Smart Business Dealmakers: The Middle-Market M&A Podcast

What options do health care companies have when it comes to funding their business? And what are the pros and cons of each? Neil Johnson, managing partner at Lawrence Evans & Co., a lower-middle-market investment banking, corporate finance and advisory services firm, talks about the many funding options, when each makes sense for a company, and when they don't.

After raising $307 million in capital commitments for his LFM III fund, LFM Capital Partners Co-Founder and Executive Managing Director Steve Cook talks about how the firm will deploy that capital in lower-middle-market manufacturing. LFM was founded by operators, and their time in that role informs their investment approach, meaning they can invest in companies that fall outside the typical PE in...

Angel St. Jean is the co-founder and CEO of the Baltimore tech startup The Black Brain Trust, which has championed a patent-pending methodology for measuring diversity, equity and inclusion in public and private companies and government agencies. Angel talks about her fundraising experience, the traction DEI has gained in recent years as well as how the specter of ESG reporting beyond the public s...

Schill Grounds Management, a commercial landscaping company, is growing .... well ... like a weed. Back in late 2019 the company sold a controlling interest to Argonne Capital Group and has since gone on an acquisition spree, adding seven companies into the fold while growing its headcount considerably. Founder and CEO Jerry Schill stops by the pod to talk about the decision to bring on a PE partn...

The L'Herbier family was at a crossroads six years ago. The owners of Air Duct Maintenance, Kevin and Debbie L'Herbier, were looking to retire and had to decide what to do with the company they started in 1996. They approached their children, Dan and Lauren, to see if they had interest in taking over leadership. After a brief period, the siblings decided to begin the succession process. But it did...

Publicly traded cancer diagnostics company Oncocyte has used several avenues to fund its growth in recent years. President and CEO Ron Andrews discusses the company's latest capital raises and acquisitions. He talks about the company's use of its at-the-market program, how it works, when it's best deployed, and what the raise from it has enabled to the company to do.

The Wisconsin Startup Coalition aims to do as its name implies — build coalitions of people, organizations and companies that can establish a strong foundation on which to build a thriving startup scene in underserved rural areas. Co-founders Matt Cordio and Peter Welch talk about the progress the organization has made since its launch in 2020, and how creating a network of support could lead to p...

James Barnes began his first microenterprise at the age of 14, and launched Immaculate Cleaning Co. in his early 20s. Today the company's founder and president has leveraged the advice of area business leaders to grow Immaculate Cleaning to some 60 employees who service marquee accounts throughout the city. He talks about his entrepreneurial journey and the importance of pushing through the noes t...

Several years ago, Allison Howard had an "ah-ha" moment when she realized her cotton bedding was damaging her skin and hair — and ultimately disrupting her sleep. In response, she founded Nollapelli to merge beauty science, textile technology and sleep discovery, and prepared the company for early-stage investing.   

Interest rates are on everyone's mind as the Fed promises and delivers on increases to combat inflation. Citymark Capital CEO Daniel Walsh talks about the real estate investment market, what — and where — is hot, and how he sees the investment landscape playing out given the economic currents.

Since 2014, Life Remodeled has invested more than $35 million into blighted Detroit neighborhoods to spur economic opportunities, job creation, community centers and business growth. Founder and CEO Chris Lambert talks about the non-profit's progress, its successes, fundraising and its future.

Having sold his super successful Dayton-based Orthodontics practice, Dan German has set out on a new venture. Orthobrain brings him up to Cleveland to help general practitioners through a digital venture get the training they need to introduce orthodontics in their businesses. German talks about how his former business is informing his current one, building with the end in mind, what he's learning...

United Cutwater CEO Chris Riley has more than 30 years' experience owning and operating more than a dozen businesses in numerous industries. His personal experiences buying and selling companies, negotiating transactions, overseeing dozens of accountants, attorneys and other professionals allowed him to fine-tune a creative deal construction in the volatile industry of mergers and acquisitions. Ch...

