Permanent Podcast: Real Talk About Private Equity and Buying, Selling, and Operating Small Businesses

Companies don't stay small on purpose. So how can you scale faster? Anu Hariharan (Gusto, Instacart) discusses the growing pains of going from start-up to success, how to grow as a builder and a manager, the importance of ruthless prioritization, and shares new technologies to help SMBs unlock their operations, and customer support.

LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE

Tech to help SMBs:

Brex https://www.brex.com

Stripe Atlas https://stripe.com/atlas

Gusto https://gusto.com/product

Amplitude https://amplitude.com

Mix Panel https://mixpanel.com

Live Flow https://www.liveflow.io

Keeper https://www.keeper.app

Plan Grid https://construction.autodesk.com/products/autodesk-plangrid-build/

Mutiny https://www.mutinyhq.com

Canva https://www.canva.com/

Other Mentions by Anu:

DoorDash https://www.doordash.com

Faire https://www.faire.com

NVIDIA https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/

Boom https://boomsupersonic.com

Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System by Satoshi Nakamoto https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

CONNECT

Learn more about Anu's role as Managing Director of YC Continuity Fund https://www.ycombinator.com/continuity

Anu on twitter https://twitter.com/anuhariharan

Anu on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/anuhariharan/

Brent on twitter https:/https://twitter.com/BrentBeshore

Brent on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brentbeshore

David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover

David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/

Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter

Sign up for a new daily newsletter from our very own Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Who Is Anu?

5:00 This One Time at Capital Camp

6:19 Characteristics of a Successful Founder

11:01 The Two Stages of Scaling

13:02 Biggest Mistakes Founders Make

17:12 Hiring From the Outside vs Internal Development

20:37 Learning How to Deal with People

20:04 Builders vs Managers

27:16 How to Hire a Builder

30:39 Why Do Companies Fail?

32:35 What Silicon Valley Has Lost

34:51 Dealing With Stress

37:22 What it Takes to Succeed

40:47 Helpful Tech for SMB

46:54 Emerging Technology

48:33 Lightning Round Hariharan Hot Takes

60:43 How to Win in 2023 and Beyond

64:24 What Drives You

66:36 Where We're Going

68:01 Legal Disclaimer

EPISODE CREDITS

Produced by David Cover

Intro music by David Cover, Andy Freeman, Rhett Johnson, & Andrew Luley

Outro music by Jees Guy

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one or more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.

Is 2023 a good time to sell a business? What is the market for a sale looking like in 2023 compared to the last few years? How does that inform what might lie ahead in the coming months or years? Tim Hanson and Emily Holdman talk about their perspective on the market and share why now is the best time to sell a company.

LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE

Instant Appraisal Tool https://www.permanentequity.com/instant-appraisal

Start a conversation with us https://www.permanentequity.com/sellers

Connect with Emily on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilyholdman/

Connect with Emily on twitter https://twitter.com/emilyleldridge

Connect with Tim on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothybhanson/

Connect with Tim on twitter https://twitter.com/timhanso

Sign up for a new daily newsletter from Tim Hanson, Unqualified Opinions: https://www.permanentequity.com/unqualified-opinions

Connect with David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover

Connect with David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/

Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more

Sign up for our weekly newsletter for operators, Permanent Playbook: https://www.permanentequity.com/newsletter

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:24 Market Conditions

5:38 Why 2023 is a Good Time To Sell

14:45 What Kind of Companies Do We Buy

16:40 Different Industry Conditions

19:00 You May Have a Business Model Problem

21:25 Reality Check

22:15 Should I Wait to Sell?

27:00 David Puts on His "Skeptical Skirt"

28:30 Why Do I Care Where You Get Your Money?

30:45 Conflict of Interest?

33:00 Instant Appraisal Tool

34:45 Privacy Concerns When Talking About My Business

39:22 What's the Deal Process Look Like?

41:14 Lawyer Jokes

42:03 Who Is Our Biggest Competitor?

42:50 What Comes Next

44:14 Tim's New Newsletter: Unqualified Opinions

EPISODE CREDITS

Produced by David Cover

Intro music by Andrew Camp, David Cover, Scott Johnson, Andrew Luley, & Dave Wilton

Outro music by Ghost Beatz

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one or more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.

How can you attract and retain top talent? What can small to medium size businesses learn from large companies? What challenges and opportunities lie ahead in this climate? Permanent Equity's Kelie Morgan and guest Ashley Day give some tips and insights on up-leveling your talent pipeline on this episode of 5 Minute Management.

EPISODE LINKS

Interested in working with Permanent Equity? Put yourself in orbit: https://www.permanentequity.com/the-orbit

Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more of this conversation.

