Buyers and Builders

Steve Lawrence, the founder of Uncomplicated Group went from middle management at a $14B manufacturer to buying five businesses in a few short years -- now running two injection-molding factories, employing 45 people, and shipping 200M parts a year.

But this episode isn’t about the highlight reel. It’s about the real path: quitting his job for a deal that collapsed at the finish line, burning cash on diligence, watching funding evaporate, and learning what “the seller isn’t emotionally ready” actually means -- when the mortgage clock is ticking.

We dig into how Steve rebuilt his deal process from scratch, how he sold himself with zero acquisition track record, the red flags he now screens for, and the operating system (EOS) that changed everything post-close.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 From corporate manager to 5 acquisitions in manufacturing
1:06 The moment Steve knew he was done with corporate life
2:54 The “measured exit” that turned into months of uncertainty
4:59 The first deal: tiny business, bad structure, and a lucky failure
5:42 The seller starts ghosting -- and the deal unravels
7:01 Losing the deal, burning cash, and rebuilding his entire approach
8:57 Why most people shouldn’t pursue acquisitions (the “strong why” test)
9:55 Sponsor: CapitalPad -- backing real operators in overlooked markets
11:06 How to tell if a seller is actually ready to sell
14:02 The exact outreach message that landed his first acquisition
19:04 Structuring and closing the first deal + brutal first 90 days
20:57 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios — building newsletters for HoldCos & investors
23:18 Implementing EOS: turning chaos into an operating system
39:45 80/20 thinking in manufacturing: cutting noise, expanding margins

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

For the last 20 years, private equity followed a simple formula: buy with leverage, cut costs, rely on multiple expansion, exit at a higher valuation.

That playbook worked incredibly well.

But it no longer does.

In this episode, I break down why the old private equity model is structurally broken - not just cyclically - and why a new model is emerging. A model where cheap debt doesn’t save you, multiple expansion can’t be assumed, and real value creation matters more than spreadsheets.

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Why the old private equity playbook is dead and why buy at 8x sell at 12x no longer works
02:05 What the old PE model was and why it worked for 20 years
06:25 Why the old playbook is failing structurally as rates rise and leverage weakens
09:18 The shift from capital deployment to capability deployment
11:00 How the industrial builder mindset creates real alpha today
14:10 Why specialization beats being a generalist buyer
18:30 How founders should diligence buyers in the new model
22:15 The opportunity for HoldCo builders and small buyers in the lower middle market

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

In this episode, I’m joined by John Seiffer - the person investors, company buyers and operators call when growth starts getting expensive, messy, or fragile. John has spent decades across manufacturing, software, restaurants, chemicals, and professional services, and he sees the same pattern over and over: founders are great at the product and the sale… but the company can’t scale until the structure scales.

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Deals are great, but the money is made in operations
02:15 The real business model: CAC, LTV, gross margin
07:06 What a “healthy company” looks like + why founders get stuck on structure
10:10 Sponsor: CapitalPad (back the next generation of business buyers)
11:09 The expectation gap: hiring for outputs + breaking sales into subdivisions
15:48 Scaling myth: reinvesting blindly (why ROIC and attribution matter)
20:22 “Exit without selling”: free your time, keep ownership benefits, serve your life
24:34 Sponsor: SpaceBar Studios ($0 newsletter build, limited spots)
33:13 Delegation done right: specify the output + schedule follow-ups (no surprises)
42:33 John’s 1-week playbook: “systems inventory” + 2 questions that reveal misalignment

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

The future of private equity talent is moving toward ownership.

We explore why the traditional PE career path is breaking, why carry no longer delivers the upside it once promised, and why more professionals are choosing to build - not wait - for real equity.

You will discover:
0:00 The Quiet Exodus Inside Private Equity
1:45 Carry That Never Materializes
2:56 “I Didn’t Join PE to Be an Operator”
3:38 No Real Path to Ownership
5:27 Where PE Talent Is Going Next

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

In this episode, we break down a powerful idea from Jeffrey Walker, a private equity veteran who backed thousands of entrepreneurs and watched success and failure up close. His conclusion is uncomfortable but freeing: the people who win don’t follow a path, they create one.

You’ll hear why talent is overrated, why “perfect careers” quietly fail, how one pathless founder built a $200M company, and a practical framework for building a career or business that actually compounds over decades.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 The dangerous myth of “the path”
1:04 Jeffrey Walker’s core insight: there is no path
3:05 Talent is common, intentionality is rare
4:12 The banker assembly line trap
5:53 The perfect resume that led nowhere
7:01 The pathless entrepreneur who built a $200M company
8:34 Sponsor CapitalPad - Curated deal flow. Aligned sponsors. Simplified investing.
9:44 How building your own path changes everything
12:13 A practical framework for creating your own path
14:16 The real takeaway: paths only make sense in hindsight

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Today’s guest, David Dowda (Dowda Holdings), went from burned-out insurance salesman working 80-100 hour weeks to buying his first business doing just $30,000 a year - fully seller-financed.

Ten years later, he owns nine companies across multiple industries - all acquired with zero outside equity and often minimal cash down.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 How he bought a $30k revenue business with zero cash down
3:00 Rolling up a beach town with chairs, linens, golf carts and a coffee shop
8:03 Buying a construction company 6 hours away with no experience
10:31 Sponsor: CapitalPad - investing alongside small business buyers
11:58 Flipping the construction business for a 300% return in 18 months
17:19 Scaling a moving company
22:15 Sponsor: SpaceBar Studios - b2b newsletter
35:04 Creative M&A structures with 100% seller finance, bank debt and earnouts
42:57 Building teams, promoting from within and making businesses “transition ready”
52:05 Why he believes multiples will compress on Main Street
1:02:13 Managing personal guarantees, stress and four kids under five
1:06:20 Next chapter raising capital to buy $5-20M companies

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

How these serial acquirers generate 20-40% annual returns for decades?

