PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)
@PrivatEquityGuy • 58,667 subscribers
Host of Buyers & Builders podcast | Investing in profitable businesses. Tweets about the process.
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New episode on the book The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital: Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing Joseph Rice, co-founder of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Warren Hellman, co-founder of Hellman & Friedman I explore the ideas, decisions, successes and failures of two people who helped define modern private equity. Timestamps: 0:00 The Masters of Private Equity 2:15 Private equity is more than buying and selling companies 5:42 What separates the best private equity investors 7:14 Joseph Rice: Building Clayton, Dubilier & Rice 10:13 Jack Welch’s advice during the 2008 crisis: “Hammer them” 15:23 The failed deal that changed how Rice invested forever 19:28 Lexmark: Turning an IBM division into an entrepreneurial company 22:06 Kinko’s, a total loss, and the danger of believing you can do anything 26:20 Joseph Rice’s five lessons from 40+ years in private equity 31:03 Warren Hellman: Building Hellman & Friedman 32:23 “This time is different” — the investing lesson Hellman never forgot 36:35 Every investment is guilty until proven innocent 39:51 Think like an owner, not an employee 42:38 Levi Strauss and the deal that put Hellman & Friedman on the map 45:34 Why a great security can still be a terrible investment 49:08 Warren Hellman’s five rules for investing
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)207,904 views • 17 days ago
Nathan rolled up 11 tiny (<$1M EBITDA) HVAC companies, paying low 3x multiples. Now PE is interested in buying the group, and Nathan is already planning to do it all over again. “I see a lot of opportunity in taking these really small mom-and-pop shops and building them up to the lower end of what a PE firm would be interested in acquiring. You can pick them up at 3x, sell them at 10x and repeat that process over and over.” But this story almost ended before it began... After acquiring his first two companies with an SBA loan, Nathan watched revenue collapse, burned through his cash, nearly lost his father's retirement savings and came dangerously close to bankruptcy. The turning point was a complete rethink of incentives, compensation and how to build an acquisition platform that actually compounds. Give it a listen. I hope you appreciate Nathan Lindley extreme transparency on everything, even him sharing how he overcame daily stress through drinking and how, to this day, he is still paying down his SBA note of $8,500 a month… Year six of 10 years on that. It’s very hard out there. Timestamps: 0:00 Nathan's 11 acquisitions and $16M run-rate HVAC platform 0:25 From the first deal in 2020 to acquisition #11 1:24 From book publishing to buying HVAC businesses 3:55 Selling real estate to fund the first acquisition 4:33 Buying a one-technician HVAC company—and the costly assumptions that followed 7:58 Losing 40% of revenue almost immediately after closing 10:26 Acquisition #2 makes every problem much bigger 11:20 Running out of cash—twice 14:18 The decision to put everyone on commission 15:15 Every employee quits on the same day 16:21 The Indeed hire who changed the entire business 18:59 Fear, alcohol and nearly going bankrupt 23:13 One technician outperforms the rest of the company 25:52 Why Nathan waited a full year before doing acquisition #3 27:00 Acquisitions #3 and #4—and buying businesses the second time around 28:46 How his M&A due diligence completely changed 29:30 The "buying at-bats" framework for acquisitions 33:08 Why Lindley spends almost nothing on marketing 34:15 Turning acquired customer databases into new revenue 36:27 Hiring exceptional technicians and building repeatable systems 37:35 The company today: 50 employees across three markets 39:13 How Lindley integrates acquired businesses 42:38 Teaching acquired technicians to double their income 43:17 The acquisitions that didn't work—and why 46:47 Planning an exit and doing it all over again 49:04 Where to connect with Nathan
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)137,437 views • 2 months ago
