Buyers and Builders

PrivateEquityGuy
  • 4.7 (15)
  • Entrepreneurship
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The Buyers and Builders podcast with PrivateEquityGuy is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about holding companies, buying and building businesses, entrepreneurship, investing, and more. Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

  1. Oct 21

    How I Invested in 150+ Companies and Built a $2B AUM Private Equity Firm | James Andersen Interview

    What does it really take to build a successful private equity firm from scratch, and what can 30 years and more than 150 transactions teach you about investing? I sit down with James Andersen, co-founder of Clearview Capital, a lower middle market private equity firm managing approximately $2 billion in assets, to unpack the journey of building the firm since 1999. James shares how Clearview navigated difficult early investments, turned one healthcare investment into a 29x return and developed an investment philosophy built around backing exceptional people. We also explore why the golden era of private equity may be over, the hidden costs of ambition, and James's decision to step back from day-to-day leadership to invest his own capital and pursue a new chapter. We discuss: - What it really takes to build a private equity firm from scratch. - How Clearview survived an early investment that nearly went to zero. - The story behind a 29x return in healthcare. - Why great people matter more than great business models. - The costly lessons of partnering with the wrong founder. - How Clearview creates value without relying on financial engineering or cost-cutting. - Why incentives often fail to motivate management teams. - Why 40 years of falling interest rates created an illusion of private equity outperformance. - Where James still sees opportunities in the lower middle market. - Why humility, transparency, and self-awareness matter when evaluating founders. - How James thinks about deploying his own capital and backing the next generation of entrepreneurs. - The trade-offs between ambition, family, and building a life well lived. Guest: James Andersen is the co-founder of Clearview Capital, a Connecticut-based private equity firm founded in 1999. Over its history, Clearview has completed more than 150 transactions and grown to approximately $2 billion in assets under management. James has recently stepped back from day-to-day leadership to focus on investing his own capital, advising entrepreneurs, and writing about business, investing, and life through his Substack, You Read It Here. Are you interested in sponsoring the Buyers & Builders Podcast? Please email Mikk Markus at mikk@privatequityguy.com. Let's Stay Connected (Mikk Markus): X/Twitter: @PrivatEquityGuy LinkedIn: Mikk Markus Stay Connected with James Andersen: LinkedIn: James Andersen The Firm: https://www.clearviewcap.com/ SubStack: https://substack.com/@youredithere TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Building Clearview Capital: 27 Years and 150+ Deals 02:04 The Hidden Price of Ambition and Success 07:05 The Experience That Changed James's Approach to Failure 09:38 Why He Walked Away to Start His Own Firm 16:41 The $155M Deal That Proved Clearview Could Succeed 18:37 How Their First Investment Nearly Went to Zero 24:25 The Cost of Partnering With the Wrong Founder 29:25 Inside Clearview's Extraordinary 29x Return 32:49 Why Private Equity Is Ultimately a People Business 35:44 The Difference Between Rewards and Incentives 38:58 Why Great PE Firms Build Businesses Instead of Cutting Costs 42:08 The Great Private Equity Illusion: Why There Will Be Blood 47:29 Why James Stepped Back and How He'll Invest His Own Capital #privatemarkets #privateequity #fundraising #familyoffice  This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    How I Invested in 150+ Companies and Built a $2B AUM Private Equity Firm | James Andersen Interview

