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy

⁠⁠Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe⁠⁠

Ben on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/UniqueStaysGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Ever wondered who are the young folks who build these great business portfolios?

2020 $17.0m

2021 $44.1m

2022 $64.9m

2023 $126.8m

All that within a reasonably short time.

While spending tons of time with kids and family.

I mean today Rafael Quinn is 44 years old, but decades from now people will be Googling him to find out how he started this massive conglomerate called Alternative Holdings.

The best investment advice:

• Buy companies you understand

• Run by people you want to work with

• Pay a fair price

“No matter how important I believe cash-flow is. Every 6 months I’m reminded again of how much more important it is.”

We discuss:

— Why they look at EBIT instead of EBITDA

— Dividend payments while building wealth

— A 5 year period of doing ZERO deals

— How to create value by prioritizing your strengths

Show notes:

00:00:00 - Intro

00:00:23 - At 26 he sold everything, slept on a floor for 15 days and moved to Panama

00:02:55 - 1st acquisition and how it all got started

00:05.00 - How much money Rafael invested in the first deal

00:07:50 - The importance of having the right co-founder - whoever says no wins

00:11:00 - “Better be lucky than smart”

00:11:26 - Being investor vs operator

00:13:30 - The number 1 key factor of the most successful holdco conglomerates

00:17:55 - The amount of debt they use

00:21:20 - What has been the average acquisition multiple

00:31:46 - Time spent on each business per week

00:39:40 - CEOs and their attitude & work ethic pre- vs post-acquisition

00:42:50 - The acquisition process and the discipline of say no to 100s of businesses

00:48:01 - Cashflow, cashflow, cashflow

00:51:10 - Spending time with kids is the best thing ever

Follow PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://Twitter.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠

Join HoldCo Builders weekly newsletter on finding deals, raising capital, and growing small niche manufacturing businesses: ⁠⁠https://privatequityguy.beehiiv.com/subscribe

⁠⁠Rafael on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/RafaQuinn

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.