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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Cross-Post: Owned and Operated with Alex Bridgeman
This week is a bonus episode. We are cross posting a guest appearance I had on John Wilson’s Owned and Operated podcast. I’m a big fan of John and enjoy his podcast immensely, and I wanted to share it with you all. In this episode, I share more about my philosophy behind the Operator’s Handbook and all the ins and outs you want to know about podcasting. Near the end, I manage to turn the mic
Greg Geronemus – Traditional Search Misconceptions – Ep.102
My guest on this episode is Greg Geronemus, co-founder and managing partner of Footbridge Partners, a traditional search investment firm. This is my second episode with Greg, the first being episode 17 back in April 2020, where Greg shared his experience acquiring and operating his search company SmarTours and launching Footbridge. Well, two years later, Greg and his partner David have raised that fund and are halfway through their investment period with a budding portfolio of searchers. In this second episode, Greg shares his view on the
Mehtab Bhogal – How to Fix a Failing Ecommerce Business – Ep.101
My guest on this episode is Mehtab Bhogal, co-founder of Karta Ventures. Karta is a Canadian based e-commerce acquirer investing primarily in e-commerce turnarounds, a corner of the world I didn’t even know existed but that is incredibly fascinating. This episode is one of my recent favorites because of Mehtab’s ability to share high level insights and then, in the next sentence, dive deep into obscure e-commerce details. If you
Sam Shepler – Video Testimonials for Growing Companies – Ep.100
My guest on this episode is Sam Shepler. Sam is the founder of Testimonial Hero, a company he bootstrapped that helps companies create more effective video customer testimonials. Sam and I spend much of the episode talking about how to create great testimonials for your company and what the driving reasons are for using video over text or other mediums. In addition to being focused on a really interesting part of a sales process, Testimonial Hero itself is an interesting case study
Robert Graham – Running Two Businesses, in the Healthcare Space and in the Search Fund Space – Ep.99
My guest on this episode is Robert Graham. Robert worked in management roles at Eaton prior to attending Harvard Business School, after which he worked in investment banking and private equity. Eventually, he decided to search for a business after seeing his HBS classmates do it, and today Robert is Managing Partner at Pillar Health Group, the holding company for four healthcare businesses he acquired together as a searcher. He’s
Eric Friend – A Conversation About the 100+ Year Old Friend Family Business of Print – Ep.98
My guest on this episode is Eric Friend. I reached out to Eric after seeing him talking on Twitter about his family’s printing business Friend Paper, which was founded in 1908 in Zion, Illinois, by Eric’s great grandfather. As a print publisher through our quarterly publication called the Operator’s Handbook, I was curious to hear what ideas he had on using print as a content medium. It turns out he’s
John Puskar – A Journey of Growing and Selling a Professional Services Company – Ep.97
John founded a professional services company in 1984 focused on energy conservation, inspections, and design work for large companies. He eventually grew the company to 43 employees and $13 million in sales and sold to Eclipse Combustion for $10 million in 2011. Since selling the business, he has taken on specific consulting projects to keep himself active and in the loop. I met John at a happy hour gathering in
Jordan Evans – Acquiring and Growing a Family Business in the Industry of Language Services – Ep.96
My guest on this episode is Jordan Evans. Jordan grew up in an entrepreneurial family in California. His parents started a language translation and interpreting business when he was two years old, and it grew over the course of his childhood. It grew enough that he actually acquired it from his parents in 2019 and has since been growing the business organically and through strategic bolt-on acquisitions of other language
Chris Williams – Running a Search and Acquiring and Operating a Small Business – Ep.95
My guest on this episode is Chris Williams. I was introduced to Chris via Justin Vogt about a year ago. And since then, Chris and I have talked monthly about his search, thoughts on running a small company, the podcast, and all things work and life. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know him, and I’m thrilled to have him on the podcast finally. Chris recently bought a bookkeeping and accounting
Austin Hall & Palmer Higgins – Lessons Learned Operating in Lawn Care – EP.94
Eric Friend shares his journey from investment banking to his fourth-generation family printing business, challenges inherent in family businesses, the rebranding effort, and how companies today can use print to stand out from their competitors with customers and create unique experiences.
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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.