  2. Oct 19

    How Marc Stad Raised $180M and Grew Dragoneer to $40 Billion in AUM

    At 27, he had $0 in assets under management. By 32, he had raised $180 million. Today, Marc Stad's Dragoneer Investment Group manages over $40 billion. How did he do it? From getting rejected by TPG to being mentored by its legendary co-founder, David Bonderman, pitching Jeff Bezos in a bathroom, turning a $1 million investment into $4 million, and assembling a multibillion-dollar Uber deal with Warren Buffett, Marc Stad's story is a masterclass in ambition, persistence, relationships, and creative dealmaking. In this episode of Buyers and Builders, we break down the extraordinary career of Dragoneer's founder, the principles behind his investments in companies like Uber, Airbnb, Spotify, and Meta, and what entrepreneurs, investors, and business buyers can learn from his approach. The biggest lesson? Your current resources don't define the size of your opportunities. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The $12 Billion Uber Deal: Marc Stad's Extraordinary Story 3:44 From $180 Million to $40+ Billion: Building Dragoneer 7:22 The Inner Flame: From a Difficult Childhood to Harvard 9:23 Breaking the Rules: How Marc Got Into TPG After 25 Rejections 0:59 Creating Your Own Luck: The Jeff Bezos Bathroom Story 12:53 Turning $1 Million Into $4 Million With MercadoLibre 14:34 The Power of Mentorship: David Bonderman and the $5 Million IOU 17:25 Finding Opportunities Others Don't See 19:04 Lessons in Ambition, Leverage, and Building Great Businesses 20:34 Building Relationships Before You Need Them This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    How Marc Stad Raised $180M and Grew Dragoneer to $40 Billion in AUM

  3. Oct 12

    He's 30, Raised $25 Million, and Bought Two Boring Businesses | Giuseppe Balzano Interview

    What does it take to acquire companies, build a serial acquisition platform, and never sell? My guest today is Giuseppe Balzano, founder of Novaterra, an Italian permanent capital holding company acquiring niche industrial businesses with defensible technology and intellectual property. At just 30, Giuseppe has secured $25 million in equity commitments, pursued two acquisitions, and set out to build an industrial group that could endure for generations. We discuss why Italy's overlooked industrial champions present an extraordinary opportunity, how to find businesses with near-monopoly positions, the realities of raising permanent capital, and why patience may be the greatest competitive advantage in investing. We also explore Giuseppe's unconventional journey from venture capital to business ownership, his approach to acquiring and operating companies, and his ambition to build something his children might one day own. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Building a company he never wants to sell 3:56 The mentor who shaped his long-term thinking 7:20 Why he left venture capital to build something permanent 9:42 Why Italy's industrial businesses are overlooked 12:29 Solo founders, co-founders, and playing the long game 15:05 How he learns and makes investment decisions 18:29 Inside his first two industrial acquisitions 23:37 The next acquisition: water management 24:25 Growing businesses without chasing growth 29:44 Finding acquisition targets other buyers miss 34:14 How to win the trust of family business owners 40:07 The brutal reality of raising $25 million 44:22 The numbers behind his fundraising process 48:12 Deal structuring: debt, equity, and ownership 50:09 Managing acquisitions without replacing CEOs 57:22 Founder incentives and building an ownership culture 1:02:49 Why finding great people is harder than finding deals 1:05:11 Building a legacy despite the odds 1:10:49 The road to a self-funding industrial compounder This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    He's 30, Raised $25 Million, and Bought Two Boring Businesses | Giuseppe Balzano Interview

  4. Oct 3

    I Met Roll-Up and Serial Acquisition Outliers. Here’s What I Learned

    What does it actually take to build a world-class roll-up? After spending a day at the RollUpEurope Serial Acquirers Summit with some of Europe’s most active serial acquirers, we break down the operating playbooks behind groups that have completed hundreds of acquisitions—and the lessons that matter whether you’re pursuing acquisition #1 or #50. This episode covers how great acquirers choose markets, build proprietary deal flow, win sellers without simply paying the highest price, keep founders engaged after closing, integrate without destroying what made a business special, and eventually turn a collection of companies into an institutional platform. The examples are remarkable: one group has acquired roughly 680 pharmacies. Evergreen has completed roughly 160 acquisitions. Another platform deliberately stopped acquiring for nearly a year after its first two deals because the founders wanted to understand the operating model before scaling it. Later, they completed an additional 18 acquisitions. Roll-ups look like finance from a distance. Up close, they are a combination of sales, psychology, operations, hiring, negotiation, capital allocation, culture, and endurance. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Inside Europe’s most active roll-up builders 2:36 Find the pain you actually enjoy 6:11 Why the best roll-ups start extremely niche 7:22 Your acquisition pipeline is part of the research 9:23 Seller psychology: why the highest price doesn’t always win 11:58 Don’t scale a roll-up you don’t understand 13:09 M&A is not value creation 15:08 Integration, capital partners & building an institutional platform 18:54 Reputation as an economic asset 20:08 The roll-up flywheel This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    I Met Roll-Up and Serial Acquisition Outliers. Here’s What I Learned