Ramsey Sahyoun is the Co-Founder of Evergreen, one of America’s most interesting acquisition machines. He and Jeff Totten started the firm when they were 25 and 27 years old. Today, they’ve acquired over 160 companies and completed 47 acquisitions in 2025 alone. The portfolio does $1.5 billion in sales and $250 million in EBITDA. We discuss: - Why they chose MSPs - The lessons from their first acquisition - What went wrong with an early roll-up attempt - How they built a proprietary sourcing engine - Why 80% of their deals are proprietary - How talent, goal setting, and value creation became central to Evergreen’s operating system Enjoy! Timestamps: 0:00 Evergreen’s scale and long-term hold model 2:06 Discovering private equity and buying private companies 4:14 Meeting Jeff Totten at Alpine Investors 5:53 First acquisition and current portfolio 10:23 Leaving Alpine and starting young 12:18 The first 6-18 months after closing 13:15 What went wrong with an early MSP roll-up 18:44 Building Evergreen’s sourcing engine 23:07 The value of having a large acquisition database 26:09 How to build trust with business owners 34:02 Evergreen’s M&A, talent, and playbook flywheel 41:54 Lessons from 160 acquisition post-mortems 44:22 Setting big goals and planning backward 47:16 One-page plan and quarterly renewals 48:53 What Evergreen learned from Alpine and Graham Weaver 51:27 How Ramsey and Jeff’s roles changed as Evergreen scaled 54:21 What people misunderstand about Evergreen 56:48 Closing thoughts from Ramsey
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)226,463 views • 3 months ago
. Vic Keller has built, bought, and scaled 17 companies, completed 9 exits (3 of them to Berkshire Hathaway). He also scaled the largest manufacturer in the car wash industry. Today, he manages it all with just 9 people on the team. I hope you enjoy listening and learn a lot. Show notes: 0:00 Deal-by-deal vs fund life 3:48 Operator Mindset in the lower middle market 8:10 Buffett lessons 18:36 Car wash playbook 23:46 Holdco structure 27:50 Recruiting A-players 32:17 Co-invest partners 36:22 Bigger deals 39:28 Debt vs equity 42:06 Founders: recap vs sell to PE 48:04 ETA/Search funds: post-close risk 55:10 People and investing in yourself
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)369,268 views • 6 months ago
He’s back! He’s 30 now and, since our last conversation, has gone from being semi-retired to now retired, as his investments are doing well. He worked for a NY-based hedge fund/family office. We discussed how he and his boss analyzed over 60 industries, the companies he looked at, and the investments he made. The best part about this conversation is that it shows how he thinks and analyzes companies and industries. (A very clear thinker, for sure!) To sum up, the game of investing and buying high-quality businesses is simple when you focus on the basics. Enjoy. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 1:43 Defining retirement: cost of living vs net worth 3:04 Immigrant upbringing & discovering value investing 4:40 From NYU to Wall Street & joining a family office 7:58 Learning to analyze businesses & six key questions 10:33 Carvana deep dive: customer experience, lending & unit economics 17:03 Filtering noise, short reports & thinking in 10-year terms 22:21 Studying great long-term hedge funds & idea sourcing via 13F filings 25:17 Sponsor: CapitalPad - a marketplace for small business deals 26:19 What really matters: returns, time horizon & simple return math 36:16 When to sell: being wrong, better opportunities & thesis playing out 43:21 Leaving Wall Street for Buddhism 48:41 Enlightenment, meditation & inner transformation 55:21 Blending investing with spirituality
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)491,644 views • 9 months ago
My conversations with Frederik Brandis, one of the key minds and early investors behind Arsipa, which built a platform through 40 acquisitions and had a $150M exit to Warburg Pincus just three years after its founding. We discuss what separates AAA entrepreneurs from everyone else, why emotional intelligence matters more than pedigree, how Frederik evaluates founders before they've built anything and why buy-and-build remains one of the most attractive opportunities in investing. We also explore: - What makes an exceptional buy-and-build entrepreneur - The biggest misconceptions about roll-ups and ETA - Lessons from scaling through 40 acquisitions - When to sell - and why leaving value for the next owner matters Enjoy! Timestamps 0:00 The gap in private equity that led to Aven Capital Partners 6:04 What makes a true "AAA Entrepreneur" 9:00 How Frederik evaluates founders before they've built anything 13:34 Is now still the best time for buy-and-build? 16:43 The Arsipa story: from first investment to major exit 20:20 Why Frederik chose investing over becoming a searcher 23:39 Biggest lessons after watching 40 acquisitions 27:00 Holding periods, exits & leaving upside for the next owner 32:50 Designing businesses that private equity actually wants to buy 37:16 How young entrepreneurs earn credibility without pedigree 43:25 Why many searchers and roll-up founders fail 46:06 Frederik vision for building operating system for buy-and-build
