Buyers and Builders

Ever wondered who are the young folks who build these great business portfolios? 2020 $17.0m 2021 $44.1m 2022 $64.9m 2023 $126.8m All that within a reasonably short time. While spending tons of time with kids and family. I mean today Rafael Quinn is 44 years old, but decades from now people will be Googling him to find out how he started this massive conglomerate called Alternative Holdings. The b...

Imagine being in your 30s and having a track record of raising more than a billion in debt and equity. And starting a company which is worth over $1 billion. Here you go: Let me introduce you to Michael Cassau. From working at Goldman Sachs and Rocket Internet. To founding a company that raised more than $330 million in a recent fundraising round. Location: Germany Name of the company: Grover We d...

Ujwal and his VERY unsexy story on building a holding company which is on track to hit 8-figures in EBITDA. All while being just 32 yrs old, traveling the world and sometimes working 3-4 hrs a week. The crazy part – he built it with no prior PE or M&A experience. His secret to success: "Just go and do it. Have the ability to figure things out. That's all. That's the advice.&quot...

Mathias Calonius is a serial acquirer and co-founder of the Finnish holding company JATKAJA, which has 5 companies in its portfolio and a turnover of more than 50 million dollars. “The first 3.5 years have included 10+ transactions and the formed 4 group companies stand at around $30M+ in revenue” Location: Finland HoldCo name: JATKAJA (means: continuer) This short 55-minute call turned out to be...

Michael Bjorn Huseby is an investment fund formation attorney at a global law firm. He represents both fund sponsors (GPs) and investors (LPs). In 66-minutes Michael proved to me that he has seen almost everything in the world of funds... “Investors don’t want to see something they haven’t seen before.” “Yet some GPs pitch an investment deck with a 7% management fee.” We discuss: — Sideletters &am...

Andy Schornack is a CEO of Flagship Bank and a President of Security Bank and Trust Company. Flagship Bank - $324 million in total assets Security Bank and Trust Co. - $713 million in total assets “I always wanted to be in a position where I’m running my own small medium sized company. I didn’t know it’d be a bank.” We discuss: — The story of how they have bought and built two banks from nothing t...

Val Katayev is a serial entrepreneur with $100M+ in profits & exits. Today Val runs a diversified holding company. Founded and led four successful companies to hyper-growth centered around digital media in display, mobile, music, search and data. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Val discuss:- building $10m and $100m businesses - how to raise millions of dollars for an asset management fi...

Justin Mazeka Vogt is the co-founder and CEO of Evermore Industries, a permanent capital holding company he founded with Ed Redden in 2020 Prior to co-founding Evermore Industries, Justin invested in ~100 transportation and industrial businesses with Bain Capital Credit in Boston, Massachusetts. Justin holds a Finance degree from the University of Notre Dame as well as an MBA from Stanford's...

Alec Torelli is one of the most respected poker players in the industry. With over $2,200,000 in tournament winnings and millions more in both live and online cash games. Alec also runs a syndicate WHealthier with the brightest entrepreneurs in the health and wellness space. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Alec discuss: - The insights into his decision-making process when it comes to invest...

Sacha Jak is the founder of a holding company with 8-figure revenue and 300 employees. He is an expert when it comes leverages buyouts. Sacha's most famous deal was the $2 acquisition of a $12m revenue PC company. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Sacha discuss: - How to get a control in a company even if you own 1% of it - How to actually buy a company using none of our own money going...

Sunny Desai is the founder and CEO of Desai Companies, a diversified integrated holding company with a diversified portfolio and over $150,000,000 AUM. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Sunny discuss: - details of Sunny's first deal that made a huge difference and how his net worth went up a lot! - how Sunny went from knowing nothing about M&A to being a master at M&A with 3-4 de...

Ranjit Chahal is the founder of BEVIQUA, a wine and spirits distribution company with four B2C e-commerce sites across the alcohol and FMCG (fast moving consumer goods) space. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Ranjit discuss: - Amazon started with books, they started with wine - Running 4 ecom channels at once; the benefits of that - Being an outsider can be your greatest strength. Embrace it...

Mr. X is a solo PE investor who co-invests with four large ($3-6 billion AUM) family offices, as well as other wealthy individuals. His most recent deal size was a $30 million investment in a company that generates more than $170 million in revenue. On this episode, I share 22 notes I made while spending two days with him in person: - “Mikk, what are your strengths, what is the 0.00001% thing you...

Michael Byars is the founder of a holding company with the portfolio of 18 companies with total revenue of over $140,000,000 On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Michael discuss: - how Michael increased his initial investment in the restaurant business by 8-10x - the three things that Michael changed in these companies that ultimately made a difference - how the first mentor changed his life and...

Dom Wells is the founder and CEO of Onfolio.co - a public holding company of internet businesses. In this episode of HoldCo Builders, Dom shares the journey of how just ten years ago he was working as an English teacher in Taiwan earning $1,000 a month. In 2013, Tom made his first $1,000 a month online, and in August 2022, they did an IPO. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Dom discuss: - what...

Greg Isenberg is the co-founder of Late Checkout - holding company of six internet businesses with combined revenue of over $10,000,000 He's spent the last 15 years building venture-backed businesses, at WeWork, WallStreetSurvivor, and Islands, as well as advising Reddit and TikTok. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Greg discuss: - how to build an audience and then get 10 people to buy a...

Daniel Pi is the founder of Coterie Capital. Coterie Capital is a principal investments and corporate advisory firm based in Sydney. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Daniel discuss: - How to get lucky when raising capital. - What does it mean tha "Ideas are global. Capital is global." - Have you actually talked to every single investor? - How to get creative when raising capital -...

Mitchell Sorkin is the co-founder of ATM holdco. Short two years ago he left a VC backed "sexy startup" to build a basic, boring business. In year 1 they went from 3 ATMs to 100+, and did over $200k in revenue. In 2023 they will grow 3x and do north of $700k, 100s of thousands of transactions, millions in 20s dispensed. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Mitchell discuss: - how to ac...

Michael Chen is Co-CEO, and the Founder of HakuLife and the developer of award-winning properties, Hakuchōzan and HakuVillas. Has over 20 years of professional history dedicated to “elevating the customer experience.” With senior executive experience with some of the world’s most elite brands including Crown Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and McKinsey & Company, Michael brings a deep passion...

Amir Haboosheh cofounded Snowball Industries in 2020. In 2023, they generate more than $45 million in revenue. Prior to Snowball he was director of M&A at Kingmakers/Acquira in charge of helping identify, acquire, finance and scale businesses in the home service sector. Amir leads Snowball where he has structured a high-performing team culture based on empowerment and accountability. On this e...

Akshay Ramachandran is a semi-retired investor in his 20s. Akshay's most recent job was being sole analyst reporting directly to the portfolio manager. They analyzed over 60 industries and used a simple strategy: buy and hold great businesses run by great management teams. He has taken the last year off for some time traveling around the world. On this episode, PrivatEquityGuy & Akshay di...