  5. Sep 21

    A Private Equity Approach to Public Markets | Deiya and Dean Pernas Interview

    My guests today are Deiya and Dean Pernas, founders of Pernas Research, who have compounded capital at roughly 30% annually over the past nine years. We explore their private equity-like approach to public markets: understanding businesses from the inside out, judging management teams and capital allocation, and finding inflection points before they show up in the financials. We also discuss their “motor” investing framework, why trajectory matters more than absolute quality, lessons from poker and bankroll management, and how they think about position sizing, averaging down, and knowing when a thesis is broken. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 The opportunity in public markets 2:49 From poker and engineering to investing 6:08 Private equity lessons for public investors 11:35 The Motor investing framework 14:40 Finding potential before the numbers 17:02 When to sell 19:20 How to judge great CEOs 23:39 Capital allocation: good and bad 29:59 Trajectory over quality 33:32 Finding inflection points 36:45 Incentives and shareholder alignment 41:48 Poker lessons for portfolio management 45:16 Position sizing, averaging down, and surviving mistakes This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    A Private Equity Approach to Public Markets | Deiya and Dean Pernas Interview

  6. Sep 12

    How to Scale a Services Business Like a Tech Company | Sam Allsopp Interview

    My guest today is Sam Allsopp, co-founder of Neal Roofing and Waterproofing, a home services company he started with Andrew Neal in 2020 and has since grown from zero to roughly $50 million in annual revenue—all organically. What makes Sam’s story interesting is that he didn’t come from roofing. Before starting Neal Roofing and Waterproofing, he ran a marketing agency and worked with more than a dozen roofing companies, where he began to see firsthand why some contractors could turn leads into profitable growth while others struggled. That experience eventually became the foundation for Neal Roofing and Waterproofing: build a world-class customer acquisition and sales machine, then pair it with excellent execution and fulfillment. In this conversation, Sam breaks down how the business changed at every stage—from the first few million in revenue to building management layers, professionalizing the sales organization and eventually creating the systems required to operate at $50 million of scale. We go deep on marketing spend, lead generation, speed-to-lead, booking rates, sales capacity, one-call closes, compensation plans, hiring ahead of growth and the KPIs he watches every day. We also explore how Neal Roofing and Waterproofing has remained profitable while growing aggressively, why Sam prefers opening new markets from scratch over acquiring competitors, how he thinks about incentives and accountability across the organization and why he believes the underlying playbook can work far beyond roofing. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 From zero to a $50M roofing company 1:11 The real business: customer acquisition + sales 3:25 $1M → $2.5M → $6M → $14M → $25M → $36M → $50M 8:33 What changes at every stage of growth 15:01 The KPIs Sam tracks to run the business 17:52 Facebook, PPC, LSA & the marketing mix 19:15 Why they contact leads in under a minute 23:15 Building the sales machine & one-call close 27:24 The operating system behind $50M of roofs 33:07 Growing fast while staying profitable 38:48 Hiring, incentives & performance pay 40:34 Why they prefer organic growth over M&A 46:14 How Sam actually learned sales & marketing This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    How to Scale a Services Business Like a Tech Company | Sam Allsopp Interview