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)77,508 views • 1 month ago
Why private equity talent is quietly fleeing to smaller firms, search funds, and holdcos I talked to six-seven folks actively working at PE firms and a few who have left. Few takeaways: "Carry is stretched further across larger teams." “I didn’t join PE to be an operator” "Funds are taking twice as long to return capital." "Exits are unpredictable." “I was losing confidence that my carry would ever materialize.” TIMESTAMPS You will discover: 0:00 The quiet exodus inside private equity 1:45 Carry that never materializes 2:56 “I didn’t join PE to be an operator” 3:38 No real path to ownership 5:27 Where PE talent is going next
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)219,192 views • 8 months ago
So, this is one very great video for entrepreneurs, business builders, investors… and I think about it often. In 2012, Deadmau5 (the world famous DJ) listened to a random vocal that someone did on his track. He decided to give it a listen. 10 seconds in, the moment that changed the folk's life. Deadmau5 couldn’t keep his excitement in… “Motherf%cker…It is so good…I am impressed right here.” “It's got the theme and everything...he f%cking nailed it.” He has a big smile on his face and almost starts to cry. He listens another 2-3 times… “Let’s do it. I'm about to begin this man's whole career" “I’ll give you writing. I give you everything. Give your number. Dude let’s do it. That just made the track. That is amazing. It is really good.” He listens once again. “Done, let’s make it a track. My management listens to this — they're gonna sh%t themselves.” They then released the track and it blew up. Many say it’s Deadmau5’s best song. The beautiful moment in music history. This story I find so cool because it inspires other entrepreneurs to share what they build. We all can all connect with the fear of showing our work. It ain't easy. And to have unique skills like the artist on the video. Easy to copy, harder to have something unique. Don't waste hours on packaging. Spend time living an interesting life, so that you have something interesting to say. My point of sharing this video: Be proudly yourself and share your journey publicly. A LOT of people are interested in what you do. So you can become famous within your bubble. And a closed mouth doesn't get fed anyway. Once you share all your - wins / losses / learnings / lessons - you'll magically notice that the more content you create, the luckier you get. Your fans will know what articles to send you. What deals to invite you into. What event tickets to give you. What investor introductions to make. Only good things happen. So go for it.
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)204,555 views • 9 months ago
Excellent write-up. "Fired as banker. Then 90 deals and A$50m of EBITDA" Brett worked at several accounting firms and became frustrated by their management and ownership structures... left and launched his own. Brett Kelly initially expected to own 75% but changed the structure to 51% for Kelly+Partners and 49% for the local partner. An owner who wants to fully cash out will never take this deal, but those who want more upside will find that selling 51% makes total sense. It's important to add that KPG targets 35% subsidiary EBITDA margins, compared with an industry average of roughly 18% to 19%. Enjoy. Timestamps: 0:00 Brett Kelly's early years and losing his job at 22 3:57 Writing to 80 successful Australians while unemployed 9:13 The moment Brett decided to start his own firm 12:24 Launching Kelly Partners with a clear long-term vision 13:22 Inspired by Disney, McDonald's, Ritz-Carlton & Berkshire Hathaway 17:10 Choosing the right clients and creating a business system 18:36 The 204-step operating system behind Kelly Partners 19:01 The acquisition strategy: becoming #1 or #2 in local markets 24:05 Winning clients through a differentiated value proposition 28:27 Lessons learned from 95 acquisitions 29:06 Why the 51/49 ownership model works 31:39 What types of firms Kelly Partners acquires 32:59 Capital allocation and building a capital-efficient roll-up 34:30 Doubling profits after acquisitions: the biggest lever 35:18 AI, accounting, and the future of professional services 36:28 Permanent capital vs. traditional private equity 37:20 Brett's biggest challenge today: financing growth 37:53 Kelly Partners' 17-step hiring process 38:28 The future: building a global accounting platform 39:45 Focus, systems, and operating at world-class standards 41:17 Why passion and meaning matter in business 43:05 How accountants can genuinely improve people's lives 44:24 Final thoughts on leadership, culture, and making a difference 45:32 30% revenue CAGR, 35% book value growth & 90+ acquisitions
