The SMB Deal Hunter Podcast

Helen Guo
  • 5.0 (9)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP

Every week, Helen Guo interviews successful acquisition entrepreneurs, independent sponsors, and investors who have acquired businesses. Learn how to buy a business rather than starting one from scratch from those who have done it themselves.

  1. His Business Is Boring, But It Returns 50% a Year

    53M AGO

    His Business Is Boring, But It Returns 50% a Year

    Greg Geronemus went from Goldman Sachs to Harvard Business School, where he stumbled into the idea of buying a small business instead of starting one. He and his partner David Rosner raised $550K in search capital, built a database of 30,000 companies, and spent nearly two years searching for the right deal.They signed one LOI. It was for a business that checked none of the boxes: an old-fashioned B2C tour operator sending baby boomers on group trips around the world. He bought it for $29 million at under 5x with a 50% seller note at 4%.Four years later, he sold to a private equity firm. Nearly 50% annualized returns. Almost 5x net to investors. Today, he runs Footbridge Partners, investing in the next generation of searchers.

    1h 22m

  2. APR 3

    Why He's Buying "Dead" Bowling Alleys Nobody Wants

    Mike Fagan is a former professional bowler who spent 13 seasons on the PBA tour before getting his MBA at UC Berkeley Haas and working in management consulting. In April 2025, he acquired Ten Pins and More, a bowling alley in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, for $2.05 million including real estate via SBA 7A financing. The bank classified the deal as a turnaround. Today, he owns two locations with a third on the way, operates remotely from Dallas 600 miles away, and is scaling toward $8-10 million in revenue across 3-5 locations. He explains:◼️ Why bowling alleys are undervalued, below replacement cost, and have almost no competing buyers◼️ How he got SBA financing on a deal the bank said wasn't cash flowing enough to cover the payments◼️ The zero-COGS economics behind bowling and why the business fills itself four days a week without marketing◼️ How he went from flying in every week for nine months to running the business fully remote from 600 miles away◼️ Why his pro bowling background gives him an acquisition advantage that no other buyer in the space can replicate Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter newsletter (200,000+ subscribers): Join for free here Want help buying a business? Learn about SMB Deal Hunter ProFollow Helen:Twitter: https://x.com/HelenGuo_LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/helen-guo-06674523/

    52 min
  3. He Raised $125M on LinkedIn to Buy Boring Businesses (it worked...)

    APR 2

    He Raised $125M on LinkedIn to Buy Boring Businesses (it worked...)

    Sam Silverman raised $125 million in investor capital almost entirely through LinkedIn cold outreach solo, no team, no fund behind him. He deployed that capital into a paving company roll-up with four acquisitions in 18 months, an accounting firm he built from scratch, and a private credit fund. He started as an SDR making $37,000 a year. ❌ No finance degree❌ No Wall Street background❌ No inherited deal flow — 95% of his capital came from LinkedIn In this episode, Sam breaks down exactly how he went from cold messaging strangers on LinkedIn to managing a portfolio of boring businesses backed by $125 million in investor capital. Sign Up For Free to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz Work With Me to Help You Buy a Business: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz/ 🔥 WHAT YOU'LL LEARN: ✅ How he raised his first $20-30 million entirely through LinkedIn cold outreach by targeting people in his own industry, and the peer-to-peer approach that made strangers trust him with six-figure checks ✅ The specific LinkedIn Sales Navigator tactic he uses to find investors at the exact moment they can deploy capital — people who switched jobs in the last 90 days and can roll their 401k into a self-directed IRA ✅ Why he chose paving over HVAC, landscaping, or any other blue-collar roll-up — and how one concrete acquisition would add $2 million EBITDA to the bottom line on day one ✅ How he structures deals so sellers stay on and actually enjoy working post-acquisition, and why every new LOI in his pipeline came as a referral from a previous seller ✅ The 1.5-2x equity step-up structure he recommends for first-time buyers who want to acquire a business with little or no capital of their own ✅ Why he says go bigger on your first deal — and the specific risk he sees in buying anything under $1 million in EBITDA ✅ Where to find investors if you have no track record, no credibility, and no network — and why he says industry conferences are the worst place to look

    58 min
  4. Why This Startup Founder Bought an Electrical Contracting Business | Fred McGill of Bray Electrical

    MAR 20

    Why This Startup Founder Bought an Electrical Contracting Business | Fred McGill of Bray Electrical

