90+ deals, with EBITDA increasing from $40M to $110M

Whether you're buying and building $1M-$5M EBITDA traditional businesses, investing in search funds, or backing independent sponsors, I believe the entire point of life is to take chances on dreams that seem crazy or unrealistic to most but feel like destiny to you.

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Interesting thought I found this week: Learn to be findable.

First of all: are you? What about your company?

And what is the importance of being findable in 2025?

I believe it’s important so that deals, talent, capital, and opportunity can come to you.

Various ways to be “findable”:

• Write and share your thoughts so people can find you.

• (Do the same for your company.)

• Create and share a story people want to follow.

• Build an investment firm in public with a thesis that will make HNWIs want to introduce themselves to you (it’s possible).

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I mentioned:

In order to be more “findable”...

You or your company should write and share thoughts so people can find you.

But…

If you get this but if you’re too busy running the company—but still wanting deals, talent, capital, and opportunity to come to you—just let others do this busywork for you.

This is where today’s sponsor Spacebar Studios comes in.

(True marketing specialists!).

They’re offering my readers a two-week free trial.

They’ll set up your company newsletter, send your first few editions, and prove the channel works—all for free, so there’s nothing to lose.

Start your free trial today at SpacebarStudios.co

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I'm not Mr. Kravis from KKR, but it would be unwise not to listen to him:

"I would do anything to be 33 again... I would do anything to do it over again."

True masterful leadership mixed with entrepreneurial craziness, curiosity and courage.

Exactly as it should be.

Context:

From Ravi Gupta (co-founder Instacart, now valued ca $10B) on convo with Henry Kravis when leaving KKR for Instacart...

Henry Kravis played to win and would give up everything he won just for the chance to play again.

Taking the risk and going all-in is the reward. The journey is the prize.

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“I gotta tell my wife to fix the hole in the sock.”

From an old man running a $200m revenue business.

Years ago I had dinner and later a sauna with older gentlemen (all entrepreneurs) in Sweden.

They all ran construction businesses; the largest one was doing hundreds of millions in revenue, run by a guy in his mid-70s.

Lots of life stories, jokes at each other, and overall a 10/10 evening with folks who all could have been my grandfathers. I was there thanks to my stepfather.

The best and most memorable joke was when one guy said to another, to the oldest and the richest, “Buddy, there’s a hole in your sock.”

The guy said, “Oh, thanks, I gotta let my wife fix these.”

And he really meant it.

The lesson for me was that these old-school business builders are often as frugal as it gets-- in business and in their personal lives as well. Simple people, living their best lives while providing a good life for hundreds of employees.

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If you’re reading these weekly newsletter and they get you thinking:

“I’d like to acquire a company, or you’re thinking of just investing in others to start with…”

I want to tell you about today’s sponsor: CapitalPad

It’s a purpose-built marketplace for acquisition entrepreneurs.

Operators post real, active deals. Investors review, diligence, and fund them. And the best part? Capital Pad standardizes the stuff that usually gets messy:

• Terms

• Governance

• Distributions

All this so everyone starts from the same clean template. It basically brings private-market discipline to small-business investing.

If you’re raising to buy a business, or you want curated exposure to acquisition deals, head to CapitalPad.com and tell them PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus) sent you. 

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Reading about the early days and biggest mistakes folks who founded a VERY large private equity firm have made.

For context, one of the recent deals was a service-based company, which grew from $40mm EBITDA to $110mm EBITDA.

Obviously, now true masters of their craft.

20 years ago, when they started, they had a guy come into their office saying he would help them bring the company to $1B in AUM.

At the time, all they had was $200,000, and they were not paying themselves salaries.

They all said they were so stupid, and the guy was such a great salesman. Again, none of the three founders paid themselves anything upfront, but this guy came in and said he needed payment upfront, and only then could he start closing deals to bring in capital.

Long story short, they paid him $120,000 in cash, went to the bank, and took the money in a plastic bag. Eventually, the guy was gone… with their money.

This was a very expensive mistake, but they said it made them extremely careful.

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It’s autumn in Europe which reminded me this conversation:

I was in Barcelona some time ago, and during dinner, an American investor was surprised by the success of Swedish technology companies.

(25+ unicorns, 2nd largest producer of unicorns globally per capita)

A short answer from one of the local founders:

“Have you been there? Have you seen the weather?”

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This week was special! I got the visa and booked the flights.

Next week I’m traveling to Miami and New York City.

Not too long ago, I started sharing my thoughts, ideas, and journey of building a portfolio of niche cash-flow businesses while still living in Geneva, Switzerland.

The photo below was taken right after the meeting with a local GP and founder of a PE fund that now manages more than $1b in AUM. He said he left his job in his early 30s. Today, he's in his 50s. Great guy and very generous!

(Side note: Older folks, please say yes to these 15-20 minute coffee meetings with younger people. Keep sharing your journey. You never know whose life you'll change for the better.)

My notes from this meeting:

"Just go and do it. Have the ability to figure things out. That's all. That's the advice."

Anyway, now, after years, 16.5k tweets, and 150+ podcast episodes, I’m traveling to the US.

(This time, not as a tourist.)

One big lesson from this journey so far:

"Be yourself... You never know who follows you in the trenches."

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“You should never, when faced with one misfortune, let one misfortune increase into two or three because of a failure of will. I believe America has become very soft - if you even have a tad bit of resilience and moxie, everything out there is for the taking.” 

—Fernando De Leon

Where do I start?

There is a gentleman in his 40s walking among us who, until the age of 14, did not speak English but ended up buying 500+ companies and turning $100k into $10B.

They still make over 50 add-ons a year.

In short 30 minutes (feel free to watch at 1.5x speed) you'll learn:

1.  How to buy, build, and own businesses the holdco way (ownership > one time fees)

2.  The mindset and systems that let a family holding compound through operations

3.  Practical frameworks for capital allocation, incentive-aware dealmaking, and scaling across industries

4.  Why long-duration, permanent capital changes how you source, structure, and operate

I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed doing the research.

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

That’s all for today.

Thanks a lot for reading and I’ll share a few updates again next week.

Take care,

PrivateEquityGuy / Mikk Markus