$50m/PER YEAR was a dream but now doing $210m+

Here's a great idea if your business is profitable and you really want to leave an even bigger mark on this beautiful world (=by supporting others):

There’s an entrepreneur in his early 70s who pays a bonus every time his employee has a child.

• I and II child $10,000

• III child $20,000

• IV child $40,000

His firm employs ca 100 people.

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“I don't want to say that business has come effortlessly, but I have never had a goal or desire to become a big businessman, rather, children are important.”

Runs a $150m biz.

Again, what a legend.

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This is which I believe an almost foolproof way to either build your own investment firm—or massively increase your exposure, deal flow, capital, and talent if you already have one:

(This strategy ONLY works if you're willing to play the long game: 5+ yrs minimum)

Love the game, or don't even start.

If you're in it for quick wins, shortcuts, or status, you'll burn out before anything meaningful happens.

You have to love the process:

• the learning

• the setbacks

• the slow momentum nobody else sees

Obsession and curiosity > motivation

1. Share the journey.

Document everything: the deals you're studying, the failures you're facing, the people you're meeting.

Good, bad, ugly

Authenticity > polished image

Investors and potential capital allocators want to follow unfinished stories they want to root for.

2. Build your tribe - ideally, go from online to offline.

Attract and then meet operators. Founders. Investors. Lenders.

Be the connector you wish you had when you started.

Help them win. Introduce them

Relationships compound faster than returns.

3. Educate & create leverage

Share what you're learning.

Interview and talk to people; then write playbooks, frameworks, mini-guides based on learnings.

Package knowledge in ways that scale beyond your time - tweets & newsletters

Sharing attracts talent, capital, and opportunity.

4. Think in decades.

6 months is nothing.

5 years is just planting seeds

Your firm is built through compounding trust, not overnight fireworks.

Patience is the real asymmetric advantage.

5. Sell before you build.

The audience you serve will tell you what to create:

Funds. Syndicates. Advisory. Capital.

Sell solutions to problems you witness firsthand--long before you ever "launch" something.

6. Build like you're creating your own firm — but stay open to unexpected outcomes

• Maybe you build the firm yourself

• Maybe you get acquired

• Maybe a top-tier fund hires you

Maybe none of that happens.

If you truly enjoy the journey, you’ll be winning no matter what.

And when still thinking of getting started or feeling a little discouraged...

Remember: we live in a big (and crazy) world where you’re just one connection away from everything changing.

• One partner

• One firm

• One relationship

• One investor

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses--that’s why partnerships happen.

Your unique strengths are someone else's missing piece.

Distribution is everything in 2025, and it’ll be even bigger in 2030.

Play long enough, and you’ll collide with the right opportunity.

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Too many podcasts interview the guy after he closes the deal.

I want the guy who lost it.

The one who got outbid.

Who spent $25k and 18 months searching and still hasn't signed an LOI.

Who almost wired the money but the seller ghosted.

That's the story I want to hear.

(Reply this email if you’d like to share your story.)

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(True story!)

20+ years ago, my university teacher and his best friend were both working high paying jobs at a great investment firm.

They knew the game. Smart, connected, experienced.

One day, his friend came to him and said:

“I’m starting my own fund.”

The today-professor-friend said:

“Are you insane? Now? The market’s volatile. The economy’s shaky. What if it fails?”

(This was around 2001. Dot-com crash. 9/11. Recession. The world looked like it was ending.)

Wife and friends of this other guy: "You're crazy!! You have a good job!!! Don't leave!!"

His friend quit anyway. Raised capital. Started the fund.

Today?

His buddy manages $1B+ in aum, takes home 1.5–2% in fees (aka $15–20M a year) and has a CEO running the firm.

My professor?

Still teaches. Lives well.

But said something I’ll never forget:

“Every year, there’s some damn crisis. Always a reason to wait. I waited too long.”

(s/o Ryan Sullivan from North Park Group for image copy)

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The best businesses have four things:

• Capital-light models

• Recurring revenue

• Strong brands with network effects

• Optionality to expand into adjacent markets

What is you favorite example?

Mine: Hilton. Asset-light, global, and sticky.

A question I received on Twitter: how operating a global portfolio of physical multi-unit buildings at a hospitality level of service is capital light?

Answer: They used to own the hotels and lease it.

Now they're a management company and a franchise. The physical real estate is owned by third parties, investors and they just get paid as a percentage of revenues or maybe a percentage of the bottom line and that allows them to grow without a lot of capital

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If we look at successful long-term compounders who follow the serial acquirer model, could we say that the  playbook is simple, but not easy:

1. Back special people

2. Go deep on the business

3. Act with conviction

4. Stick around longer than anyone else

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Imagine this scenario:

No SBA. No search fund. Just grit.

You find a way to acquire a $500k - $1m EBITDA company through a self-funded search. Do it yourself or with a partner. No accelerator. No investors. Just savings, persistence, and building a strong relationship with a seller willing to offer you favorable terms (50-70% seller financing?)

No matter what happens post-acquisition—you keep going. You don’t flinch.

If needed, you rebuild the team, implement EOS, focus on quality work, and refuse to grow just for the sake of growth. You aim for stability first.

5 to 7 years later:

• You’ve 2x’d revenue

• Doubled headcount

• Promoted your replacement

• And made your first add-on acquisition to build a holdco

No hacks. No shortcuts. Just patience.

It’s supposed to be hard. It’s supposed to take time. That’s how you build something worth keeping.

And then you choose:

If you want a big exit, you sell.

If you want a good life, you hold.

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How has been the week in the small holding company world?

Traditional company

The heavy equipment rental company liked my offer but wants to move forward at the end of August/early September.

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This week’s podcast:

My conversation with Nick Keegan, one of the most patient business builders you'll meet.

It took his firm, Mail Metrics, 7 years to hit $1M in revenue; then came the realization that they could grow faster by acquiring competitors...

5 years and 4 acquisitions later, they're on track to do $210M in sales.

A few highlights from this episode:

1.  We didn’t earn a single dollar for 3 years—now it’s doing $200M+ in revenue.

2.  A random insurance company called—Nick said “that’s exactly what we do,” then pivoted the entire business.

3.  With just $200K in profit, Nick bought two $10M revenue businesses using 100% debt at 20% interest.

4. One painful lesson: a perfect deal on paper means nothing without cultural fit.

5.  They scaled from $2M to $40M revenue with zero new equity—fully debt-funded growth.

6.  Nick’s playbook: find boring, traditional industries and layer in tech to 10x the value.

7.  At 36, Nick plans to do this 2–3 more times. His current target is $1B in revenue.

8.  He once dreamed of $50M in revenue—now he’s 4x past it and still just getting started.

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

That’s all for today.

Thanks for reading and talk to you again next week.

Take care,

PrivateEquityGuy / Mikk Markus