Acquiring Minds

When the Business Is Just You: A $650k Garage Biz | Marco Hsu Interview

2.7K views · 3d ago · 1:17:26

Many Acquiring Minds guests buy a business after realizing a W-2 job isn’t as secure as it seems. Marco Hsu learned that early, watching his father get laid off repeatedly and his mother restart her career later in life. A mechanical engineer and lifelong car enthusiast, Marco bought Clewett Engineering, a one-man, home-garage maker of vintage Porsche engine upgrades, generating $600–700k in revenue and $350k in SDE.

Topics: Immigrant family upbringing · Discovering Clewett Engineering · What Clewett Engineering does · Deal structure · Keeping the day job post-close · Year one in review

Run It for 6 Months Before You Buy It | Jeff Thompson Interview

2.1K views · 1w ago · 1:09:33

Most buyers have to commit to an acquisition before they really know the business. Diligence helps. But reading about a company is not the same as running it. Today's guest got to do the second one first. Jeff Thompson left a corporate career at Honeywell to become general manager of Charter Elevator, a ten-year-old elevator servicing company with just under 30 employees that was not operating profitably. The owners wanted to hire a GM to turn the business around.

Topics: Jeff’s Background · Charter’s Turnaround Setup · Buyer Fit and Fixing Priorities · Why He Loves Hard Problems · Incentives and Risk Protection · Profit Sharing and Dividends

Zero to One, Then 1 to 4 by Acquisition | Rahib Diwan Interview

3.5K views · 1w ago · 1:08:07

The less of your own money you put into a deal, the easier it is to overlook red flags. Rahib Diwan learned that firsthand. He started a short-term rental management company in Nashville from scratch, growing it to $10m in assets under management while earning his MBA at Kellogg. He then acquired a competitor three times his size, quadrupling the business overnight.

Topics: Business model explained · Nashville market selection thesis · Deciding to pursue an acquisition to aggressively grow · Sourcing the deal · Deal mechanics: SBA expansion financing · Post-acquisition challenges

Buying a 138-Year-Old Navy Bell Maker | Jon Hyatt Interview

1.7K views · 2w ago · 1:17:42

CONNECT with the Acquiring Minds podcast, socials, etc. Podcast on Apple Get notified of new interviews ABOUT Acquiring Minds Acquiring Minds is a podcast about buying businesses. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs, and host Will Smith talks to the people who do it. New episodes 2x per week.

Topics: Jon's Background · Backing Away from Dental · Falling in Love with Heritage · Deal Structure and Scale · Customers and Bell Lineup · Growth Beyond DoD

Take Over the Business Before You Buy It | Elias Youssef Interview

3.7K views · 2w ago · 1:13:06

Today's guest took over a business for free. He didn't buy it, not at first. Elias Youssef came across a Denver water heater company that was losing money. The owner was more than $1 million in debt, and he'd been putting payroll on credit cards. No bank would lend against that business, and Elias himself wasn't willing to put his own money into it. But the business seemed fixable. So he pitched the owner on a structure borrowed from real estate: the lease-option.

Topics: Elias's Background · Assisted Living Hard Lessons · Why Healthcare Wasn't a Fit · Recruiting an HVAC Mentor · Cold Calling for Deals · Keys First Buy Later Structure

Buying a 1-Product Business, Building It to a Big Exit | Jay Boren Interview

2.5K views · 3w ago · 1:59:57

Today's guest bought a business that defied many of the conventions of entrepreneurship through acquisition. It was tiny, run out of the founders' living room outside Hanover, New Hampshire. It sold basically one product, a $30 grease coupler. And that product came from a South African manufacturer that owned the patent, sold to the business non-exclusively, and was threatening to cut it off.

Topics: Jay’s Background · ETA and Geography Fit · Grease Coupler Explained · Founder Origin Story · No ETA Framework Yet · DTC Growth Playbook

Side Hustle Acquisition to $5m in Revenue | Brendan Guerin Interview

4.4K views · 3w ago · 1:13:43

One of the hardest constraints on buying a business mid-career is that the business earnings have to service the debt, fund reinvestment, and still pay for your life. And if you've got a mortgage and a family, your life is expensive. But start buying businesses early enough and that constraint mostly goes away. Brendan Guerin was a few months out of college when he and three friends bought a dog daycare outside Chicago in December 2020.

Topics: Brendan's Background · First Deal Breakdown · Second Location Expansion · Why Own the Real Estate · Post Acquisition Growth Surge · Going Full Time CEO

The Roll-Up with No Investors & No Clock | Tyler Hoffman Interview

3.2K views · 4w ago · 1:36:37

Guest: No Investors

CONNECT with the Acquiring Minds podcast, socials, etc. Podcast on Apple Get notified of new interviews ABOUT Acquiring Minds Acquiring Minds is a podcast about buying businesses. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs, and host Will Smith talks to the people who do it. New episodes 2x per week.