  7. Sep 3

    The Roll-Up Playbook: From Zero to $100M Revenue | Felix Jander Interview

    My guest today is Felix Jander, co-founder of Arsipa, a buy-and-build company focused on occupational health and safety. Felix and Stefan began exploring the idea during COVID, studying roughly 60 niche industries before choosing a fragmented market with significant room for consolidation. Arsipa went on to complete more than 40 acquisitions, grow to over 1,100 employees across 60+ locations, and surpass $100 million in annual revenue. In 2024, the company partnered with Warburg Pincus, with Felix remaining invested in the business. We discuss how they chose their market, built proprietary deal flow, and used highly personalized outreach to generate reply rates as high as 80%. Felix explains why the first acquisition matters so much, how Arsipa financed its early deals, and the operational playbook behind recruiting, finance, pricing, integration and culture. He also shares the story of splitting with his original co-founder, finding his next partner, and transitioning from operator to investor. This is a practical conversation about acquisitions, capital allocation and building an institution from a collection of small businesses. Please enjoy my conversation with Felix Jander. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 From zero to 40+ acquisitions and $100M+ in revenue 3:33 Why boring businesses beat venture-backed hypergrowth 5:08 How they chose one market from 60 niche industries 7:40 The 1% conversion math behind proprietary deal flow 11:08 Raising the first pool of acquisition capital 18:00 Buying businesses without brokers 20:41 The first acquisition changes everything 23:04 Equity first, debt later 24:58 Turning acquisitions into an operating company 28:13 Losing a co-founder in the middle of fundraising 32:27 Selling to Warburg Pincus and rolling equity 40:08 The roll-up integration and value-creation playbook 44:32 The economics of scaling a roll-up 48:06 What changes after a major private equity investment 51:24 Felix’s advice for aspiring buy-and-build founders 54:18 From operator to investor 56:12 Final lessons from building Arsipa This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    The Roll-Up Playbook: From Zero to $100M Revenue | Felix Jander Interview

  8. Aug 25

    The Anti-Private Equity Playbook: Buy Great Businesses and Don’t Change Them | Justin Escajeda

    My guest today is Justin Escajeda, an entrepreneur who owns 12 trade businesses around Pittsburgh, employing roughly 250 people and generating more than $50 million in annual revenue. What makes Justin’s story interesting is that he never set out to become an acquisition entrepreneur. He started in masonry, construction and real estate before buying his first roofing company which did $600k in SDE in 2018 for $846k. That acquisition changed how he thought about building businesses. Today, Justin owns companies across masonry, roofing, insurance, material supply, general contracting, property management and luxury remodeling. His approach is unusually simple: buy businesses that already work, preserve what made them successful, put great operators in charge and resist the temptation to change things simply because you can. We also explore how he manages 12 businesses without micromanaging them, the four KPIs he watches every day and why he stopped taking cash from portfolio companies to fund new acquisitions. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Building a $50M portfolio of trade businesses 1:24 The first acquisition that changed everything 4:34 Buying a roofing company for under $1M with an SBA loan 6:21 Why Justin never wants to start another company 8:15 Why he avoids changing businesses after buying them 12:24 Inside a portfolio of 12 trade businesses 15:00 The acquisition Justin overpaid for 16:49 SBA loans, cash, and why he prefers seller financing 22:25 Solving key-person risk after an acquisition 27:14 Growing companies without micromanaging operators 31:05 Why Justin went an entire year without buying anything 34:38 The four numbers he watches every day 37:42 A $300K mistake, liquidity, and why ownership isn’t passive This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    The Anti-Private Equity Playbook: Buy Great Businesses and Don’t Change Them | Justin Escajeda
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
15 Ratings

About

The Buyers and Builders podcast with PrivateEquityGuy is a place where you can find meaningful conversations about holding companies, buying and building businesses, entrepreneurship, investing, and more. Be sure to follow the podcast, so you never miss an episode!

Information

  • Creator
    PrivateEquityGuy
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    260
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Buyers and Builders
  • Show Website
    Buyers and Builders

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