Think Like An Owner
The Think Like an Owner podcast seeks out conversations with small company owners and investors to learn how to acquire and run small companies, with a focus on search funds, micro private equity, and permanent capital.
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A.J. Wasserstein – Living a Happier Life – Ep.142
My guest on this episode is A.J. Wasserstein. Early in his career, A.J. founded Archives One, a physical records management business he operated as CEO for 17 years before selling to Iron Mountain. He then acquired One Source Water, which was eventually sold to Water Logic in 2016. He then began teaching at Yale School of Management where he has written ad nauseam about nearly every topic within growing and
Lessons from Family Businesses with Jamie Shah – Ep. 141
My guest on this episode is Jamie Shah. Jamie worked in investment banking and Google before returning to her family’s business, Chem-Impex International, which manufactures materials for life sciences companies, as VP of Operations. Today, she is the managing director at the company and a professor at Chicago Booth, where she teaches a course on family business. Our discussion focuses on lessons to be learned from family businesses, which are
Nevin Raj – Building a Data Software Company at Grata – Ep.140
My guest on this episode is Nevin Raj, Co-Founder and COO of Grata. Grata is a fascinating data software business that takes in all available public information about private companies, such as their website, LinkedIn, funding data, PPP data, and so much more. It then uses that data to create the most accurate profile of that company in their industry, headcount, business model, revenue range, and more. Nevin and I
Jessica Markowitz – On Culture and Values – Ep.139
I’m very excited to share that starting today Think Like An Owner will now be publishing episodes twice per week. This change coincides with our decision to close the Operators Handbook and move those topic-specific conversations to the podcast for Thursday morning episodes. You can expect these episodes to focus on topics like sales, culture, hiring, debt, capital allocation, leadership, board meetings, and dozens of other topics. This is an
Trevor Flannigan – “People Grow Businesses” – Ep.138
My guest on this episode is Trevor Flanagan, COO of Flint Group, a home services roll-up founded by Collin Hathaway. Collin’s appeared on this podcast twice, on episodes 32 and 90, for good reason, and I highly recommend listening to those episodes as a primer for this conversation with Trevor. Trevor has a fascinating background as I’ll touch on earlier in this episode. He started his career as a district
Paul Yancich and Ryan Beaver – Lessons from 14 Months Acquiring in Software – Ep.137
My guests on this episode are Paul Yanchich and Ryan Beaver. Paul is a co-founder of Arcadea Group, a vertical market software holding company that Paul and his co-founder Daniel raised $320 million to found 14 months ago. In this episode, Paul is joined by Ryan who serves as managing director of value creation and operations. Our conversation acts as a part two to our first episode with Paul and
Juan Ruiz – Student-led Search Investing – Ep.136
My guest on this episode is Juan Ruiz. Juan is the founder of CommunEtA, the first-ever student-led search investment fund. The goal of the fund is multifold: provide exposure and training for students wanting to build a career in search, provide a grassroots investment option for searchers, and spread the word about search across the country. We start off the episode discussing a few student-run funds on the venture capital
Alexis Grant – Covering Company Exits at They Got Acquired – Ep.135
My guest on this episode is Alexis Grant. Alexis and I have gotten to know each other through our mutual interest in media and our two small but growing media companies. We share thoughts, ideas, and advice back and forth all the time, and I’m excited to finally record one of our conversations. Alexis founded a blog management company that was acquired by The Penny Hoarder, which then sold and
Kurt Leedy and Kyle Coots – The Three Methods to Grow Capital – Ep.134
My guests on this episode are Kurt Leedy and Kyle Coots, co-founders and managing directors at Miramar Equity Partners. Kurt and Kyle have an interesting vantage point in the search world being backed by a family office with an agnostic time horizon, allowing them to invest in the widest set of opportunities in search and parallel spaces. Our episode focuses on a concept they developed they call the three ways to make money, those being classic LBO, M&A-driven strategies,
Adriana Garcia Ceja – The Power of Role Models – Ep. 133
My guest on this episode is Adriana Garcia Ceja who recently launched a traditional search fund backed by Footbridge Partners, Pacific Lake, and others with a primary focus on the healthcare industry. Adriana brings a ton of experience to her search, including corporate development at Home Depot and a head of special products role at Applied Concepts, a search fund backed company, during her gap year in her MBA at
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Letters
Each year I write an annual letter to readers and listeners to reflect on the evolution of the podcast and my personal growth.