They buy small, niche, profitable companies again and again.

In this episode, we break down the strategy, the structure, and what private buyers can learn from the greatest acquisition machines on earth.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Why tiny acquisitions beat big deals
1:12 21x, 120x, 375x: Lifco, Addtech, Constellation & Heico’s insane returns
2:07 The simple playbook: buying small boring companies again and again
3:56 Engine #1 - Organic growth in the “unsexy” corners of the economy
6:50 Engine #2 - Programmatic M&A: what these serial acquirers actually buy
13:07 Sponsor: CapitalPad - deal-by-deal private equity access for accredited investors
14:27 Owning 100+ companies: resilience, diversification & the 7-7-7 structure
16:00 What private buyers & HoldCo builders can apply immediately (7 acquisition principles)
19:35 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios - get your B2B newsletter built for $0 upfront
21:02 Don’t chase synergies: culture, dominant niches & promoting leaders from within
23:07 You’re playing the same game as Lifco & Constellation (long-term compounding mindset)

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

In this episode, Cyrus Hessabi from Shore Capital Partners breaks down what it really looks like to build AI-enabled services, transition from VC to micro-cap private equity, and back searchers buying “boring” but powerful businesses.

Cyrus has lived every chapter of the operator-investor journey: aerospace engineering, Salesforce sales, venture capital, architecting AI rollups at OpenOcean, and now backing searchers at Shore Capital Partners.

We dive into how AI is transforming traditional service industries, where real opportunities (and risks) lie, how to evaluate founders, and why the best investing often happens in industries that don’t change.

TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Cyrus’s operator & investor journey
2:02 Spotting the tech gap in the traditional economy
3:43 Data infrastructure, MySQL roots & AI rollups at OpenOcean
5:15 Bridging VC, AI and micro-cap PE
7:35 Sponsor: Capitalpad - invest alongside vetted searchers
8:37 What AI-enabled services really are (with simple examples)
12:21 Inside OpenOcean’s AI-enabled services thesis & deal work
16:00 Joining Shore Capital & backing searchers and roll-ups
17:08 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios - done-for-you newsletters
18:14 How Cyrus evaluates AI risk and upside in real deals
31:01 Moving from VC to ETA/PE and key mindset shifts
45:46 Investing in what doesn’t change, AI as a tailwind & favorite book

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Most people in ETA quote the Stanford Search Fund Study, but almost no one looks at what investors actually earn. In this episode, we break down new Yale data from 1,192 investor-level outcomes and shows why access, not modeling, is the #1 driver of 10x MOIC, 30%+ IRR results.

You’ll learn why your portfolio will never be “the index”, how a tiny % of deals drive almost all returns, and what elite investors do differently to consistently catch those outliers. If you’re a searcher, investor, fund, or holdco, this is the episode that will change how you think about ETA returns forever.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Access as the #1 driver of outperformance & episode roadmap
0:40 Dinner scene: Stanford-slide searcher vs seasoned LP reality
2:15 Power laws, Magnificent Seven & how a few winners drive all returns
3:40 Yale study: 1,192 investor observations vs the Stanford search fund myth
5:35 Segment 1: The Illusion of the Stanford Index & why no one matches it
7:45 Segment 2: The Batting Cage Problem & why access determines investor outcomes
9:26 Segment 3: The Two-Stage Bet, broken searches, missing winners & 10x outcomes
14:13 Sponsor: Spacebar Studios - guaranteed 10,000 newsletter subscribers in 90 days
15:20 Elite ETA investor tier, access hierarchy & why “spray and pray” fails
17:51 Real odds for searchers, importance of elite access & final “respect the griffins” takeaway

Sponsors:
https://capitalpad.com/ - A deal-by-deal private equity investing platform
https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquire

#ETA #SearchFunds #EntrepreneurshipThroughAcquisition #SelfFundedSearch #TraditionalSearch #SearchFundInvestor #SearchAcquisition #BusinessAcquisition

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

Sequoya Borgman has quietly built one of the most interesting retail-funded private equity machines in America. Since launching Borgman Capital in 2017, he’s acquired 20 companies across 8 platforms and raised deal-by-deal from 500+ individual investors instead of institutions.

In this episode, we break down how he sources mostly off-market deals in second-tier cities, structures conservative, over-capitalized balance sheets, manages messy founder transitions, and keeps hundreds of retail LPs aligned while staying oversubscribed on almost every deal.

TIMESTAMPS
0:00 Biggest risk in PE founder transitions and bad leadership fit
0:44 Why the “retail private equity” model
4:37 Working with PE as a CPA and deciding to start Borgman Capital in 2017
6:10 How uncertainty really hits lower middle-market companies
8:04 Biggest early mistakes: Hiring the wrong leaders and underestimating founders
11:35 Responsibility to employees, banks and LPs
14:12 First acquisition story
16:24 Why Borgman chose hundreds of retail LPs instead of a fund
20:45 Oversubscribed deals, memos, webinars and passthehat.com
30:23 State of private equity today: Fewer deals closing, lower leverage and patient sellers
32:34 Why Borgman fishes in second-tier cities
36:17 Deal flow: 1,500 deals a year, 2-minute financial test and what they actually buy
40:49 Adding 500k-1M of extra equity to protect against surprises
54:44 Risks of raising from regular investors
58:59 When to sell

Follow Mikk/PrivateEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.