RolyPoly

Sam Turner's first acquisition went to zero. Here's how he rebuilt a £30M portfolio — self-funded, no PE.

Sam Turner (Founder & Group CEO, Advantos Group) joins Dylan to discuss roll-up integration strategy, self-funding acquisitions, and what most operators miss in due diligence.

Topics covered:

1. Why keeping acquired businesses separate failed
2. The first acquisition disaster and what it taught him
3. Due diligence on people and culture vs financials
4. Building without institutional capital
5. Hiring the people who change everything

Roly Poly is the podcast about all things roll-up. New episodes every Tuesday.

Connect: pmistack.com | linkedin.com/in/dylan-harrocks

Roll-ups don't fail because of bad deals. They fail because finance can't keep up.

Pavleta Pavlova (Founder & CEO, PPHF) joins Dylan to discuss what actually breaks in a roll-up's finance function — and how to fix it before audit season.

Topics covered:

1. The most expensive mistake: not standardizing your chart of accounts early
2. Why a fractional CFO should start 30 days before your first deal closes
3. The 30-60-90 day financial integration framework
4. When to move from Xero/QuickBooks to an ERP
5. Handling change resistance in acquired finance teams

Roly Poly is the podcast about all things roll-up. New episodes every Tuesday.

Connect: pmistack.com | linkedin.com/in/dylan-harrocks

87% of deal failures are cultural. So why does nobody measure it before closing?

Simone Vascotto (Founder, Humanaq) joins Dylan to discuss why M&A culture assessments are broken — and how AI-powered behavioral analysis is changing the game for acquirers and roll-ups.

Topics covered:

1. The invisible culture that kills deals — and how to surface it
2. Why "assuming" is the #1 post-merger integration mistake
3. How five open-ended questions can reveal execution risk in under 10 days
4. The tea tray story: a small cultural symbol that triggered a company-wide revolt
5. When cultural due diligence matters — and when it doesn't
6. Cross-border culture clashes and how to navigate them

Roly Poly is the podcast about all things roll-up. New episodes every Tuesday.

Connect: pmistack.com | linkedin.com/in/dylan-harrocks