Buyers and Builders

PrivateEquityGuy
  • 4.7 (13)
  • 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. A $6.5M Estimate in 23 Minutes: How AI Is Rewiring SMBs | David Flickinger Interview

    15h ago

    A $6.5M Estimate in 23 Minutes: How AI Is Rewiring SMBs | David Flickinger Interview

    In this episode, David Flickinger, founder of Vellm.ai, joins Mikk Markus to explain how his journey from Marine Corps officer to AI implementation shaped his perspective on technology, and how business owners, private equity professionals, search fund operators, and CEOs can move beyond using Claude and ChatGPT as a simple productivity tool and begin building AI infrastructure that creates real enterprise value. Drawing on years of experience deploying AI solutions inside operating companies, David shares how AI agents can be connected directly into CRMs, ERPs, financial systems, proposal databases, and operating workflows to capture institutional knowledge, reduce key-man risk, improve decision-making, and dramatically increase productivity. One of the most fascinating examples comes from a commercial roofing company where an AI system analyzed 47 building plans and produced a $6.5 million estimate in 23 minutes—nearly identical to the estimate produced by a senior estimator after two weeks of work. We discuss: 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 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 David on X: https://x.com/DWFlickinger David's firm - AI agents for the workflows that run your business: https://vellm.ai/

    51 min
  2. 90+ Acquisitions, 30% Revenue CAGR, 35% Book Value Growth | Brett Kelly Interview

    Jun 7

    90+ Acquisitions, 30% Revenue CAGR, 35% Book Value Growth | Brett Kelly Interview

    Brett Kelly is the founder and CEO of Kelly Partners Group. 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. 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 This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    47 min
  3. How We Bought 14 Businesses and Built a $120M HoldCo | Andrea Allegrini of Lindbergh

    May 22

    How We Bought 14 Businesses and Built a $120M HoldCo | Andrea Allegrini of Lindbergh

    Andrea Allegrini is one of the key operators behind one of Europe’s most fascinating small-cap acquisition stories. Lindbergh is building what could become the country’s first national HVAC maintenance platform through a disciplined roll-up strategy focused on fragmented, family-owned businesses. In this conversation, Andrea explains how Lindbergh evolved from a logistics operator into a serial acquirer, why Italy’s HVAC market is such an attractive hunting ground, how the company structures acquisitions, and why technician retention matters more than financial engineering. Timestamps: 0:00 Lindbergh’s evolution from logistics to HVAC roll-up 2:51 Building a pan-European logistics platform 6:03 Why Lindbergh exited France and pivoted to HVAC 11:47 The massive opportunity in Italy’s fragmented HVAC market 13:17 Inside Lindbergh’s acquisition strategy and deal structures 18:29 Cross-selling, technician sharing, and operational synergies 20:05 How word-of-mouth became Lindbergh’s sourcing engine 23:22 Acquisition multiples, seller financing, and capital allocation 30:23 “More plumbers, less managers” 31:40 Retaining technicians and building an internal academy 35:24 How Lindbergh attracted long-term U.S. investors This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    51 min
  4. How We Bought 160 Businesses and Built a $1.5B HoldCo at 33 and 35 | Ramsey Sahyoun of Evergreen

    May 13

    How We Bought 160 Businesses and Built a $1.5B HoldCo at 33 and 35 | Ramsey Sahyoun of Evergreen

    Ramsey Sahyoun shares how Evergreen grew from a Berkshire-inspired idea into a $1.5B revenue, $250M EBITDA HoldCo with 160 acquisitions. We discuss proprietary sourcing, decentralization, talent, value creation, MSPs, and the lessons behind building one of America’s most interesting acquisition machines. 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 Evergreen’s first acquisition and current portfolio 8:14 How Berkshire Hathaway inspired Evergreen 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 15:25 Why centralization hurt customer intimacy 18:44 Building Evergreen’s sourcing engine 22:27 Why Ramsey still talks to business owners himself 23:07 The value of having a large acquisition database 26:09 How to build trust with business owners 29:18 Why finding great deals is still the most important part of M&A 32:09 Higher valuations, higher rates, and value creation 34:02 Evergreen’s M&A, talent, and playbook flywheel 37:43 Why talent drives investing outcomes 39:17 Motivating founders vs. hired CEOs 41:54 Lessons from 160 acquisition post-mortems 44:22 Setting big goals and planning backward 47:16 Evergreen’s 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 55:07 How Ramsey’s view on managing people changed 56:48 Closing thoughts from Ramsey This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    58 min
  5. 35+ Acquisitions, $1.3B Exit and Backing 80+ Searchers | Mark Sinatra of ETA Equity

    May 7

    35+ Acquisitions, $1.3B Exit and Backing 80+ Searchers | Mark Sinatra of ETA Equity