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)35,952 views • 1 month ago
My conversation with Eric. Him and Patrick Grove are building one of Southeast Asia's most interesting buy-and-build platforms. They've completed 14 acquisitions (eight in 12 months) while creating a permanent home for market-leading businesses across digital media, B2B exhibitions, and vertical software. We dive deep into capital allocation, decentralized operations, buy-and-build strategies and why live events may become even more valuable in the AI era. Enjoy! Timestamps: 0:00 Building Southeast Asia's serial acquirer 1:00 From failed startup to Catcha Digital 8:20 How Catcha Digital operates a decentralized holding company 13:05 Why 99 out of 100 acquisition opportunities get rejected 15:25 Lessons from Sweden's best serial acquirers 24:00 Why B2B trade exhibitions are exceptional businesses 28:40 The software acquisition strategy inspired by Constellation Software 30:15 The buy-and-build playbook behind Catcha Digital's growth 39:00 Learning from Danaher, Roper, Constellation & other compounders 43:50 Why live events become more valuable in an AI world 47:00 Working with Patrick Grove & building an acquisition machine 51:00 Capital allocation, going public & balancing long-term thinking with quarterly results
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)27,970 views • 1 month ago
My conversation with David Flickinger on how business owners, private equity professionals, and CEOs can move beyond using Claude and ChatGPT as simple productivity tools and begin building AI infrastructure that creates real enterprise value. “This $6.5M project estimate took AI 23 minutes to generate vs. one of our estimators over a week...the difference was $400. More proposals sent and more jobs won without hiring additional staff.” I told David that I expected this episode to be so practical on AI that everyone who listens and has a desire to double their $1-10M EBITDA business would immediately forward it to their co-founder, portco operator or CEO. I hope you enjoy it, learn a lot and most importantly, implement asap. Timestamps: 0:00 Introduction: Why Most Business Owners Use AI Wrong 1:20 David Flickinger's Journey from Marine Officer to AI Operator 6:48 ChatGPT/Claude vs Real AI Infrastructure 0:24 The Roofing Company AI Case Study 6:17 How AI Learns Decades of Business Experience 20:39 Human Oversight, Trust & AI Decision-Making 25:30 What Happens to Junior Employees in an AI World? 28:07 How AI Doubled Revenue Without Hiring More Staff 32:17 AI, Key-Man Risk & Higher Business Valuations 39:02 The Biggest Risks of Implementing AI 45:05 The First AI Project Every Business Owner Should Start
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)64,690 views • 2 months ago
Since founding the firm in 2006, Brett has completed more than 90 acquisitions, compounded revenue at over 30% annually and built a business expected to generate roughly $50 million in EBITA in 2026. My conversation with Brett Kelly, the founder and CEO of Kelly Partners Group. Enjoy. Timestamps: 0:00 Brett's early years and losing his job at 22 3:57 Writing to 80 successful Australians while unemployed 9:13 The moment Brett decided to start his own firm 12:24 Launching Kelly Partners with a clear long-term vision 13:22 Inspired by Disney, McDonald's, Ritz-Carlton & Berkshire Hathaway 17:10 Choosing the right clients and creating a business system 18:36 The 204-step operating system 19:01 The acquisition strategy: becoming #1 or #2 in local markets 24:05 Winning clients through a differentiated value proposition 28:27 Lessons learned from 95 acquisitions 29:06 Why the 51/49 ownership model works 31:39 What types of firms Kelly Partners acquires 32:59 Capital allocation and building a capital-efficient roll-up 34:30 Doubling profits after acquisitions: the biggest lever 36:28 Permanent capital vs. traditional private equity 37:20 The biggest challenge today: financing growth 37:53 Kelly Partners' 17-step hiring process 38:28 Building a global accounting platform 39:45 Focus, systems and operating at world-class standards 43:05 How accountants can genuinely improve people's lives 44:24 Final thoughts on leadership, culture, and making a difference 45:32 30% revenue CAGR, 35% book value growth & 90+ acquisitions
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)55,835 views • 2 months ago
Urs Wietlisbach from the Partners Group describes how they consolidated the property management industry. 478 acquisitions and counting, paying 4-6x EBITDA. Completing one acquisition per week. Earnings have grown from $150M to more than $460M. Even higher today.
