Lytt til Business Buying Academy

I sit down with Founder & CEO of Vesto, Benjamin Doepfner, a service we use at Enduring Ventures. We had a huge problem: Our controller had to spend hours logging into dozens of bank portals just to get the cash balances across several accounts for our 25+ businesses. That time could have been much better spent. That's where Vesto comes in. They give you all of your company's financial accounts in one view. Vesto connects all of our banks into one simple dashboard. With real-time balances, transactions, and cash flow monitoring – we went from dozens of account logins to one. Learn more here: https://www.vesto.com/sieva (Tell them I sent you) Thank you to Vesto for sponsoring the Business Buying Academy.

I chatted with Brian Wolfe, an expert on M&A from all levels - he worked as a partner at a big law firm for 17 years, helping to close huge deals. Now he's in the world of ETA (entrepreneurship through acquisition). He helps searchers get started, and he's bought some businesses himself - including a rollup of marketing SaaS businesses. Brian gives a masterclass on buying businesses. Highlights: 0:58 Going from lawyer to investor 9:25 Rolling up marketing software businesses 19:33 Selling the rollup 26:51 Earnouts in M&A (good or bad idea?) 33:18 Multiple expansion is the 8th wonder of the world 36:43 Personal guarantees 42:20 Sieva's first deals 44:12 Brian's current business, Funded Ventures Connect with Sieva: X: https://x.com/sievakozinsky [https://x.com/sievakozinsky] LinkedIn:   https://linkedin.com/in/skozinsky  [https://linkedin.com/in/skozinsky ] Newsletter: https://sievakozinsky.com [https://sievakozinsky.com] Connect with Brian LinkedIn:   https://linkedin.com/in/brianwolfe [https://linkedin.com/in/brianwolfe] Website: https://fundedventures.com [https://fundedventures.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]

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/