Topics: Tyler’s Background · Loving the Search Grind · Finding Metro Wireless · Deal Numbers and Multiple · Financing the Acquisition · Ownership Secrecy Fallout

$33m Holdco: Teddy Bears to Insurance Claims | Colin King Interview

2.2K views · 1mo ago · 56:55

Two years ago, the holdco seemed like the thing everyone wanted to build. That enthusiasm has cooled since, which is for the best. But today's guest is one of the people who actually built one. Colin King was on Acquiring Minds in May 2024. He and his 50/50 partner Joe were at roughly $28 million in revenue then; they're at $33 million now, across 17 acquisitions since 2018 — everything from teddy bear manufacturing to insurance claims adjusting.

Topics: Colin’s background · Deal Engine Mindset · Holdco Hype Reality Check · What Owners Actually Earn · Getting Over the Leverage Hump · Leadership Makes Portcos Sellable

The $150k Hiding in the Business He Bought | Patrick Dunphy Interview

2.3K views · 1mo ago · 1:24:15

There are two paths to career success, and they treat your time very differently. Climb the corporate ladder and the more successful you get, the less of your own time you control — more title, more travel, more of someone else's priorities. Today's guest watched his friends who owned businesses go the other way: the better their businesses got, the more time they got back. That observation put Patrick Dunphy on this path to buy his own business.

Topics: Patrick’s Background · Part Time Search Mechanics · What JS Languages Does · Intrinsic Value Criteria · Interpreter Marketplace Explained · Business Model and Economics

How to Buy a $2.1m Business Without the SBA | Jack Rauch Interview

3.4K views · 1mo ago · 1:21:10

CONNECT with the Acquiring Minds podcast, socials, etc. Podcast on Apple Get notified of new interviews ABOUT Acquiring Minds Acquiring Minds is a podcast about buying businesses. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs, and host Will Smith talks to the people who do it. New episodes 2x per week.

Topics: Jack’s Background · Deal Sourcing in Florida · Industry Scope and Growth · Risks and Cyclicality · Financing Without SBA · Owner Expertise vs Hiring

Buying a $7.3m Golf Course with No Money Down | Kyle Holmes Interview

3.1K views · 1mo ago · 1:21:39

Today's guest didn't find his business. His business found him. Kyle Holmes had been general manager of Quail Ridge Golf Club when the owners asked if he'd ever thought about buying it. He had, but as a dream. He was in his 30s with five kids and nowhere near the money to buy 275 acres in Grand Rapids' most affluent suburb. That didn't stop him.

Topics: How Kyle Got the Opportunity · Inside Quail Ridge’s 275 Acres · Quail Ridge’s Revenue Breakdown · Year One Financial Performance · Valuation and Negotiating the Deal · Financing the Acquisition

Buying a $12.5m Contractor to Create 1,000 Jobs | Manolo Diaz Corrada Interview

2.7K views · 1mo ago · 1:22:35

Today's guest could have built his career anywhere. After leaving Puerto Rico for 12 years to study engineering at Carnegie Mellon and law at Penn, Manolo Diaz Corrada came home to buy Bonneville Group, a telecom, electrical, and IT contractor doing $12.5m in revenue and on track for $14m this year. But Bonneville's revenue history would give any buyer pause. After doing around $12m in the 2010s, it collapsed to $2m in 2021 when Puerto Rico halted construction during Covid.

Topics: Balancing American and Latin Culture · Returning to Puerto Rico · Why Manolo Self-Funded His Search · Finding Bonneville Through Family Connections · Inside Bonneville’s Business · Assessing Bonneville’s Revenue Risk

Losing a $1m SDE Business to Bankruptcy | Morli Desai Interview

17K views · 1mo ago · 1:04:19

CONNECT with the Acquiring Minds podcast, socials, etc. Podcast on Apple Get notified of new interviews ABOUT Acquiring Minds Acquiring Minds is a podcast about buying businesses. Acquiring an existing business is an awesome opportunity for many entrepreneurs, and host Will Smith talks to the people who do it. New episodes 2x per week.

Topics: Morli Returns and Recap · Why She Bought a Business · The Skincare Brand Deal · Revenue and Australia Split · Smooth Handoff Then Chaos · Marketing Lead Leaves

$340k to $1.3m of Earnings in 14 Months | Robert Brooks Interview

5.9K views · 1mo ago · 1:24:32

The conventional wisdom is that you don't change anything in your first 90 days as a new owner. Just observe. Do ride-alongs. Earn trust. Then act. Rob Brooks had zero intention of following that advice. By week three he'd pulled the phones off the desks and thrown ten filing cabinets — 30,000 customer files — into the dumpster, over the objections of his GM and office staff.

Topics: Rob’s background · From Trades to Marines · Staffing Career and Burnout · Finding Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition · Catalyst for Leaving Corporate · Buy Box and Going Smaller