Inside the Med Spa Roll-Up: How Cosmetic Physician Partners Built a Founder-Owned Platform Without Private Equity
In this episode of Office Hours for Practice Owners, host Justin Marti of Marti Law Group sits down with Daniel Schacter, CEO of Cosmetic Physician Partners (CPP), and Sean Walsh, VP of Partnerships, to unpack what actually happens when a med spa owner partners with a platform.
Daniel, an Oxford MBA who spent his early career at Deloitte and McKinsey before founding multiple companies valued at over half a billion dollars, built CPP with a clear vision: scale a provider-led organization that lets practice owners retain control, unlike most private equity-backed platforms in medical aesthetics.
Sean, also an Oxford MBA and former Boston Consulting Group consultant, joined Daniel in 2022 and has since become a household name in the industry, working directly with physician-owners to enter mutually successful partnerships with CPP. Together, they share the origin story of a platform now operating 75+ locations with no private equity dollars on its cap table, and walk through the realities of multiples, cultural fit, and the advisor decisions that make or break a deal.
If you're a practice owner thinking about a transaction in the next year or the next five, this episode is a practical map of what to look for, what to avoid, and what really drives valuation.
WHAT YOU'LL LEARN IN THIS EPISODE
* Why the cheapest legal bill in an M&A deal often comes from the most experienced lawyer, and how owners get burned by hiring family friends to negotiate transactions
* The real multiple ranges for single-clinic and multi-site med spas in 2026, and the specific factors that move you up or down the band
* How CPP screens partners using a rubric where financial performance is the fourth item on the list, and what comes first
* The unfair advantages that command premium valuations (hint: it's never price)
* Why opening a second location to chase a higher multiple often destroys value instead of creating it
* What "partner-owned" actually means when a platform has no private equity and no preferred shares in the stack
[00:00] Intro
[01:55] The Montreal building, a struggling dermatologist, and the accidental founding of CPP
[06:42] What "partner-owned" actually means, and why there's no PE on the cap table
[09:48] The No Asshole Policy and why every CPP doctor has a veto on new partners
[11:01] The rubric: why financials are the fourth thing CPP evaluates, not the first
[13:11] Staff turnover as the hidden culture metric every buyer reads
[18:20] Buy-out vs. buy-in: the mindset shift owners get wrong
[25:51] The "education tax", why hiring the wrong lawyer is the most expensive mistake in a deal
[30:30] Multiples decoded: the 5x–8x range for single clinics and what moves the needle
[33:04] Why a second location can earn a negative multiple
[37:05] What to look for in a partner when every good offer lands in the same range
RESOURCES MENTIONED
* Cosmetic Physician Partners (CPP): https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com [https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com]
* Victoria Park Medispa (CPP's Canadian sister brand): https://vicpark.com [https://vicpark.com]
* McKinsey & Company: https://www.mckinsey.com [https://www.mckinsey.com]
* Boston Consulting Group (BCG): https://www.bcg.com [https://www.bcg.com]
* University of Oxford: https://www.ox.ac.uk [https://www.ox.ac.uk]
* Skytale Insights Podcast (Skytale Group): https://skytalegroup.com/podcast/ [https://skytalegroup.com/podcast/]
* American Med Spa Association (AmSpa) — Medical Spa Show: https://www.medicalspashow.com [https://www.medicalspashow.com]
CONNECT WITH DANIEL SCHACTER
Daniel Schacter is the CEO of Cosmetic Physician Partners. After earning his MBA from Oxford, Daniel spent years consulting at McKinsey and Deloitte before moving into COO and CEO roles. He founded CPP with the vision of scaling a provider-led organization that lets clinicians retain control, a deliberate alternative to private equity-backed platforms in medical aesthetics. CPP has since scaled to 75+ locations and counting.
* Website: https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com [https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com]
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-schacter-20782221/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-schacter-20782221/]
* Email (Partnerships): partnerships@cppclinics.com [partnerships@cppclinics.com]
CONNECT WITH SEAN WALSH
Sean Walsh is VP of Partnerships at Cosmetic Physician Partners. An Oxford MBA grad, Sean spent time in investment banking and consulting at Boston Consulting Group before joining Daniel to accelerate CPP's growth in 2022. He has since become a trusted voice in medical aesthetics, working directly with physician-owners to structure mutually successful partnerships with CPP.
* Website: https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com [https://cosmeticphysicianpartners.com]
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfwalsh/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sfwalsh/]
* Email (Partnerships): partnerships@cppclinics.com [partnerships@cppclinics.com]
CONNECT WITH JUSTIN MARTI
* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmarti [https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmarti]
* Email: justin@martilawgroup.com [justin@martilawgroup.com]
* Website: https://martilawgroup.com [https://martilawgroup.com]
