Brent is the founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a long-term focused private equity firm investing (with no intention of selling) in small to midsize, privately held companies throughout North America. He is also the author of The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers and previously operated several businesses as an entrepreneur. Follow Brent on X @BrentBeshore.

[0:16] - How studying poverty in college helped Brent develop a unique investing outlook

[3:07] - Brent’s takeaways from growing up in Missouri’s farmlands under the guidance of his grandmother

[6:57] - Gaining wisdom from unplanned career experiences and optimizing for optionality

[12:47] - Permanent Equity’s long-term private equity model

[15:57] - Why Brent has avoided using debt to finance Permanent Equity’s investments

[19:34] - How Permanent Equity has changed since accepting its first outside capital

[22:19] - Breaking down Permanent Equity’s operating model

[25:11] - How Brent determines whether to reinvest cash flows or make distributions

[28:28] - Considering adjacent investments for existing portfolio companies vs. newer, riskier opportunities

[33:14] - Discovering and investing in overlooked industries and businesses

[40:40] - The benefits of sourcing deals using a team-based approach

[45:45] - How Permanent Equity divides work with distinct operating and investing teams

[49:46] - Why Brent prefers buying businesses over starting them from scratch

For more episodes, go to ⁠podofjake.com⁠.

Previous guests include ⁠Mark Cuban⁠, ⁠Vitalik Buterin⁠, ⁠Brian Armstrong⁠, ⁠Balaji Srinivasan⁠, ⁠Keith⁠ ⁠Rabois⁠, ⁠Ali Spagnola⁠, ⁠Anthony Pompliano⁠, ⁠Raoul Pal⁠, ⁠Julia Galef⁠, ⁠Jack Butcher⁠, ⁠Tim Draper⁠, and over 100 others alike. Learn from founders and CEOs of companies like ⁠OpenAI⁠, ⁠Coinbase⁠, ⁠Solana⁠, ⁠Polygon⁠, ⁠AngelList⁠⁠, ⁠Oura⁠⁠, and ⁠Replit⁠, and investors from ⁠Founders⁠ ⁠Fund⁠, ⁠a16z⁠, ⁠Union Square Ventures⁠, and many more. I appreciate your support and hope you enjoy.

Thanks to ⁠⁠Chase Devens⁠⁠ for the show notes and ⁠⁠Yiction⁠⁠ for the music.

Lastly, I love hearing from fans of the pod. Feel free to email me any time at ⁠[email protected]⁠. Thank you!