Masters in Small Business M&A – Details, episodes & analysis

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Masters in Small Business M&A

Peter Lehrman

Business

Education

Frequency: 1 episode/33d. Total Eps: 25

Welcome to the “Masters in Small Business Mergers and Acquisitions podcast.” I am your host, Peter Lehrman, and I’m the Founder and CEO of Axial (www.axial.net), a trusted online platform for business owners & their M&A advisors to use to safely and intelligently explore and execute capital raises, acquisitions, and exits with strategic buyers or professional financial sponsors.

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🇨🇦 Canada - investing
26/05/2025
#84

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https://www.axial.net/
12 shares
https://library.axial.net/masters-in-small-business-ma
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https://library.axial.net/masters-in-small-business-ma/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/plehrman/
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https://www.linkedin.com/in/marshall-lockton-26369a1/
2 shares
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-botkin/
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https://twitter.com/ClintFiore
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https://twitter.com/petelehrman
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https://twitter.com/axialco?lang=en
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Score global : 48%

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From Apollo & Viking to the Gritty Lower Middle Market. Building Tucker’s Farm with Kyle Tucker

Episode 38

Tuesday, May 13, 2025 • Duration 52:18

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 experiences in private equity shaped his approach to long-duration, high-compounding investments. They discuss Tucker’s Farm's focus on aggregation strategies, the importance of friction in deal sourcing and in deal execution, and why Kyle prioritizes operational scale over traditional private equity paths.

Discussion Points:

Kyle Tucker’s early inspiration and career path through Apollo and Viking
The appeal of value investing and structured private equity strategies
Discovering the potential of roll-ups and aggregation strategies
Founding Tucker’s Farm and its focus on high-compounding investments
Structuring deals for flexibility and identifying true compounders
Lessons from launching a med spa roll-up and handling early setbacks
The role of friction in sourcing and why opacity creates opportunity
How Tucker’s Farm balances operational scale with investment judgment
The evolving private equity landscape and navigating market saturation
Kyle’s perspective on staying in the lower middle market while scaling horizontally

Masters in Small Business M&A (sign up for podcast drops here) is produced by its host Peter Lehrman and the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for qualified business owners to confidentially explore growth capital and exit transactions with the lower middle market’s top-ranked lower middle market M&A advisors and professional capital partners. In every episode, we explore the dynamic world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, acquirers, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where we make available the Axial member directories, downloadable tools for dealmakers, the Axial quarterly lower middle market investment banking league-table rankings, the SMB M&A pipeline report, and other useful information. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

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Investing in Bootstrapped Vertical Market Software: A Conversation with Lance Fenton

Episode 37

Thursday, April 10, 2025 • Duration 59:23

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.

Lance shares how Serent approaches value creation, the importance of high gross retention, the role of pricing optimization, and how they are responding to AI’s arrival as a threat and opportunity across their portfolio. Lance shares an unusually transparent and candid look at Serent’s direct sourcing model, why they prioritize long-term relationships with founders, and what makes an investment business truly great over decades of success.

Discussion Points:

Serent Capital’s transition from B2B services to vertical market software
Why high recurring revenue and high ROIC drive investment decisions
The adoption curve of Vertical Market SaaS: from on-premise to cloud and beyond
How shifting to SaaS from on-premise improves net revenue retention
The role of payments in vertical software and its impact on valuations
How Serent thinks about downturns and risk in underwriting deals
The key attributes Serent looks for in vertical software investments
Why pricing strategy is a critical lever for growth
The role of AI in the evolution of software businesses
Why Serent prioritizes direct sourcing over intermediated deal flow
The challenges and advantages of a long-term sourcing approach
How PE firms evolve and sustain long-term success

Masters in Small Business M&A (sign up for podcast drops here) is produced by its host Peter Lehrman and the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially explore growth capital and exit transactions with top-ranked lower middle market M&A advisors and professional capital partners. In every episode, we explore the dynamic world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, acquirers, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

Rafa Quinn - Building A Diversified Lower Middle Market Holding Company

Tuesday, May 21, 2024 • Duration 56:23

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 deal, an industrial sales distribution company in Panama. Rafa shares how that first deal helped shape his long-term philosophy on evaluating companies, including the two recent water business acquisitions.

We then proceed to cover topics such as the horizontal Holdco model, advantages of vertical integration, and playing to your strengths as an investor. We close out the conversation with Rafa emphasizing how his strong partnership with his business partner has been critical in both overcoming obstacles and sustaining his ongoing passion and dedication to a career as an investor.

