Boring Businesses

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

In this interview I chat with logistics entrepreneur Craig Fuller, who owns a data company and dozens of media properties related to logistics and transportation. Over the last few years, he's acquired a portfolio of print magazine publications, including Flying Magazine. But his business model isn't just selling ads; its capturing an interested audience and selling them what they really want directly. One of those things is a fly-in/fly-out community in Tennessee with a runway, resort, several homes, and offices. Take a listen to hear how Craig makes acquisitions, how he raises money in a unique way, and why his partnership with Kim Kardashian didn't work out. 2:27 Craig's businesses and team 11:03 How to raise money and finance acquisitions in a unique way 17:40 Craig's portfolio of companies, real estate, and investments 19:50 The media business model - How magazines actually make money 28:40 The influencer business model, Kim Kardashian's credit card, and the economics of owning a magazine 46:00 Buying traditional publishing companies - Sieva's purchase of Scribe 49:50 Building a resort and pilot community 54:30 Is Craig the next secretary of transportation?

Mike Beckham built Simple Modern into a $200 million/year e-commerce brand. I chat with him about how he got started, another business ventures he had (including talking his brother out of buying $1 million of Bitcoin in 2012). Mike teaches entrepreneurship and business to students and others, so watch this entire episode if you want to start a business. Mike will show you the way! 0:00 Intro 5:17 How did Mike become an entrepreneur? 9:10 Mike's entrepreneurship lessons 18:22 Entrepreneurial parenting 22:31 How to start a business 25:48 His brother's auction website ($1 billion in sales) 32:38 Almost inventing Candy Crush 35:15 Amazon suspending his account 42:06 How Simple Modern changed over the last 4 years 43:58 Treating employees well 59:04 Who does Mike look up to? 👉 Connect with Sieva Website: www.sievakozinsky.com X: twitter.com/SievaKozinsky LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/skozinsky/ Substack: www.thebusinessacademy.substack.com/ 👉 Connect with Mike X: https://x.com/mikebeckhamsm Company: https://www.simplemodern.com/

In today’s episode Boring Businesses, I’m joined by Khai Nguyen, Founder of Powers Gymnastics, the largest multi-vertical acquisition firm in U.S. youth sports, and investor in several companies like OpenSea, Kraken Digital Asset Exchange, and Ignite Tournaments. Khai shares insights from his journey from working on Wall Street to buying and operating 20+ businesses, his approach to building rapport with business owners, and how he built an empire of gymnastics studios across the United States.  Timestamps: 00:00 Khai’s journey from homeless to business owner 05:29 Going into Wall Street 08:25 Transitioning to entrepreneurship 10:30 How to build rapport with business owners 15:50 What worked and what didn’t work for Khai 20:31 How Khai came up with the idea for Powers Gymnastics 26:10 Scaling the gymnastics business 33:50 Launching the Ninja Warrior program 37:00 Biggest lessons from growing a business  👉 Connect with Sieva Website: www.sievakozinsky.com X: twitter.com/SievaKozinsky LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/skozinsky/ Substack: www.thebusinessacademy.substack.com/  👉 Connect with Khai Instagram: www.instagram.com/passportkhai/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nguyenkhai/