This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*

This episode is brought to you by⁠⁠Boulay, the industry standard for Quality of Earnings, tax, and audit services, serving search fund entrepreneurs for 20+ years⁠⁠

*Raam Jani is one of the most experienced lawyers in the Search Fund ecosystem, and within the small business M&A ecosystem more broadly. In our discussion today, we cover some mechanics (including when one should begin the legal diligence process, how to avoid overwhelming sellers with too many information requests, and how he deals with situations where his legal counterpart is less experienced in matters of M&A). We cover frequent stumbling blocks within the M&A process (including how to evaluate the true extent of the key person risk that resides within any given seller, what areas of the purchase agreement tend to be most contentious, and why he advocates for rep & warranty insurance). And finally we conclude with some general market observations, including whether he thinks the lower middle market is as inefficient as it was 5-10 years ago.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠Boulay, the industry standard for Quality of Earnings, tax, and audit services, serving search fund entrepreneurs for 20+ years⁠

*

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*

As an American searcher, are you aware that you might be able to receive $10M+ of your exit proceeds completely free of federal tax? As a Canadian searcher, are you aware that you might be able to receive $1M+ of your exit proceeds completely free of federal tax? If you’re not, then you might want to give this episode a listen.

We split today’s episode into two parts: The first half will focus on US searchers and investors, and will explore the QSBS program (aka Section 1202) offered by the US federal government.

The second half (starting at the 47 minute mark) will focus on Canadian searchers and investors, and will focus on the CCPC program and the lifetime capital gains exemption offered by the Canadian federal government.

Both programs have the potential to be incredibly lucrative for searchers and investors alike, though both remain unfamiliar to many. I hope this episode plays a small role in changing that.

Timestamps

- USA: 0:00 - 47:00

- Canada: 47:00 - 1:11:00

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*

*

Dr. Daniel Crosby is a behavioral finance expert, the Chief Behavioral Officer at Orion Advisor Solutions, a Clinical

This episode is brought to you by Boulay, the industry standard for Quality of Earnings, tax, and audit services, serving search fund entrepreneurs for 20+ years

*

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*

The "long term hold” strategy is one that has received an increasing amount of attention within the acquisition entrepreneurship ecosystem of late. To further explore this thesis, I was joined by Zac Carman, CEO of ConsumerAffairs.com for 14+ years. In our discussion, we unpack Zac’s long-term-hold strategy and discuss the extent to which it was deliberate or emergent, how he has managed liquidity requirements for both himself and his investors, the commercial and personal reasons why a LTH strategy makes sense for him, and if he thinks it makes sense for an entrepreneur to target a LTH strategy before acquiring their first company.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

*

Archimedes said “Give me a lever long enough, and a place to stand, and I will move the earth.” Though the concept of leverage is most commonly associated with the use of debt to finance the acquisition or operations of a company, there are countless other forms of leverage that we ought to be aware of, given that all of us have to contend with the reality of finite time and resources. Instead of asking what else they should be doing to achieve their goals, entrepreneurs and investors might instead consider asking: “How can I magnify the impact of what I’m doing, without doing more of it?”. Today we explore 10 different forms of leverage, and provide a few ideas around practical application.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

*

Want to know what it's like to work with me as an investor? ⁠⁠⁠Check out our testimonials page here⁠⁠⁠.

*

Those who have never run a rapidly growing company are unlikely to appreciate the operational challenges associated with doing so. Indeed, while running my own company, I found our highest growth year to be the most difficult, both operationally and personally. We outgrew our systems, had to change our people, had to add entirely new departments, and I found that my own role as the CEO had to evolve both quickly and significantly.

To help us better understand the day-to-day realities associated with running a high-growth company, we're joined today by Anth Georgiades, co-Founder and CEO of Zumper, North America's largest apartment rental platform. Since it's founding in 2012, Zumper has grown revenue at triple-digit annual growth rates, and has raised over $150M in Venture Capital funding. Today, Zumper boasts over 250 employees, and 75 million active users.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

*

Want to know what it's like to work with me as an investor? ⁠⁠Check out our testimonials page here⁠⁠.

*

Franchise ownership is an entrepreneurial path that remains under-discussed and under-explored within the small business community. Yet, for the right person, it can represent a highly lucrative opportunity with several built-in risk mitigation mechanisms. My guest today, Michael Horowitz, acquired 7 Wingstop locations in 2018 and continued to grow his footprint over the next 5 years until a successful exit to a strategic acquirer in 2023. As we discuss in our conversation, the entrepreneurial gods don’t deduct any points for leveraging a business model that is proven to work.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠:

*

Want to know what it's like to work with me as an investor? ⁠Check out our testimonials page here⁠.

*

Back by popular demand today, for his second tour of duty on the podcast, is Brent Beshore. Brent is the Founder and CEO of Permanent Equity, a private investment firm that invests in Founder-owned small to medium sized businesses. Beyond his commercial acumen, one of the things that I most admire about Brent is how he takes a deeply personal approach to his work, utilizing tools and frameworks from disciplines like philosophy, psychology, and religion to inform how he thinks about conducting himself both personally and professionally. This is one of the reasons why a seemingly black and white conversation about investing went into domains like fear of failure, the source of our identities, and why young professionals ought to demonstrate more vulnerability, among other topics. My first conversation with Brent, published in November of 2022, was one of our most highly rated episodes, and something tells me that this one might even top it.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

*

Today's episode features five unrelated thoughts on how to lead and grow a healthy and vibrant company. None of them are long enough to justify a stand-alone blog post, but all of them are important enough to highlight for current and aspiring CEOs.

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The Profit Line: The Outsourced Finance & Accounting Department for Small and Medium Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

This episode is brought to you by ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Oberle Risk Strategies⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: Insurance Broker and Insurance Due Diligence Provider for Search Funds and Other Small-to-Medium-Sized Businesses⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Properly managing the relationship with the outgoing seller is likely to be among your most important tasks within your first 6 months as the new CEO. I say this because a non-functional (or worse, a toxic) relationship between the incoming and outgoing owners has the potential to damage a company more than customers leaving, employees quitting, or competitors fear-mongering ever could. To help us better understand the perspective of a selling Founder, I was joined this week by three founders, all of whom chose to sell their companies to a Search Fund within the past few years. Joining me today is Alicia Browner (Founder of Prelude), David Marshall (Founder of Performio), and Robert Day (Founder of Integrity Advocate).