Discussion points:

Rafael’s first deal and establishing HQ in Panama
Adapting to market changes in energy sources
Inventory consignment vs distribution model
Horizontal holding companies vs. vertical integration
Warren Buffett’s approach to post-acquisition incentive alignment
The practical application of zero-cost budgeting
Adding value without being needed in the day-to-day
Rafael’s philosophy on long-term growth strategies and investment
Intangible qualities of good business brokers
Benefits of finding the right business partner

Masters in Small Business M&A (Subscribe to Masters in Small Business M&A) is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially discover, research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and professional capital partners. In every episode, we explore the dynamic world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, acquirers, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

Private Credit Arrives in the Lower Middle Market: A Conversation with Bridgepoint’s Matt Plooster

Thursday, April 4, 2024 • Duration 01:00:42

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 conversation by getting into specific lower middle market transactions where private credit has been central to the outcome.

Discussion points:

The rise of private credit in the private market
How non-bank financing has evolved post-2008 crisis
Mezzanine vs. unitranche debt
Comparing private credit to traditional bank lending
Non-control transaction success with private capital
Case study demonstrating the effectiveness of buyout transactions
Long-term engagement benefits
The appeal of fewer covenants and no personal guarantees
Crucial role of pre-market quality of earnings
Private credit's future potential for market inefficiencies

Masters in Small Business M&A is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially discover, research, and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners. Masters in Small Business M&A explores the vast world of small business acquisitions, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, acquirers, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

If you enjoy the podcast, we’d love a review on Apple or Spotify. If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where there are dozens of recorded Axial member roundtables, downloadable tools for dealmakers, quarterly lower middle market investment banking league-table rankings, and other useful information. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

Click the link below to join the podcast newsletter list. We’ll notify you when a new episode is published. And if you have an interesting guest in mind, feel free to drop us a line.

Bob Falahee’s Founder’s Journey: 15 years Building SunPro Motorized Awnings & Screens from Day 1 to a Strategic Exit

Tuesday, March 19, 2024 • Duration 01:12:20

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 capital. He went on to expand SunPro from a local retractable awning business to a wholesale manufacturing leader in the category.

The conversation reviews SunPro's founding story, its strategic growth and his daughters' pivotal involvement on the finance and retail sides of the business. We also dive into the mind of the founder on the exit process. When did Bob start thinking about exiting? What drove his timing and thinking? How did he start learning about what goes into a successful exit? Bob recounts the impact of cultural fit in selecting an investment banker and walk through how he thought about strategic succession planning and M&A preparation.

Discussion points:

Bob’s first exit from a successful Michigan semi-trailer business
Family relocation to Florida and the search for a small business
Turning a partnership with a local awning business into a new company
Growing the business with dealer-centric service
Streamlining production via software and improved delivery
SunPro's strategic growth and family-driven retail expansion
The importance of five-star reviews for business growth
Preparing for an exit
Cultural and expertise alignment in investment bank selection
The structure of the sale to Hunter Douglas

Post-exit personal transformation and venturing into new businesses

Masters in Small Business M&A is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially discover, research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners. In every episode, we explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, acquirers, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

28 Years and Counting at The Top of the LMM: A Conversation with Mangrove Equity's Glenn Oken

Episode 25

Wednesday, January 31, 2024 • Duration 58:54

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 transactions before the internet. Glenn shares his insights on the major changes in deal sourcing methods over his career, valuation drift, and the growth of sell-side M&A advisory in the lower middle market. The conversation wraps up with a deep dive into the operating partner model, how early Mangrove was in institutionalizing this model, and how significantly it has influenced the firm’s culture and way of partnering with business owners.

Additional Discussion Points:

The birth of Florida Capital Partners
Closing deals in the 90s
Evolution of private equity investing
The impact of internal operating partners
The power of add-on acquisitions
Integration strategies and dual branding
Leveraging reputation in competitive transactions
Sourcing strategies
Complexities and opportunities in deals
Advice for young professionals exploring private equity

This podcast is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners via a trusted online platform. In every episode, we seek to explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, investors, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

If you enjoy the podcast, give us a review on Apple or Spotify. If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where there are dozens of recorded Axial member roundtables, downloadable tools for dealmakers, quarterly lower middle market investment banking league-table rankings, and other useful information. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

The 4 Types of Business Brokers and How to Win Them Over: a Master Class with Clint Fiore

Episode 24

Tuesday, January 2, 2024 • Duration 01:16:02

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 equity investors and SMB acquirers can best modify their approaches to successfully close deals with any of them.

