Business Buying Academy

I chatted with Jeremy Yamaguchi, an entrepreneur who's built many empires in home services: with home cleaning first, then lawncare, and now pool services. We talk about the economics of the home service business models he's worked in, how he acquires pool service companies, and how he's scaled to over $100 million in GMV. Watch this video if you want to build a home service empire. And if you're selling a pool company, contact Jeremy through his website cabanapools.com [https://cabanapools.com] 0:35 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=35s] Why Jeremy loves home service businesses 4:35 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=275s] Growing the lawn care marketplace 7:40 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=460s] How to grow home service businesses 16:54 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=1014s] AI in home services 18:31 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=1111s] Buying pool companies 23:50 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=1430s] Different home service verticals 28:02 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=1682s] Raising VC money 31:49 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fubaC0YhYlc&t=1909s] How much is a pool business worth? Connect with Sieva: X: https://x.com/sievakozinsky [https://x.com/sievakozinsky] Newsletter: https://sievakozinsky.com [https://sievakozinksy.com] Connect with Jeremy: X: https://x.com/jeremyyamaguchi [https://x.com/jeremyyamaguchi] Website:  https://cabanapools.com [https://cabanapools.com] - Want to hire top global talent? Get started with Somewhere (I'm a customer & investor) - https://hirewith.somewhere.com/sieva [https://hirewith.somewhere.com/sieva]

Today I sit down with Chris Edwards, who bought a flooring business in Steamboat Springs, Colorado. He bought the business for $1.7 million, grew revenue by 50%, and doubled SDE (seller discretionary earnings). He then exited the business after about 3 years, earning himself a 24X return on his invested capital (most of the deal was financed with SBA debt, so he was able to make a large return on his down payment). Highlights: 5:19 Getting into ETA 7:17 Chris' search criteria 9:54 How long did the search take? 13:56 Process of buying the business 17:04 Structure of the deal 20:21 How he improved the business 22:50 First 6 months was a knife fight 27:30 Why deals go bad 34:15 Exiting the business Connect with Sieva: X: https://x.com/sievakozinsky LinkedIn:   / skozinsky   Newsletter: https://sievakozinsky.com Connect with Chris: X: https://x.com/toph_edwards LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-edwards-44664052

Esteban Reyes talks with me about how he's built and sold 3 companies, and how he invests in other startups through his VC fund. His first business was a software company that helped banks identify fraud. He eventually signed over 400 banks as clients and sold the business - and he didn't even know what venture capital was when he started the business. 0:54 Becoming an Operator & Investor 4:31 Esteban's risk profile when investing 9:32 Going into a new industry (buying schools) 21:28 Economics of buying schools 33:02 Applying AI to roll-ups 43:21 AI for law firms - why it can't work Connect with Sieva: X: https://x.com/sievakozinsky LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/skozinsky Newsletter: https://sievakozinsky.com Connect with Esteban: X: https://x.com/57cap Website: https://www.zenda.vc/

Rafael Quinn is the co-founder of Alternative Holdings, a holding company with 9 portfolio companies in a variety of industries. In this interview, Rafael explains how he started a holdco by accident nearly 15 years ago. Rafael and his partner started by just buying one company, but soon found more attractive opportunities. 0:29 How he accidentally started a holding company 6:24 The first acquisition 9:25 Why not focus on one industry? 15:21 Structure of his HoldCo & how they get capital for deals 24:03 Investing criteria 33:30 Retaining the old owner 38:07 Restaurant companies 50:29 Plumbing companies Connect with Sieva: X: https://x.com/sievakozinsky Newsletter: https://sievakozinsky.com Connect with Rafael: X: https://www.alternativeholdings.com/ Website: https://www.alternativeholdings.com/

Today I speak with Moses Kagan, a real estate investor and operator in Los Angeles. Moses goes over some specific real estate deals he's done, including how he got started with a rundown, half-renovated apartment building in east Los Angeles. Moses manages hundreds of millions in real estate and has the battle scars to prove it. 0:00 Introductions 0:55 His first deal 12:35 How to find tenants 16:40 Quitting his job 27:20 Math on new acquisitions 30:20 Seeding new real estate operator 35:30 How much should you pay for a deal? 44:30 Your own capital vs. other people's money 1:05:40 One of Moses' first deal 1:17:10 Immigrant stories 👉 Connect with Sieva Website: www.sievakozinsky.com X: https://x.com/SievaKozinsky LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/skozinsky/ 👉 Connect with Moses Website: https://kagansblog.com/ https://x.com/moseskagan