Bill Fox launched GoIndustry.com around the time the dot-com bubble burst and managed to not only take the online machinery and equipment sales site public, but grow it to 47 offices in 27 countries and some 600 employees. Now, Bill is back with Rextar, an online real estate marketplace that does business as Homesale.plus. The company recently raised its first seed round and Bill expects a more su...

Nadyli Nuñez has guided hundreds of early-stage entrepreneurs through her incubator, co-working programs and numerous early-stage investments to position them for add-on capital as part of their growth journey from scale-up to the middle market. She has a detailed, hands-on approach to ensure the success of her clients.  

Andrew Barnell is the CEO of Geneoscopy, a life sciences company he co-founded with his sister to develop diagnostic tests for gastrointestinal health. The company recently raised $105 million and was ranked the 5th-largest biotech or agtech firm in St. Louis. Andrew talks about the formation of the business, operating a company with family, fundraising and how they'll use their latest round of ca...

Archangel Protective Services started out with just three people. Today, it has more than 270 employees. Founder and CEO Ken Thomas attributes that exponential growth to his work with the Nashville Business Incubation Center. Now he's paying it forward as an Entrepreneur in Residence at NBIC, sharing the lessons he's learned to help the next generation of business owners unlock their potential.

Having a relationship before the start of the pandemic helped a lot of deals get done, and that was the case when Vytalize Health acquired MedPilot back in February 2021. Vytalize Health CFO Kevin Murphy and MedPilot founder Matt Buder Shapiro, now CMO of Vytalize, talk about the transaction, doing the deal during a pandemic, and what they learned through the process.

Great Day Improvements has executed a series of deals that put it among the fastest-growing private mid-market companies in Ohio. It's grown from 12 market locations at the beginning of 2018 to over 115 locations in 77 US markets and over 2,200 employees today. Ed Weinfurtner, chairman of Blue Olive Partners, discusses the initial acquisition and its growth through the years, including two major a...

412 Venture Fund has only been around a few years, but its founders and managing partners bring decades of experience to investing in early-stage ventures that have a Pittsburgh connection. In this episode, Managing Partner Ilana Diamond talks about the fund, its first exit, the advantage of launching during the pandemic and some of the lessons she passes on based on her years of management, advis...

Liturgical Publications is in its 50th year as a faith-based print advertising company. About 10 years ago, LPi leadership decided to dip their toes into software as a service and created a closed social network for churches to promote events. Somewhere early in the process, a customer asked if a donation mechanism could be added to their closed network. From there, the We Share We Gather arms of...

Mykolas Rambus is a serial entrepreneur who founded and sold two previous companies, including Wealth-X, where he served as CEO until its 2016 sale for more than $20 million. Last year, he raised early-stage rounds of capital to build out Hush, a company that offers cybersecurity services. Though the capital raise process went well, Mykolas talks about how better pitch materials would have made fo...

Despite market turbulence and some handwringing over uncertainty, the deal year looks as if it will be just as strong as it was in 2021. Dave Dunstan, managing director of Citizens M&A Advisory Group, talks about what he's seeing in the market, based in part on feedback from the bank's Middle Market M&A Outlook, a survey of 400 leaders at U.S. middle market companies and private equity firms.

KeraLink International CEO Ngu Morcho has more than 20 years of experience in early-stage technology development working in Africa and across India and Southeast Asia. Today, Morcho's mission is to end corneal blindness globally as the head of operations at KeraLink. To fund this mission, KeraLink uses a blended finance model — a combination of grants, concessional equity and debt that is used tog...

Co-Pilot is an online coaching platform designed to provide a one-on-one fitness coaching experience that pairs individuals with a dedicated coach. The company raised nearly $6 million in January, which followed a more-than $4 million raise back in 2021. Co-founder and CEO Matt Spettel talks about the company's growth, fundraising, and expanding the team.