Discussion points:

Why Clint decided to starting his own business brokerage
The 80/20 rule of brokers
LOI language tweaks that will resonate with owners and business brokers
Building relationships to get an angle on a broker’s deals
How to handle real estate brokers moonlighting as M&A brokers
The future of M&A brokerage
Ensuring trust, reliability, and cost-effectiveness in deals

This podcast is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners via a trusted online platform. I am your host, Peter Lehrman, founder and CEO of Axial. In every episode, we explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing a mix of proven and emerging owners, operators, investors, and M&A advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

Resources:

Clint Fiore LinkedIn

A hero’s journey: Mike Botkin and the OneOutdoor Holdings journey from start to exit.

Episode 23

Tuesday, November 7, 2023 • Duration 01:05:36

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 landscaping businesses.

From there, Mike reveals how he kept his acquisitions on track with a simple “main thing” due diligence playbook, focusing on contracts, talent, equipment, and high quality candid conversations with sellers. The episode concludes with a deep dive on leadership talent and, more specifically, the intangible and nuanced considerations that are associated with retaining every owner post-closing.

Discussion points:

Trade business career progression and property management
Impulsive purchase of landscaping business
Thoughts on an employee quitting for self-employment
Differences and value in commercial landscaping
Seller profiling in business acquisition
Building strong relationships in business
Relationship and expansion in the landscaping market
Next steps and expansion plans
The pursuit beyond money

This podcast is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial makes it easy for small business owners to confidentially research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners via a trusted online platform. I am your host, Peter Lehrman, founder and CEO of Axial. In every episode, we explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing both the proven and the emerging owners, operators, investors, and advisors whose strategies and methods are being put to the test.

If you enjoy the podcast, let us know by giving us a review on Apple or Spotify. If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where there are dozens of recorded Axial member roundtables, downloadable tools for dealmakers, quarterly league-table rankings, and lots of other useful information. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

Due Diligence and the Art of Preventing the Broken LOI

Episode 22

Tuesday, October 10, 2023 • Duration 56:19

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 internal diligence and the importance of forging strong relationships in buyer-seller dynamics. She emphasizes the significance of trust-building and ethical behavior for successful deals. The discussion also touches upon the importance of understanding the source of funding and anticipating changes in financial projections during the diligence period.

Permanent Equity invests in private companies deliberately built for long-term success. The company commits for the long haul with 30-year funds, no intention of selling, and rarely uses debt.

Discussion points:

The recent exhaustive document on due diligence by Permanent Equity
Roles and strategies for creating a powerful diligence team
Importance of an M&A attorney and advisor in the process
Internal diligence in business selling
Trust-building and ethical behavior in deal success
Understanding funding sources and anticipating financial changes
Assembling a business selling team
Advantages of hiring a professional M&A advisor and attorney
The process of assembling a diligence team for business selling
Building trust in buyer-seller relationships and understanding the source of funding
Ethical behavior during the diligence process
Strategic art of business sale preparation
Contact us with your podcast topic ideas!

Family-Owned and Acquisitive: 7 Acquisitions in 7 years

Episode 21

Tuesday, September 5, 2023 • Duration 59:40

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 next phase of its succession plan, with Chris’ uncle retiring and Chris becoming Gallagher’s next CEO.

In a wide-ranging and highly authentic conversation, Chris discusses:

The stop and start acquisition history of Gallagher and why that’s changing
Lessons learned from the first acquisition Chris led
How Chris navigates family-owned shareholder dynamics
Techniques for winning deals and building relationships in M&A
Re-investing in Gallagher versus distributing dividends
Strategies for effectively sourcing and integrating acquisitions
The impact of outside board members on Chris’ development as a CEO

We hope you enjoy the episode, which is produced by the team at Axial (www.axial.com). Axial is an online deal sourcing platform that makes it easy for business owners to confidentially research and connect with top-ranked M&A advisors and capital partners. I am your host, Peter Lehrman, founder and CEO of Axial. In every episode, we aim to explore the vast world of small business M&A, interviewing both the proven and the emerging owners, operators, investors, and advisors whose strategies and methods for building successful private companies are being put to the test.

If you enjoy the podcast, give us a review on Apple or Spotify. If you’d like to go deeper, head to Axial.com, where there are dozens of recorded Axial member roundtables, downloadable tools for dealmakers, M&A advisor rankings, and lots of other useful information for owners exploring exits and acquisitions. If you’re a business owner, professional acquirer, or M&A advisor, you can start using Axial for free at Axial.com.

Resources:

Masters in Small Business M&A – Details, episodes & analysis

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Masters in Small Business M&A – Details, episodes & analysis

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