    Join me as I sit down with Fred McGill from Atlanta, Georgia–a former startup founder who made the leap into small business acquisition. Exactly one year ago, Fred acquired Bray Electrical Services, an electrical contracting business. In just 12 months, he’s grown the top line by $650,000, while still running his real estate brokerage on the side. If you’re thinking about buying a business in the trades or want a real look at what it takes to scale one, don’t miss this story._______________________________ 👉 Subscribe to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter — free weekly deals & insights: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz 🤝 Work with me and my team 1-on-1 to find, finance, and close your acquisition in 6–12 months: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz

    58 min
  5. How He Went From English Teacher To 40 Business Acquisitions

    MAR 13

    How He Went From English Teacher To 40 Business Acquisitions

    Join me as I interview Dominic Wells, the CEO of Onfolio, a publicly traded portfolio of around 20 internet businesses ($ONFO).Dom went from making $1-$2K/month teaching English in Taiwan 10 years ago to acquiring about 40 online businesses over the past decade._______________________________ 👉 Sign Up For Free to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz 🤝 Work With Me to Help You Find, Finance, and Acquire a Business in 6-12 Months: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz

    56 min
  6. How He Makes $100k+/mo With 800 ATMs | Mitchell Sorkin

    MAR 6

    How He Makes $100k+/mo With 800 ATMs | Mitchell Sorkin

    Join me as I interview successful acquisition entrepreneur Mitchell Sorkin. Mitchell left the startup world after bootstrapping his business Stack Influence to $1M. He then got into acquisition entrepreneurship by buying ATM routes. Mitchell first bought 3 ATMs in Oct. '21 and now owns 800+ ATMs. _______________________________ 👉 Sign Up For Free to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz 🤝 Work With Me to Help You Buy a Business: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz

    34 min

  7. FEB 27

    He's done 200+ QofEs. Here's what sellers don't want you to know | Mubarak Shah

    Here's a number that should make you uncomfortable. 98% of the time, when a CPA digs into a business's financials, the real EBITDA comes back different from what the seller claimed. And we're not talking about rounding errors. The real EBITDA is a different number entirely. Sometimes it's 5% off. Sometimes it's 50% off. And in about a third of cases, the deal dies right there. That number comes from a CPA who's done over 200 quality of earnings reports, on both the buy side and the sell side. This week, I sat down with Mubarak Shah, a CPA, M&A advisor, and QoE specialist who also works with our members inside the Pro program. Mubarak started his career in audit, became VP of Finance at a startup that raised a $10M Series A, and cut his teeth doing QoEs at firms that served private equity clients. He's now completed over 200 of them. He's seen every trick in the book. And in this episode, he walks through exactly what sellers do to make their businesses look more profitable than they are. Here are some of the highlights from the deep dive: 🔥 The seller accounting trick that sails right past SBA underwriting and can cost you millions (it's shockingly simple) 🔥 Why your bank's underwriting isn't designed to protect you, and what it's actually designed to do instead 🔥 The one M&A concept that nobody actually understands that led to a seven-figure lawsuit 🔥 A breakdown of exactly what happens during a QoE, what it costs, how long it takes, and why the biggest bottleneck has nothing to do with the accountant _______________________________ 👉 Sign Up For Free to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz 🤝 Work With Me to Help You Buy a Business: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz

    58 min

  8. FEB 20

    This CPA made all the MAJOR mistakes so you don't have to | Rushi Amin

    You'd think a CPA with six years at a Big Four firm and four years in investment banking would catch every red flag in a small business acquisition, right?  Wrong.  Rushi missed three big ones on his first deal.  He overpaid on the franchise. He didn’t realize 25% of the franchise’s global locations were packed into his backyard.  And the business had to close for four months a year, which sounds great until your GM quits because they can’t afford to go all winter without a paycheck. That was just deal #1. He was crazy enough to go back for round 2… Here's what makes this episode worth watching... 🔥 How his second deal ended up being a one-man business with 90% margins (and how he grew it 20% in the first year) 🔥 How he brought his first acquisition to break even (after a disastrous start) 🔥 Why he’s going all in on business acquisition (and his third acquisition target)_______________________________ 👉 Sign Up For Free to the SMB Deal Hunter Newsletter: https://join.smbdealhunter.xyz 🤝 Work With Me to Help You Buy a Business: https://pro.smbdealhunter.xyz

    1h 3m
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5
out of 5
9 Ratings

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Every week, Helen Guo interviews successful acquisition entrepreneurs, independent sponsors, and investors who have acquired businesses. Learn how to buy a business rather than starting one from scratch from those who have done it themselves.

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