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Acquisitions and Inorganic Growth with Trevor Houghton
Episode #203: Trevor Houghton — How to buy growth without risking cash
How founders use acquisitions to grow without betting the company.
For operators considering their first inorganic deal.
Trevor Houghton is CEO of Pass Galleries and a former private equity and corporate development operator. He breaks down how founders can use acquisitions to increase enterprise value without overextending capital. The conversation covers how deals actually get sourced, why most failed acquisitions start with the wrong premise, and how Trevor structures transactions using debt, seller notes, and earn-outs to reduce downside. He walks through a concrete example of acquiring $5M in EBITDA with no net cash outlay and explains why integration planning must start before the deal closes.
What you’ll hear- Why the best acquisitions start as partnerships, not cold offers
- The customers vs. capabilities rule and why you must only extend one
- How no-money-down deals work using debt and deferred payments
- Why day-one integration and early culture alignment determine outcomes
Timestamps derived from the episode transcript.
- 00:00 — Structuring acquisitions with minimal cash risk
- 00:30 — Introduction to inorganic growth and Trevor’s background
- 01:44 — Building acquisition paths through partnerships
- 03:13 — The customer vs. capability decision framework
- 04:07 — Identifying targets through existing customer usage
- 05:03 — Growing earnings and valuation through acquisitions
- 06:04 — Integration planning before close
- 06:29 — Culture integration and no-money-down deal mechanics
- 08:05 — Building an acquisition engine
Guest
Trevor Houghton — CEO, Pass Galleries
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-houghton-th/
Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions.
Hosted by Jason Shafton.
- Work with Winston Francois: https://wf.team/podcast
- Subscribe / Follow Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonshafton/
View all episodes
By Jason ShaftonEpisode #203: Trevor Houghton — How to buy growth without risking cash
How founders use acquisitions to grow without betting the company.
For operators considering their first inorganic deal.
Trevor Houghton is CEO of Pass Galleries and a former private equity and corporate development operator. He breaks down how founders can use acquisitions to increase enterprise value without overextending capital. The conversation covers how deals actually get sourced, why most failed acquisitions start with the wrong premise, and how Trevor structures transactions using debt, seller notes, and earn-outs to reduce downside. He walks through a concrete example of acquiring $5M in EBITDA with no net cash outlay and explains why integration planning must start before the deal closes.
What you’ll hear- Why the best acquisitions start as partnerships, not cold offers
- The customers vs. capabilities rule and why you must only extend one
- How no-money-down deals work using debt and deferred payments
- Why day-one integration and early culture alignment determine outcomes
Timestamps derived from the episode transcript.
- 00:00 — Structuring acquisitions with minimal cash risk
- 00:30 — Introduction to inorganic growth and Trevor’s background
- 01:44 — Building acquisition paths through partnerships
- 03:13 — The customer vs. capability decision framework
- 04:07 — Identifying targets through existing customer usage
- 05:03 — Growing earnings and valuation through acquisitions
- 06:04 — Integration planning before close
- 06:29 — Culture integration and no-money-down deal mechanics
- 08:05 — Building an acquisition engine
Guest
Trevor Houghton — CEO, Pass Galleries
https://www.linkedin.com/in/trevor-houghton-th/
Frank Growth is a podcast about how companies actually grow—real operators, real constraints, real decisions.
Hosted by Jason Shafton.
- Work with Winston Francois: https://wf.team/podcast
- Subscribe / Follow Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonshafton/