x

75% of people globally want unbiased news (Pew Research) but are concerned they're not getting that.

Get balanced coverage with Symby. See how stories are covered across diverse outlets and spot when one side covers a story the other skips.

PODCAST

Think Like an Owner

Exploring how the most ambitious CEOs grow great companies. Each week we dive into the strategies and tactics that build transformative businesses with the operators doing it firsthand. Learn more at https://tlaopodcast.com/

business careers

All Episodes

47:27

Lessons from Family Businesses with Jamie Shah - Ep. 141

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/11/03

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 more trusted and stable and generate higher returns. We

en-us

53:56

Nevin Raj - Building a Data Software Company at Grata...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/11/01

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 talk about the categories of data businesses and where he sees data businesses

en-us

47:44

Jessica Markowitz - On Culture and Values - Ep.139

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/10/27

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 addition I've wanted to make for a long time, and I

en-us

65:01

Trevor Flannigan - "People Grow Businesses" - Ep.138

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/10/25

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 manager for Aldi before becoming GM of Bob Hamilton, a home services business in Kansas

en-us

45:50

Paul Yancich and Ryan Beaver - Lessons from 14 Months...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/10/18

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 Daniel, episode 84, and breaks down learnings from 14 months of activity, lessons learned, where

en-us

51:13

Juan Ruiz - Student-led Search Investing - Ep.136

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/10/11

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 side that inspired CommunEtA and round out the conversation with topics

en-us

51:23

Alexis Grant - Covering Company Exits at They Got...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/10/04

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 gave her some starting capital for The Write Life, which she ran for a few years before selling that

en-us

69:45

Kurt Leedy and Kyle Coots - The Three Methods to Grow...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/09/27

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, and organic growth. We

en-us

55:45

Adriana Garcia Ceja - The Power of Role Models - Ep. 133

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/09/20

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 Harvard. We talk extensively about lessons learned at Home Depot, including the many

en-us

58:28

Mark Brooks - Building Transformative Teams - Ep. 132

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/09/13

My guest on this episode is Mark Brooks, Managing Director of Permanent Equity. Mark leads Permanent Equity’s post-close operations team, partnering with company leaders to overcome challenges and unlock growth. Mark is a really reflective person, which you can tell from his writing on Twitter. He's thought very deeply about management and creating transformative teams, and this conversation is dense with value and insights. This episode is a fantastic dive into all things management, including

en-us

58:04

Sara Heston & Peter Kelly - Stanford Search Fund...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/09/06

I'm joined by Sara Heston and Peter Kelly. Together at Stanford, Sara and Peter, among other projects and teaching, assemble the Stanford Search Study that has been released every year on even years. The study is widely considered the go-to resource for learning about search funds and is often the first resource shared with folks considering the path. The first study in 1996 was only two pages long, and the 2022 study released in July is over 30 pages, reflecting both the growth in the Search Fund

en-us

62:01

Jay Davis and Jason Pananos - Serial Acquisition...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/08/30

My guests on this episode are Jay Davis and Jason Pananos. Jay and Jason acquired Vector Disease Control, which provides vector borne disease prevention and lake management services, in 2011. About 4 years after acquisition, they realized serial acquisitions complementary companies could be a powerful growth lever. And 14 acquisitions later, they sold the company in 2017 for a very successful outcome. Following the sale, they founded the Nashton Company where they've been mainstay search investors

en-us

43:55

Nick Haschka - Reversing Course on a Holding Company...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/08/23

My guest on this episode is Nick Haschka, back for a third episode to provide an update on his early ambitions of a holding company, which have taken a slight turn. Two years ago, Nick and his partner Anupam Sharma acquired a commercial landscaping company Vargas Gardening. They added a manager and grew the business, but realized the road ahead was going to be substantially more difficult and so made the decision to sell the business, earning a two-year IRR of 122%. Running a second business with a

en-us

53:17

Andy Cagnetta - How Business Brokers See the M&A...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/08/16

