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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

65:44

Jim Lindstrom - Lessons from Being a 3x CEO - EP.245

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/10/08

Ep.245: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by James Lindstrom (@James-Lindstrom). The episode features Jim Lindstrom, a seasoned CEO with experience in leading companies like IES, Providence Service Corp and Verdian. The discussion covers his experiences with accelerating company growth, executing turnarounds, managing balance sheets, and strategic value creation. Jim shares insights on governance, operations, capital allocation, team alignment, and business simplification, drawing from his extensive

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68:10

Collin Hathaway - Big Ambition, Dogged Simplicity -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/10/01

Ep.244: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Collin Hathaway (@CollinHathaway).I'm excited to welcome Collin Hathaway back for his third appearance on the podcast. Collin has a wealth of experience in the home services industry and company operations, and today we dive into his recent exit from Flint Group, which he sold to General Atlantic. We get into what he might have done differently, his belief that "good is usually enough," and the deeply personal process of exiting businesses. We also chat

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68:22

Build Series EP.2: Upleveling as CEO with Rob...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/09/24

In this second episode of the Build Series, I speak to Rob Southern and James Bergeron about their experiences and strategies for upleveling as CEOs. We discuss their journeys in acquiring and running companies, the importance of executive coaching, and actionable habits and practices that contribute to continuous personal and professional growth. We also delve into distinguishing signal from noise, the evolution of leadership style, and the inner drivers that motivate long-term improvement as a

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38:34

Steve Swinney - Scaling Kodiak Building Partners -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/09/17

Ep.242: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Steve Swinney (@steveswinney). My guest today is Steve Swinney, founder and CEO of Kodiak Building Partners. The company, which started in 2011 with the acquisition of Barton Supply in Denver, has grown to 45+ acquisitions and $3 billion in sales by 2024. We cover Steve’s extensive experience in building product distribution, Kodiak's diversification strategy, communication as a CEO, hiring practices, acquisition strategy, company history, and future

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66:52

Ed Manfre - Leadership is an Inside Job - EP.241

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/09/10

Ep.241: Alex (@Aebrigeman) is joined by Ed Manfre (@emanfre). My guest today is Ed Manfre, a business leader, executive coach, and co-author of Lead Through Anything alongside recent guest Dustin Seale. He has two decades of experience helping CEOs and C-Suite leaders align themselves and their companies for success. He’s served leadership roles at firms Heidrick & Struggles and Spencer Stuart as a business builder and people leader and is here today to talk through a core concept of his, that

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66:47

Build Series EP.1: Sarah Rowell on Utilizing Your...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/09/03

Ep.240: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Sarah Rowell (@sarahrowell).This is the first episode in our new series called the Build Series, in partnership with Pacific Lake Partners and Trilogy Search Partners. Over the six Build Series episodes, we will explore how CEOs can accelerate their company’s growth trajectory, as well as their own professional growth as leaders. The Build Series continues the foundation set by last year’s Launch Series in growing transformative companies as ambitious CEOs

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54:45

Heritage Holding's Alex de Pfyffer & Ross Porter -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/08/27

This is my second episode hosting Alex De Pfyffer and Ross Porter, founders of Heritage Holding, on the podcast. A lot has happened since their first episode in late 2022. They’ve built 7 platforms through 25 acquisitions and recently raised a committed fund for the next five platforms. They’ve done excellent sourcing, but I also admire their ability to build a strong team at Heritage that allows them to move faster across multiple strategies and platforms.We talk about elements of a platform

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64:32

Jeff Homer - Music Schools and Consolidation Tactics...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/08/20

My guest today is Jeff Homer, who’s pursued one of the most interesting consolidation theses I’ve ever heard, music schools and more recently dance studios through his company, Ensemble Performing Arts. And his pace is incredible, acquiring essentially a school per month for five years, totaling 70 acquisitions and integrations. The number of reps he’s had is incredible, and has given him a huge amount of experience to learn from. Everything from industry theses, to integration, working with

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59:18

Justin Watt - The Case for Automations, AI, Software...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/08/13

My guest today is Justin Watt, co-founder of Switchboard, which helps businesses with automation and AI tools to become more effective and efficient companies. He’s the smartest person I know when it comes to automation, and I’ve been really excited to record this episode with him laying out his philosophy for tools and how to approach streamlining key internal processes.We talk about hype vs reality with AI tools, preparing your company for automation and laying the foundation through cleaner

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8:43

Announcing Airframe: Acquiring Industrial Services...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/08/06

I formed Airframe Group to acquire and build a company in industrial services, infrastructure, or value-added distribution. I want to grow a transformative company that is loyal to customers, moves fast, and pursues an ambitious vision for the long term.The ideal company for Airframe is led by an owner ready for the next chapter of life and wants to transition the company to a new owner who will lead their employees, customers, and vendors toward a bright future. Other characteristics I’m looking

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61:38

Chris Hoffmann - Building Scale in Home Services -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/07/30

