3 acquisition in 90 days

Business Buyer and Builder,

Are you attending this year’s Serial Acquirer event?

In one room, you can find people who’ve acquired 1, 7, 27, all the way to as many as 140 companies.

Some probably even more than that. Valuations of the holding companies range from a few million all the way to $8.5 billion.

Here is the link to the event, where you can see all the attending companies as well as the schedule of the event:

I’ll be there in person along with Alex from RollUpEurope. Go and read his very recent article on Bending Spoons: the lean, mean M&A machine approaching IPO & $1B EBITDA. Four ways in which the story can evolve (the recent one was read by over 10,000 investors, business builders and capital allocators).

When it comes to the event, we’re setting up a small podcast studio so we can shoot 20-to-30 minute podcast interviews with some of the attendees.

Let me know if you’re a business buyer and would like to have a conversation or if you could provide intro to someone who would be willing to share their story.  (Every podcast episode receives between 1k to 15k downloads. Some have even gotten over 300,000 views on X). Reach out by replying to this email or send me a DM on X.

(Great news to you: I already booked a few calls.)

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Studying another fund manager (ca $500m aum), and he said some of the most brilliant peers he grew up with in the business - people who were once endlessly curious and sharp - have stopped learning.

"They’ve checked out..."

"What's really happening is:

-Their health is in decline.
-They’ve lost their energy.
-They’re burned out.
-The tension in their system is too high.
-They don’t have the physical margin to adapt, stretch, or absorb.
-Their identity is locked into who they were - not who they’re becoming.

That is one of the great risks of this game:

You can look like you’re winning…and still be quietly falling behind."

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It seems like the biggest threat to long-term learning isn’t intellectual. It’s physical tension. Emotional stress. The kind of wear and tear that builds up in your body and mind over time, slowly shutting down your ability to absorb new information.

With that being said…

Whether you’re allocating capital, managing people, or solving complex problems…

You’re often under emotional strain, physical stress, and have mental clutter.

Your ability to internalize new ideas is severely compromised.

Interestingly, most people never think about this.

They treat learning like an intellectual activity -- when in fact, it’s also a physical one.

Ever notice how you suddenly understand something in the shower that you couldn’t figure out two days ago?

That’s not random. The hot water relaxes you. The pressure is off. Your body is calm -- and your brain opens up.

Learning happens when tension lifts. Not before.

That’s why things like sleep, exercise, nutrition, and active recovery aren’t just “lifestyle habits.”

In this game -- you allocate capital, managing people, or solving complex problems -- they’re mental performance tools. They are edge.

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Right before writing today’s newsletter, I was browsing two live deals on CapitalPad (sponsor for this newsletter) - both have a projected IRR over 25%, and the amount they raise is $2,000,000. The third deal is finalizing with a projected IRR 32%+.

Capital allocators at CapitalPad have already done 10 successful deals, where many great small businesses already end up in the hands of capable independent sponsors.

Curious to get such deal flow? Click the link, create a profile, and start co-investing in lower-middle-market established, profitable businesses.

(Nothing here is investment advice - do your own diligence.)

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Lessons from 50 years and thousands of investments:

A realization Henry Ellenbogen, founder of Durable Capital Partners, found while playing golf and reading.

"The entire game, he realized, was finding these small businesses early and holding on."

The article keeps on giving. What a lesson for folks acquiring and investing in lower middle market $2-15mm EBITDA businesses.

Finding the exceptional one(s) -- the 1%-ers -- early on, then holding for years (ideally even decades), could eventually lead to one position compounding at 20% annually.

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This week’s podcast is a story of Reza Jafer, who stepped away from his role at Trivest, a US based private equity firm, to acquire three companies as an independent sponsor. 

A fascinating story of grit and determination, getting the deals done despite all the headwinds.

A must-listen for anyone buying traditional cash-flow businesses and especially those aspiring to become independent sponsors themselves.

Here are the links to Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube.

One last thing: as I’m always reading and learning, I want to make sure you keep receiving these emails (Edwin from Road To Carry newsletter had written this great short tutorial on how to make sure you won’t miss the newsletter I’m sending).

When you’re reading on Gmail mobile, could you click the three dots (…) at the top right corner, then “Move,” then “Primary”?

And when you’re reading on Gmail desktop, go back to your inbox and move this email to the “Primary” tab.

That’s all for today and talk to you again next week.

Take care,

PrivateEquityGuy / Mike Markus