Connect with Kelie on twitter https://twitter.com/keliemorgan

Connect with Kelie on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/keliemorgan

Connect with Ashley on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ashleykday/

Connect with David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover

Connect with David on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-cover-318752230/

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro

1:35 How Do You Attract Talent?

2:44 Who Are Your Competitors & What Are They Doing?

3:51 The Executive Recruiting Touch

5:24 Re-Recruiting Your Existing Team

7:03 Visit permanentequity.com for more of the conversation

7:52 Legal Disclaimer

EPISODE CREDITS

Produced by David Cover

Intro music by David Cover, Andy Freeman, & Wes White

Outro music by Daniele Musto

LEGAL DISCLAIMER

This podcast is made available solely for educational purposes, and the information presented here does not constitute investment, legal, tax or other professional advice, and should not be construed as an offering of advisory services, or as a solicitation to buy, an offer to sell, or a recommendation of any securities or other financial instruments. The thoughts and opinions expressed by or through this podcast are those of the individual guests and speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views of Permanent Equity. The discussion on this podcast of any entity, product or service does not imply an endorsement thereof, and the guests may have a financial interest, whether through investment or otherwise, in one more of any such entities, products or services. This podcast is presented by Permanent Equity and may not be copied, reproduced, republished or posted, in any form, without its express written consent.

Shane Parrish (The Knowledge Project & Farnam Street) explains why your New Year's resolutions won't last, the importance of ritual, and his most costly mistakes as an investor in the first episode of a new series on the Permanent Podcast called Outside Insights.

LINKS & MENTIONS FROM THIS EPISODE

Visit Shane's website https://fs.blog/

Shane mentions Buffet: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein (44:12).

Brent mentions Todd Peterson and Illuminations (31:22) https://illuminations.bible/

Follow Shane on twitter https://twitter.com/ShaneAParrish

Follow Brent on twitter https:/https://twitter.com/BrentBeshore

Follow David on twitter https://twitter.com/DavidACover

Visit https://www.permanentequity.com/ for more.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 Intro & About Shane Parrish

3:40 Meat and Greet

6:03 Why New Years Resolutions Always Fail

10:30 Ritual vs Discipline

13:59 From Intelligence to Knowledge

19:30 Two Kinds of Knowledge: Tactic and Perspective

22:31 Why Should People Care About Continuous Learning?

27:28 The Best Sources of Knowledge

33:06 What Should You Stop Doing?

36:47 A Good Position is Better Than A Good Decision

39:06 Efficiency vs Relationships

41:34 Shane the Investor

45:42 Biggest Mistakes You See New Investors Make

52:38 How Has Growing Your Resources Changed You?

55:07 What Would You Tell Your 30-Year-Old Self?

57:17 Five Minute Management & More Coming on the Permanent Podcast

Permanent Equity has published our 2022 Annual Letter. This conversation with Brent Beshore, Tim Hanson, & Mark Brooks dives deeper into some of the themes and topics explored in the letter: Lessons learned from 15 years of buying and operating small businesses.

Read the full letter here: https://www.permanentequity.com/letters

Contents:

0:00 Intro

1:25 Do We Feel Adequately Click-Baited?

2:40 Getting Older, Getting Better?

3:32 Biggest Challenges & Crying At Work

6:48 Summarizing 2022 In One Word

9:00 Wisdom Is Learning How Not to Do Something

11:09 How NOT to Buy A Company

14:10 How NOT to Be A Leader

15:50 What Are We Baking?

19:42 Sharing Our Returns

21:27 Investing in Crypto

22:54 Conservatism Vs Volatility

24:13 "Private Equity Makes Me Cringe"

26:11 Mid-Life Crisis?

28:04 Restructuring the Firm, New CIO

30:12 New CFO

32:12 New COO

33:16 Challenges in 2023

34:41 What Will You Write in the Annual Letter in 15 Years?

37:07 Send This to Someone

37:25 New Series Coming

Permanent Approach - Mark Brooks & Tim Hanson talk with David Cover about how they try to be less impressive and more helpful. What does it mean to be helpful, not impressive?

Audio Essay - There are thousands of service vendors ready to "solve your small business problems," and most of them are awful. Small businesses are frequently choosing from a combination of new and subpar options, often without much guidance. Selection bias is real: the best and most experienced typically don't work on smaller accounts. Here's how to find a better relationship and enforce partnership hygiene.

5 Minute Management with Mark Brooks. Odds are your To-Do List is full of great ideas. But the trick isn't just having great ideas, it's executing them. Mark Brooks talks about 8 ways to get stuff done.

Your team may have an asshole problem. How can you fix it? Brent Beshore tells David how things had gotten so bad in the early days of Permanent Equity that a No Asshole Policy had to be put in place.

Audio Essay: Everyone is looking for the key to sustained success: a lasting competitive advantage. But it's our experience and our belief that there's one competitive advantage that outshines the rest.