    Mark Sinatra has lived the full search fund journey: discovering ETA at Wharton, acquiring Staff One HR, surviving the 2008 crisis, scaling the business, selling to Oasis Outsourcing, and later helping build ETA Equity. In this episode, Mark shares what he learned from nearly a decade as a search CEO, why talent unlocked the business, how he survived the hardest years, and what he now looks for after backing 80+ searchers and 35+ acquisitions. Timestamps: 0:00 Mark Sinatra’s journey from searcher to ETA investor 1:21 Discovering search funds at Wharton 7:53 Raising a search fund and finding Staff One HR 13:17 How underwriting search deals has changed 18:34 Buying a business right before the financial crisis 21:14 When Mark finally felt like a real CEO 24:19 Hiring the right people and upgrading the team 31:38 Surviving the emotionally hardest years as CEO 37:30 Rebuilding Staff One and selling to Oasis 42:14 Starting ETA Equity 45:20 What Mark looks for in searchers today 51:20 Lessons from deals that did not go well 58:30 Jockey, horse, and barn: what really matters in ETA 1:01:50 How the search fund market has changed This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    1h 6m
  6. What 137 Acquisitions Taught Me About Operational Excellence | Robert Irving Interview

    Apr 27

    What 137 Acquisitions Taught Me About Operational Excellence | Robert Irving Interview

    In this episode, Robert Irving of Buffalo Growth Partners shares what he learned from building a fire protection business from zero to $20M in revenue, selling it to private equity, rolling equity, and then helping execute a 137-company rollup. Timestamps: 0:00 Why PE value creation is harder than it sounds 1:52 From fire protection operator to $20M in revenue 4:09 The three sales roles that drive B2B growth 6:25 Building hospitals, data centers, and complex fire systems 8:07 Selling the company and rolling equity into the platform 9:33 Going from one business to 12 offices and 800 people 11:21 The hidden pattern behind great acquisitions 13:53 Why integrations usually fail because of people 15:49 What 100+ acquisitions teach you that one or two never could 18:13 How to diligence small businesses without overcomplicating it 19:30 The danger of fast rollups and pure multiple arbitrage 23:39 Retaining owners and creating alignment after the deal 25:15 The real craft of off-market sourcing 31:00 Buffalo Growth Partners and the “guys in trucks” thesis 37:39 Reimagining private equity through operations 40:12 Small consistent improvements that compound into big results 42:06 Constraint-based growth and finding the real bottleneck 45:05 Meeting operators where they are with technology 48:51 Where to find Robert Irving and Buffalo Growth Partners This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    51 min
  7. Buying Three Founder-Led SMEs: Lessons from the Trenches | Simon Plummer Interview

    Apr 18

    Buying Three Founder-Led SMEs: Lessons from the Trenches | Simon Plummer Interview

    Simon Plummer is the co-founder of Arbor Permanent Owners, a holding company built for long-term ownership. In this episode, Simon drawing on his experience acquiring and operating three founder-led SMEs, he shares a practical playbook for the first year of ownership: - how to settle a team, - build trust, - create momentum, - improve sales, - think about pricing, - and know when to invest for growth. We also discuss why investor alignment matters so much in small business, what makes founder-led companies different, and why simple strategy plus relentless execution usually beats sophistication. Timestamps: 0:00 Simon on buying and building founder-led SMEs 1:19 Why Arbor chose 44 small-business-owner investors 3:32 Simon’s background: IPO journey, acquisitions, and operating experience 7:21 Small businesses are “loosely functioning disasters” 9:42 What Simon looks for before making an acquisition 13:21 What founder-led manufacturing businesses usually look like 15:25 Why the wrong investors can hurt a small business 19:11 The first 90 days: listen, communicate, and settle the business 22:42 Q2: deep dive into operations and build the sales platform 27:58 Q3: sell, review, improve - creating momentum with customers 31:48 What not to do: why “just implement AI” is bad post-acquisition advice 33:28 Q4: invest and scale once conviction is earned 35:27 Sales in small business: the hardest lever in value creation 47:29 Managing the board, reading recommendations, and final lessons on resilience This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    59 min
  8. The Buffett-Munger Introduction That Changed Everything

    Apr 12

    The Buffett-Munger Introduction That Changed Everything

    Why networks are one of the most underrated advantages in the lower middle market, and how to build them. We explore how trust, introductions, persistence, and long-term generosity can create better deal flow, stronger relationships, and a real competitive edge for buyers, builders, and investors. This episode is heavily inspired by the wisdom of Alix Pasquet, a Managing Partner at Prime Macaya Capital Management. Timestamps: 0:00 Why Networks Matter More in a Crowded Lower Middle Market 1:09 Your Network as a Moat and an Alarm System 3:19 The Hidden Edge Behind Great Investors 6:00 The Private Whisper Network and Why Access Compounds 7:29 How Trust Scales Through Introductions 8:45 Building a Great Network Takes Years, Not Weeks 9:25 The Power of the Triad 10:25 The Buffett-Munger Introduction That Changed Everything 13:47 How to Build a Network Even If You Feel Unimportant 16:10 Shared Missions, Small Acts of Leverage, and Earning Attention 18:48 Persistence, Preparation, and Closing Thoughts on Playing the Long Game This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.

    25 min
See All (245)

Ratings & Reviews

4.7
out of 5
13 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
    245
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Buyers and Builders
  • Show Website
    Buyers and Builders

You Might Also Like