Fede de la Balze is the Co-CEO at Staff Schedule Care and former VP at Pacific Lake Partners, a unique private equity firm specializing in entrepreneurship through acquisition (search funds). With extensive experience in pricing strategy for small and mid-sized businesses, Fede has been instrumental in developing pricing bootcamps for private equity portfolio companies. His journey from supporting searchers to becoming a CEO himself provides valuable insights into the intersection of pricing strategy and business acquisition.

In this episode, Fede shares his fascinating experience with search funds, the critical role of pricing in business valuation, and the unique challenges of implementing pricing strategies as a first-time CEO. Together with Mark, they explore how pricing power indicates business quality, the importance of incremental testing over analysis paralysis, and the evolution of the search fund industry.

 

Why you have to check out today's podcast:

• Learn about the unique world of search funds and entrepreneurship through acquisition.
• Discover how pricing power serves as a key indicator of business quality and investment potential.
• Understand the practical challenges of implementing pricing strategies as a new CEO.

 

"Come up with something that's a little bit better than what you have and put it in front of someone and test it. I think that's worth a lot." 

– Fede de la Balze

 

Topics Covered:

01:41 – What is Pacific Lake Partners and how search funds differ from traditional private equity

04:15 – The story that sparked the need for pricing bootcamps in the search fund world

06:33 – Why pricing isn't just about changing numbers - it's about market segmentation and value delivery

08:20 – Who owns pricing in small and mid-sized businesses

09:49 – How pricing power became a key criteria in Fede's business search process

13:22 – The reality of being a searcher - "like floating in midair" with binary outcomes

17:16 – Why the search fund industry is becoming oversaturated with email outreach

18:42 – The three types of knowledge every new CEO must master

21:02 – Dealing with legacy pricing decisions and constraints as a new business owner

 

Key Takeaways:

"If you don't think there's a pricing opportunity, it's probably not a good business to buy. Not because you're going to depend on pricing to grow the business necessarily, but because if you don't think there's a pricing opportunity, there's probably not enough value differentiation." – Fede de la Balze

"The CEO needs to think and understand that this is their calling. No one's going to figure this out other than them." – Fede de la Balze

"Pricing is not a one-time event. It's how you think about how you're adding value and you should continually be thinking and tweaking your pricing model as you go to align with value." – Fede de la Balze

 

Resources and People Mentioned:

• Pacific Lake Partners: https://www.pacificlake.com/
• Staff Schedule Care: https://www.staffschedulecare.com/
• Impact Pricing Bootcamps: https://impactpricing.com/value-optimization-bootcamp/

 

Connect with Fede de la Balze:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/federico-de-la-balze-7387a42a/ 

 

Connect with Mark Stiving:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stiving/
• Email: [email protected]