Minds Capital Podcast

HKW is a 123-year-old firm (!!). First an investment bank, then a PE investor across 5 funds, and now an independent sponsor with 5 new platforms in the last 18 months. Ted Kramer is the CEO of this venerable institution, and he shares why thae history matters as they've converted 180 completed buy-side transactions and 25,000 tracked deals into pattern recognition.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Ted Kramer | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

After decades at Arthur Andersen and Grant Thornton, Lou Grabowsky and his son Brian raised capital upfront to stand up the management company of Juniper Capital Manager before chasing the first deal. That meant people, process, credibility, and enough infrastructure to look like a real buyer from day 1.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Lou Grabowsky | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Houston-based Logan Walters founded Forge Equity in 2021 after a career in traditional private equity (focused on oil services). Dismayed by the limiting 5-year holds of conventional private equity, Logan and his partners have developed a strict preference for indefinite hold periods. We discuss how this affects deal screening and explore their dividend philosophies.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Logan Walters | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Christian Seale has built healthcare companies from every angle. As a healthcare VC, entrepreneur, and now founder of Despierta, Christian Seale combines VC, PE, and independent sponsorship into a single concept. He explains why buying businesses can be better than building from scratch, how Mexico became a laboratory for healthcare innovation, and why Miami has emerged as one of the world's most attractive cities for entrepreneurs.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Christian Seale | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Jimmy Watson graduated during the 2009 financial crisis, which forced him to move back home to his parents' basement. Luckily he soon landed a job in FP&A at Raytheon, and later moved through roles in consulting and middle market banking before eyeing the independent sponsor model. He joined Clavis Capital Partners as an associate in 2018 and rose to Managing Director over the next 8 years.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Jimmy Watson | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Dan Chetrit was a traditional searcher, "stuck" in his first (well-performing) deal. That changed during COVID, when they successfully recapped the company. Rolling their carry back into the business gave them majority control, removed the full-time attention clause, and let them start building a portfolio instead of staying tied to a single company. Since then, they’ve added ~1 new platform per year while building a sourcing engine that aims at making them a top-decile independent sponsor.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Dan Chetrit | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

After a distinguished career at BCG and as an executive in retail, Richard Baum was directed to the deal-by-deal model amid fundraising woes in the mid-2000s. Today he's viewed as one of the pioneers of the independent sponsor model, building Consumer Growth Partners around deep sector expertise. Over 20 years, he helped turn the independent sponsor ecosystem, previously mostly known for its lack of committed capital, into the dominant buyer of lower-middle market companies in North America.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Richard Baum | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Jim Bolduc operates the independent sponsor arm within his family's Family Office. As a former investment banker at Merrill Lynch, Jim walks us through the nuances of their approach, which includes a focus on the retail industry built on decades of entrepreneurial experience.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Jim Bolduc | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Bruce Lipian just wanted to keep doing deals after his committed fund was fully deployed. At a New York conference, someone called him “fundless.” A few drinks later, the group landed on a better term: independent sponsor. The name stuck. So did the model.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Bruce Lipian | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov

Jim Tapp started his career at Mobil Oil, with a mortgage that kept him in the rat race. Then he met a blue-collar business owner with a giant yacht in his Newport Beach backyard. Shortly after, Jim Tapp moved his family with 5 kids back to Atlanta and got into the lower-middle market M&A game. After decades with funds and deal-by-deals, he now partners with two of his sons as an independent sponsor.

References and how to contact today's guest:
Jim Tapp | LinkedIn

Minds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.

Connect with Minds:

• See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
• Connect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas James
• Visit Minds Capital

Credits:

• Edited by Anton Rohozov