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)21,199 views • 1 month ago
Imagine being in your early 30s, starting a private equity fund and raising $450 million as your first fund. All this with no prior track record and without your rich father or uncle. Years later, you own 90 companies, have $147 billion in AUM, your EBITDA is growing at 15% year-over-year, and only Thoma Bravo has outperformed you… 1. "Stock and bonds are boring, so we went into private equity." 2. "The concept of thematic research helps us find the best companies with the strongest tailwinds (returns could 6-7 times invested capital)." 3. "Step-by-step on we they took a $38M EBITDA business to $110M in EBITDA in 4 years." Here is my full research on a true king of private equity Mr. Urs Wietlisbach: 00:00 - Intro 01:05 - “Stock and bonds are boring, so we went into PE” 03:09 - When should one leave their job to start their business? 04:10 - Being scammed by a crazy German $120,000 in the early days 09:21 - Doing due diligence 582 days before the company is even for sale 14:03 - Better returns than Blackstone, Apollo, only Thoma Bravo have done better 15:24 - Thematic research allows them to find deals where they make 6-7 times their money 20:01 - CEOs are tied with shares and sometimes make triple-digit millions ($100m+ from a single investment)
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)265,657 views • 2 years ago
One of the most active roll-ups? Since leaving McKinsey, Luis and his team have done over 30 acquisitions (seven last December) by consolidating fire safety businesses. They do $8M+ in EBITDA, with the goal to double it over the next 12-18 months. Snow notes: 0:00 From rural Mexico to more than 30 acquisitions 4:00 Buy-and-build thesis 6:45 Funding the first deals 11:55 The 100-day integration playbook 19:00 Using AI to scale operations and service quality 32:05 Deal sourcing at scale without spam 37:05 Managing risk, customer concentration, and diligence 44:35 Takeaways for other buyers 53:00 Hold vs sell and capital discipline
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)83,199 views • 7 months ago
Millen Rastogi walked away from a career at Deutsche Bank to take over his mother’s struggling home care business in New York & Connecticut. A paper-based, compliance-heavy business that was barely surviving. He breaks down how he fixed the initial company and then executed 5 add-on acquisitions in 24 months, often at extremely attractive multiples, using a scrappy capital stack and heavy seller financing. All with the goal to (maybe) sell the platform at an 8-12x multiple to middle-market private equity. Show notes: 0:00 Millen Rastogi 1:05 From Deutsche Bank to home care 4:30 Walking into a mess 13:26 Funding the early years 19:54 Growth numbers + COVID hit 23:02 Margins and revenue 25:50 Building the platform 27:17 First acquisition 30:56 Seller financing playbook 36:35 The “silver tsunami” sellers 41:50 Second acquisition 51:48 70% seller-financed deal example 1:09:09 Learning M&A with AI + X
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)64,592 views • 6 months ago
Dear investor, If 30%+ IRR is your dream…stop everything and listen to this. Here's the secret to success from Uni of Wharton: „If I could come back (after death) I probably come back as a roll up specialist. Because some of the wealthiest people in the world did roll ups.“
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)95,351 views • 1 year ago
Special situations in the $1-15M EBITDA market. Timeless acquisition lessons after learning from Jeremy Giffon, who’s been part of at least 20 lower middle market acquisitions 1. Think beyond numbers. We once offerened $25 million and a Ferrari 488. 2. Best companies are getting paid an absurd amount of money for their words alone. 3. I want to buy from forced sellers, not willing sellers. 4. The best assets in the world are unloved, orphaned, and misunderstood. 5. If you’re doing deals just to stay busy, you’re going to underperform someone who waits for the fat pitch. 6. Leverage isn’t just financial. It can be social as well. 7. You don’t need to be a genius to win in investing. You just need to see the game differently than everyone else. (I kindly asked him to come on the podcast, and he said he is not doing these at the moment. I did the second-best thing and over the years listened to all his podcasts and researched his X account.) Show notes: 0:00 Special situations in the lower middle market 6:18 The perfect business is getting paid for your words and gaining access 9:44 Coordination problems and forced sellers create the best deals 11:44 Ghost ship companies and orphaned assets that VCs misunderstand 15:28 Patience and selectivity outperform constant deal activity 18:42 Negotiation and the $25m LOI with a Ferrari 488 21:19 Six unconventional truths about making better business decisions
PrivateEquityGuy (Mike Markus)36,865 views • 7 months ago
My conversation with Jeremy Yamaguchi on how he acquired 10 companies in 18 months. Jeremy has previously built, scaled, and exited three home services businesses: 1. Golden Shine (housekeeping) - bootstrapped, sold to a private equity firm in his early 20s 2. Lawn Love (lawn care) - scaled to 120 cities / 40 states, ca 7,000 field techs, sold after 8 years 3. Now Cabana - building the first national pool services brand, blending M&A + software + local ops I hope you enjoy, and learn a lot. Show notes: 0:00 How Jeremy built and exited 3 home services businesses 5:48 Why “boring” home services were a massive tech opportunity 8:11 Why he chose venture for Lawn Love 12:41 Why home services are still wildly fragmented and why most founders misunderstand the space 17:36 Game selection 27:23 Cabana thesis 34:48 10 deals in 18 months, 4x YoY growth 59:45 Only buy from good-faith sellers
PrivateEquityGuy (Mikk Markus)35,685 views • 7 months ago