Buyers and Builders

PrivateEquityGuy
  • 4.7 (14)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Weekly

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. 1d ago

    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

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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

  6. 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

  7. Aug 18

    Masters of Private Equity: Warren Hellman, Tully Friedman and Joseph Rice

    In 2010, Robert Finkel wrote the book The Masters of Private Equity and Venture Capital: Management Lessons from the Pioneers of Private Investing In this episode, I explore the ideas, decisions, successes, and failures of two people who helped define modern private equity: Joseph Rice, co-founder of Clayton, Dubilier & Rice, and Warren Hellman, co-founder of Hellman & Friedman. 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 This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    Masters of Private Equity: Warren Hellman, Tully Friedman and Joseph Rice

  8. Aug 12

    How Two First-Time CEOs Bought a $5M EBITDA Business | Greg Geronemus Interview

    Greg Geronemus bought a ~$5M EBITDA business with no operating experience, financed half the purchase price with a seller note, and spent his first year doing something most new owners struggle to do: almost nothing. Four years later, the business was larger, professionally managed, dramatically delevered, and sold at roughly 9x EBITDA—producing just under a 5x net return and ~50% net IRR for investors. Greg breaks down the entire journey: finding the deal, negotiating the structure, taking over from a deeply embedded founder, deciding what not to change, discovering the growth channels that actually worked, and ultimately selling the company. Above all, this is an episode about buying well. Because you can change your team, strategy, marketing, systems, and operations after closing. You cannot change the price you paid or the structure you agreed to. For anyone searching for, buying, financing, or operating a business, this is a case study worth studying. Timestamps: 0:00 From Private Equity to Buying a Business 5:12 The High-Volume Strategy for Finding Deals 7:42 The Unlikely Chain of Introductions That Found smarTours 10:01 The Deal: ~5x EBITDA and 50% Seller Financing 13:50 From First Meeting to a $29M Acquisition 17:18 What Made This Business So Attractive 23:14 How the $29M Acquisition Was Financed 25:21 The First 100 Days: Don’t Screw It Up 31:35 Why Great Buyers Go Slow Before They Go Fast 35:23 Modernizing the Business—and What Didn’t Work 39:39 The Growth Breakthrough Nobody Expected 44:12 Selling the Business, ~5x Returns This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    How Two First-Time CEOs Bought a $5M EBITDA Business | Greg Geronemus Interview
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Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
14 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
    258
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Buyers and Builders
  • Show Website
    Buyers and Builders

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