Episode 235: Alex Bridgeman (@aebridgeman) is joined by Chris Hoffman (Chris-Hoffman).My guest, Chris Hoffmann, is the President and CEO of Hoffmann Brothers, a home services business based in St. Louis. Hoffmann Brothers have scaled from $10 million in 2015 to over $100 million in revenue in 2023. We talk about how that journey happened, their experience building executive teams, investing in people through a training university they started for ongoing training, and investing activity for home

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61:19

Auren Hoffman - Growing Great Data Organizations -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/07/23

Ep.234: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Auren Hoffman (@auren).In this episode, I sit down with Auren Hoffman, CEO of SafeGraph and partner at Flex Capital. The conversation centers around Auren’s experiences in running data companies and his insights into the data as a service market. We discuss the slower-than-expected growth in the buyer's market for data, and what it takes for data companies to achieve significant scale, using ZoomInfo as a prominent example. The discussion also covers team

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39:17

Sara Heston - Stanford Search Fund Study 2024 - Ep.232

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/07/16

Ep. 232: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Sara Heston (@sara-heston).My guest today is Sara Heston. We discuss the latest findings from the 2024 Stanford Search Fund Study, which reviews trends from the past two years. Key topics include rapid growth in the Search Fund industry, changing searcher backgrounds such as 24% of searchers not having an MBA, return trends, drivers of outsized returns, and industry dynamics. Sara also shares her transition to a director role at Anacapa. The episode

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50:39

Rick Ruback & Royce Yudkoff - Think Big, Buy Small -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/07/09

Ep.231: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Rick Ruback and Royce Yudkoff. My guests today are Rick Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, both Harvard professors for entrepreneurship through acquisition and co-authors of the most popular and well-known piece of content in search, the HBR book How to Buy a Small Business which I would consider the bible of the search fund world. It’s one of the first resources I recommend for folks wanting to learn about search, besides this podcast of course. On top of the book,

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84:32

Anand Sanwal - Developing Insurgent CEO Instincts -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/07/02

Ep.230: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Anand Sanwal (@anandsanwal).My guest today is Anand Sanwal, founder and former CEO of CB Insights, which provides data and intelligence on private markets, companies, and investors. Anand recently hired a new CEO for CB Insights and stepped into a chairman role. Anand ran the company for 14 years and developed a unique perspective on leading that I was really excited to learn more about. He’s a deep thinker, and if you liked recent episodes with Henry

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76:46

Brett Kelly - Building a Global Accounting Firm with...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/06/25

Ep.228: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Brett Kelly (@BrettKPG). My guest on this episode is Brett Kelly, founder and CEO of Kelly Partners, a publicly traded accounting, tax, and advisory firm with global ambitions and a roughly $350m market cap. Since 2006 they have done 80 acquisitions and developed a strong playbook for building best-in-class accounting firms with a focus on high-net-worth clients and growing companies. Brett is a really serious and motivated leader who’s pulled tons of great

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68:11

Dustin Seale - Lead Through Anything - Ep.227

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/06/18

Ep.227: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Dustin Seal (@dustinseale). My guest today is Dustin Seale, co-author of Lead Through Anything alongside Ed Manfre and managing partner at executive search and leadership firm, Heidrick & Struggles. Dustin has spent his career working with high-performing CEOs from over 70 countries to help transform teams and find the right successors for CEOs and other C-suite executives. We talk about what to look for in CEO successors, including the Microsoft search

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62:15

A.J. Wasserstein - Living a Happier Life - Ep.226...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/06/11

Ep.226: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by A.J. Wasserstein. My guest on this episode is A.J. Wasserstein. Early in his career, A.J. founded Archives One, a physical records management business he operated as CEO for 17 years before selling to Iron Mountain. He then acquired One Source Water, which was eventually sold to Water Logic in 2016. He then began teaching at Yale School of Management where he has written ad nauseam about nearly every topic within growing and running small companies and

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59:35

Anthony Bramante - Modernizing Municipal Control...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/06/04

Ep.225: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Anthony Bramante (@AnthonyBramante).My guest today is Anthony Bramante who leads In Control, an automation control systems integrator primarily serving water and wastewater facilities at small and medium-sized towns across the Northern Midwest. Control systems aren’t exactly top of mind for me every day, but after chatting with Anthony I’m seeing them everywhere and realizing how integral they are to our daily lives. Anthony and I talk about example control

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45:40

Godard Abel - Riding Enterprise Software Wave at G2 -...

Think Like an Owner ·

2024/05/28

Ep. 224: Alex (@aebridgeman) is joined by Godard Abel (@GodardAbel).My guest is Godard Abel, founder and CEO of G2, an enterprise software marketplace that helps software buyers find the right software for their companies and key problems. G2 is the third company he has led as CEO, the first two being BigMachines, founded in 2000, and SteelBrick, founded in 2014. We talk about lessons learned building all three companies, challenges he’s currently facing, picking the right industries to build in,

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283 results

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