My guest on this episode is Andy Cagnetta. Andy is the CEO of Transworld Business Advisors, one of the largest business brokers in the country. The typical guest on Think Like an Owner is an owner operator often running a business they acquired, although not always. And therefore, the buyer's side of a transaction is where we have spent the most time as a podcast. I wanted to hear the other side and learn more about a broker's perspective in the small business and search world. What do they care

en-us

65:16

Trilogy Search Series Ep.5: Kevin Knoepp and Zach...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/08/09

Today I'm joined by Kevin Knoepp and Zack Seely. Zach acquired a healthcare software company called FSI in late 2020 with technical diligence help from Kevin, a software due diligence advisor and Trilogy operating executive. Our conversation doesn't discuss the attractiveness of software as an investment, which it very much is, but rather on how to properly diligence software and operate and improve the business once acquired. We review common technical issues in software companies, how much

en-us

52:36

Freddie Bellhouse - Building a Holding Company in the...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/08/02

My guest on this episode is Freddie Bellhouse. Freddie and his partner Nick Ashford are co-founders of Fordhouse, a UK-based acquirer of small companies. In the eight years since they're founding in 2014, they've done 25 deals and are beginning to consider more fund-like permanent capital structures for future acquisitions. I was fortunate enough to meet Freddie's partner Nick in New York City, and we hit it off immediately. He'll be a future guest on here pretty soon. Freddie and I talk about

en-us

53:11

Rob LeBlanc - Designing an International Search...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/07/26

My guest on this episode is Rob LeBlanc. Rob is a co-founding partner of Ambit Partners, a search investment fund founded in 2020 that invests in searchers worldwide in countries like Paraguay, Spain, Germany, and South Africa, where Rob is based. Together with his two co-founding partners, they have raised a $25 million fund with plans to back 50 to 60 searchers in this first fund. Today, they have funded 32 searchers in 20 markets with 5 acquisitions thus far. A recurring concept we discuss in the

en-us

51:33

Brendan Anderson - Building a Compounding Advantage -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/07/19

My guest on this episode is Brendan Anderson. Brendan started his post-banking entrepreneurial career by acquiring Stam, Inc., which manufactures custom bent tubing before founding a private equity firm called ScaleCo where he has raised three funds and acquired 21 companies to date. He built his career by being an operator first and learned to become an investor, a path that's given them a big leg up when talking to other CEOs and potential sellers. One subject I've wanted to study more deeply is

en-us

57:07

Trilogy Search Series Ep.4: Kristen Glenn, Jennie...

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/07/12

The 4th episode in our Trilogy Search Series features Kristen Glenn from Reverb People. Kristen is an HR professional with over 15 years of experience in HR Leadership and Business Partner roles. We also have Cyrus Symoom, the Co-CEO of Clariti Software, Clariti helps governments across North America with permitting and licensing solutions. Finally, we are joined by Jennie Ellis, who is an Operating Executive specializing in Talent Acquisition with Trilogy Search Partners. This episode is a deep

en-us

61:02

Joe Heieck - Time to Sell or Keep Going? - Ep. 122

Think Like an Owner ·

2022/07/05

My guest on this episode is Joe Heieck. In 2015, Joe acquired gWorks, a software company that takes geographical information system data from government cities and counties and helps them visualize that data on their website among other services. Since then, they have grown impressively well both organically and through acquisition and have recently recapped their investor base through an investment by BV Investment Partners to continue their strong growth trajectory. Joe was an officer in the Navy

en-us

283 results

Similar Podcasts

TaxTalent.com The Golden Rule Podcast

Adam Golden

TaxTalent.com Podcast

Tony Santiago

Handelsblatt Crime - spannende Streitfälle der deutschen Wirtschaft

Ina Karabasz, Solveig Gode, Sönke Iwersen

Deffner und Zschäpitz – Der Wirtschafts-Talk von WELT

WELT

Black Box - La scatola nera della finanza

Guido Brera e Gian Luca Comandini -...