Exploring how the most ambitious CEOs grow great companies, with a focus in garage door and home services. Hosted by Alex Bridgeman, Co-Owner of Durable Trades Collective.
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Right to Win EP.3: Learning to Fly with Jordan Huibers and Alvin Wong - EP.275
Season 1 · Episode 275
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 • Duration 41:38
Alex Bridgeman is joined by Alvin Wong and Jordan Huibers on Think Like an Owner, exploring their long-standing partnership, the focused search that led them to Advanced Aircrew Academy, and the lessons they've carried into running the company. They walk through the origins of their collaboration, how a shared passion for aviation shaped their search thesis, and the discipline required to pursue only the opportunities that truly aligned with their experience and values. They also reflect on the emotional highs and lows of stepping away from a business they loved, only to return months later with deeper conviction and ultimately close the acquisition. Their discussion highlights themes of curiosity, humility, relationship building, and maniacal focus as tools that helped them through both the search and their first year as CEOs.
They discuss: • How Alvin and Jordan developed their industry-focused search thesis and complementary roles within it • The emotional and practical challenges of walking away from an LOI and what ultimately brought them back • Lessons from navigating remote-team dynamics during their first year of ownership • The importance of curiosity, people-orientation, and focus as competitive advantages • Guidance for future searchers on prioritizing effectiveness over efficiency
(00:04:55) - The origin of Alvin and Jordan's relationship
(00:08:16) - The Search and circling in on an industry focus
(00:23:15) - The first few months on the ground post-close
(00:30:47) - How the Search community helped Alvin and Jordan
(00:33:46) - Taking a people-oriented approach to the business
(00:36:51) - Advice for the listeners
What You Learn After 40 years of Leading Through Change with T.J. Coombs - EP.274
Season 1 · Episode 274
Tuesday, October 28, 2025 • Duration 57:23
In this episode of Think Like an Owner, Alex Bridgeman sits down with T.J. Coombs, an experienced operator and turnaround expert with decades of leadership across industries including building products, manufacturing, and distribution. T.J. shares lessons from his 40-year career helping companies navigate transitions, execute turnarounds, and build strong leadership teams. He discusses his philosophy of defining success by when you leave, the importance of disciplined assessments, and the hands-on approach required to truly understand and improve a business.
They discuss: • How defining success as "when you leave" creates accountability in leadership transitions • Why the best business insights often come from the shop floor, not the boardroom • The mindset and structure required to execute successful turnarounds • How effective CEOs balance strategic vision with time spent in the field • The future of the building products industry and the growing importance of service and technology
(00:15:46) - Favorite questions to ask in order to better understand a business
(00:18:08) - How long do you typically spend as an interim CEO?
(00:20:06) - Involvement in hiring the permanent CEO
(00:23:13) - Leading a turnaround business
(00:31:00) - The key jobs of a CEO
Building Evergreen Companies with Dave Whorton - EP.267
Tuesday, May 6, 2025 • Duration 01:03:48
In this episode of Think Like an Owner, I sit down with Dave Whorton, founder of Tugboat Institute and author of Another Way, to explore a different path for entrepreneurs—one built on permanence, purpose, and long-term thinking. After an early career in venture capital and tech startups, Dave walked away from the high-growth, high-exit model to focus on what he calls "Evergreen companies."
We talk about the origins of Tugboat Institute and the principles behind Evergreen businesses: profitable growth, deeply held purpose, people-first cultures, and a commitment to staying private. Dave shares stories from multi-generational companies that are thriving by building slowly, investing intentionally, and rejecting the pressure to sell.
We also cover:
Why Dave left venture capital after working on companies like Amazon and Google
The seven core values that define Evergreen companies
How to create long-term alignment between family, founders, and leadership
The role of independent boards in creating accountability without outside capital
Why purpose-driven companies often outperform over the long haul
How to resist short-term thinking in a culture obsessed with exits
This episode is a must-listen for entrepreneurs who want to build something enduring—not just successful. Dave's framework offers a powerful counterpoint to the dominant startup narrative, with practical takeaways for anyone playing the long game.
My guest Mark Valdez is the founder and CEO of Eads Bridge Holdings, a holding company with a tech-enabled thesis, and now the owner of a behavioral health business, Stokes Counseling. Mark and I talk about what a tech-focused thesis looks like in practice and what it means to be a software-defined holding company, dynamics in the new acquisition, where tech makes the greatest impact, and building a holding company team. This is also Mark's second appearance on the podcast, so head to episode 55 for more background on Mark and Eads Bridge. Please enjoy my second episode with Mark Valdez.
