$68M revenue, $10M deal... then at the last minute. GONE!

Here’s a message from a 29 year old who lost a $10M deal. $30K gone, just like that. But man is still standing.

Posted with permission.

The guy is already a legend for sharing this! I'm sure he'll close the next one.

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I was listening to an independent sponsor, and what he said was very interesting:

Everyone wants the $500k–$1m LP checks.

But the real edge?

Build a network to raise from 50 to 70 people writing $100k each.

Yes, it’s harder. But it’s also how you keep the terms.

(I got someone to come on the HoldCo Builders podcast to share how they did exactly that — 35 investors, each with a $75k ticket.)

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Yes, holding companies and private equity firms are awesome.

But don't forget there are new and upcoming tech-enabled investment platforms that have access to all three:

• 10/10 operators,

• great deals,

• capital ($$$)

and they provide all necessary pre- and post-acquisition support to those involved.

They're not a PE firm, they're not a holdco, but quietly do 75+ deals a year.

Exceptional model.

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A little reminder:

The best time to buy a business?

When you don’t need to.

(Makes the whole process, negotiations and everything much easier. And more enjoyable.)

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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?

• Their health is in decline

• They’ve lost the 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."

–

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.

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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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• Looking at 200 to 300 deals

• 50 AOI

• Submitted 10 LOIs

• Signed 3

• Closed one deal

Numbers familiar to many searchers (=it's a volume game)

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After 2+ years of solo search, one of the biggest lessons I've learned so far:

If you want to get into the game fast, you should ONLY focus on broker deals.

Searching for a deal yourself – all the cold calling, physical meetings, convincing someone to sell – takes too long.

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If you ever plan to invest in or acquire a traditional sub $1-5 million EBITDA company, or even build a portfolio of such businesses...

Here is what I believe a step-by-step game plan for doing this:

Do the work – go and talk to business owners, go meet with clients, talk to investors, brokers, try to sell stuff and make offers each and every day. Be curious and chill and ask others why they make such investments and what makes this or that company a good or a bad. Keep learning, read and soak up all the knowledge you can, keep an open mind when someone shares their experience and advice. It doesn’t even matter if you’ve made zero, 1, 6 or 21 investments. Keep showing up, keep doing what you said you were going to do. And most importantly, stay in the game – even if you don't have any results yet. Along the way, you'll develop skills, experience and a network that will be valuable for future partners, employees and transactions.

And here are 8 reasons why ALL of the above are vital:

(1) You get better at finding and recognizing really good companies.

(2) You will gain a better understanding of different industries.

(3) You will become a better communicator and negotiator.

(4) You get better at pitching ideas, expressing your thoughts, selling and raising capital.

(5) Ideally, you make some moves that lead to opportunities you never knew existed.

(6) If you do the work, in my experience, partners, companies, and clients are much more likely to work with you.

(7) Yes, again, I know this is all very basic, common sense advice, but the more you learn, the more you see that – the people who run the best teams, best investment firms, best companies – are clear thinkers and have clear minds. You want to have a clear mind too!

(8) Finally, you'll have a better understanding of your strengths so you can put more (ALL!) of your energy into your strengths and work with people who are 10/10 at what you're not good at. This leads to dream outcomes.

It still requires tons of work and dedication, but if you’re still here, reading this – go for it (or keep going for it).

-

When you're ready to actually buy one:

You have to mute the world around you and then build your own.

As David Senra of the Founders posted the other day:

"Narrow your focus to your most important dreams and tune out everything else."

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

Traditional company

Last week I said that the heavy equipment rental company liked my offer but wants to move forward at the end of August/early September…

He called me to say they were starting to discuss some details and that they don’t want to kill the momentum. So let's see…

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This week’s podcast:

Some ideas from my conversation with Nick Huber.

(Best part: He pulls off all this craziness while still spending tons of time with kids, enjoying weekly date nights with wife, and playing golf with his best mates — IMO that’s some elite time management and a life well-lived)

1.  One tweet changed my entire life—one thread converted into 40,000 followers overnight.

2.  I’ve raised 8-figures from Twitter, but I also got publicly shredded by millions.

3.  Interest rates doubled. I had bought $100M of real estate...

4.  If you’re not doing interesting things, you’ve got nothing to post.

5.  Built a $52M deal using seller financing, promotes, and no investment banker.

6.  325 employees. Only 20 in the U.S. The rest? Global talent.

7.  Success means saying no to great opportunities (and hurting people’s feelings).

8.  Operations isn’t theory. It’s reps. Make a decision. Live with it. Repeat.

9.  They called me a fraud. I took it on the chin, and came out stronger.

10.  Add massive value - expect nothing - watch everything change.

I hope you enjoy this episode with Nick.

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