Launch Series Ep.4: Managing Seller Relationships with Jim Vesterman - Ep.182
Season 1 · Episode 182
Tuesday, August 1, 2023 • Duration 41:05
I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey.
This episode is the fourth in our Launch Series, a partnered episode series with Trilogy Search Partners and Pacific Lake Partners, on the stages leading up to becoming a CEO via the search fund model. Today's conversation with Jim Vesterman focuses on seller relationships during the deal process. Jim shares his own experience working with the seller of Raptor Technologies, a company he ran as CEO and is now a board member of, as well as other experiences he had with sellers during his search.
This is a discussion packed with insights on building great relationships with sellers and is a perfect complement to our earlier Launch episodes on industry research, starting up a search, and managing a due diligence process. Please enjoy this Launch Series episode on seller relationships with Jim Vesterman.
My guest today is Ben Tagoe, CEO of Objective Management Group who through a partner network provides sales assessments to sales teams and individual salespeople. Founded over 30 years ago, they have assessed millions of salespeople and 10s of thousands of companies across hundreds of industries. They are a fascinating business that I'm excited to talk about today.
Ben and I talk about the various ways they evaluate and coach sales teams, the power of active listening and tools to improve, trends he's noticed at the best-performing sales teams, operating a company with a small headcount relative to its impact, and his past role as Chief of Staff at OnDeck and the various flavors of the Chief of Staff role he's observed. Enjoy!
My guest today is David Dodson. David is an investor, former CEO, professor at Stanford, and as of July 13th, 2023, an influential author having published his first book, The Manager's Handbook. I read an advance copy ahead of the recording and was incredibly impressed with how strategic and tactical it was in showing you how to become a more productive leader.
The book examines the five essential managerial skills David has observed across some of the most ambitious CEOs he knows, and it's written in a format designed for busy leaders who don't have time for fluff. Given this show's focus on ambitious CEOs and David's wide reach across the CEO world, I can't think of a better guest or topic for this show. Enjoy our conversation, and I highly recommend picking up a copy of The Manager's Handbook.
My guest today is Julian Scadden, CEO of Nexstar, an industry education, coaching, content, and data business all-in-one for plumbing, HVAC, and electrical companies. I am super excited for this episode. This is a fascinating company and has been mentioned by no less than three other podcast guests to me, so I'm thrilled to sit down with Julian today.
Julian and I talk about Nexstar's business model and ownership structure, which is really unique, how they help member companies, what the best-performing companies in their membership do, developing and maintaining a sharing-based culture, and so much more. Enjoy!
Launch Series Ep.3: Diligence and Closing with Ryan Turk and Keith Gross - Ep.178
Season 1 · Episode 178
Wednesday, July 5, 2023 • Duration 01:02:26
I want to tell you about our audience survey we are currently running. These surveys help us create the best content for listeners and better understand your needs and interests. Thank you in advance for sharing your feedback, we greatly appreciate it. After 30 days we are giving $250 cash to 4 survey responders, just add your email at the end of the survey.
This is the third episode in our Launch Series, a partnered episode series with Trilogy Search Partners and Pacific Lake Partners. This conversation focused on managing the due diligence process after a signed LOI with past guest Ryan Turk, CEO of Radiation Detection Company, and Keith Gross, Partner at Pacific Lake. This discussion touches on managing third parties, the importance of open and regular communication, the goals of different types of due diligence, and focusing on the issues that matter.
My guest on this episode is Sieva Kozinsky, co-founder of Enduring Ventures, a holding company founded in 2019 with 17 acquisitions to date. Sieva and I met at a dinner following the Berkshire Hathaway meeting in Omaha, his first time attending the meeting. A theme from our first conversations in Omaha that continues through this episode is long-term thinking being a huge advantage, and that compounding happens everywhere. Reputation, lessons, and learning - well beyond capital alone.
We talk about Sieva's background as a founder and how it impacts his role at Enduring Ventures, how he discovered he is a better buyer than a builder, great companies and founders he's studied and taken lessons from, and much more. Enjoy!
(00:20:02) Helping employees & executives think and behave like an owner
(00:25:44) Being a Buyer vs. Builder
(00:32:36) Culture Index
(00:35:24) The importance of having experience as a founder/operator to succeed at Enduring
(00:44:18) Pareto Prinicples
(00:53:45) Habits, tactics, and learnings from biographies on great founders and companies
(01:08:14) What strongly held belief have you changed your mind on?
(01:09:34) What's the best business you've ever seen?
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