Think Big, Buy Small

Latest Episodes:

Climbing the Revenue Ladder: Understanding Quality in Business Acquisitions Oct 13, 2025

Show notes

In this episode, Rick and Royce are joined by A.J. Wasserstein, Senior Lecturer at the Yale School of Management, for a deep dive into one of the most critical – and often misunderstood – aspects of buying a small business: revenue quality. Together, they unpack the full spectrum of revenue types, from transactional to contractually recurring, and explore how these distinctions impact everything from growth potential to customer retention, acquisition strategy, and valuation. With real-world insights and a clear framework for evaluating revenue during diligence, this conversation is essential listening for any aspiring acquisition entrepreneur looking to de-risk their investment and build lasting value.

The Journey From Engineer, To Entrepreneur, To Exit Oct 06, 2025

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Rick and Royce sit down with a former student of theirs, Paige Sopcic, an engineer turned entrepreneur, to discuss her inspiring entrepreneurship through acquisition journey. After leaving a promising career at GE and earning her MBA, Paige launched her search in partnership with an accelerator and acquired a specialty canning company called CanSource. In this episode, she shares how she found the business, scaled it rapidly through COVID-era tailwinds, and eventually sold it in a proprietary deal to a strategic buyer. Along the way, Paige reflects on the mindset shift from corporate employee to owner-operator, the value of structured support during a first-time search, and the challenges and opportunities that come with navigating growth amid operational pressure. This conversation offers a real-world look at risk, strategy, and leadership – and provides a great example of what it truly means to bet on yourself.

An Experienced Lender’s Perspective on Acquisition Financing Sep 29, 2025

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In this episode, we’re joined by Bruce Marks, a veteran SBA lender with decades of experience and well over 1,000 business acquisition deals under his belt. Bruce draws on his deep expertise in the acquisition lending space to reflect on the role of SBA financing in ETA, how lenders assess deals, the importance of debt service coverage, along with evaluations of risk, and factors that searchers should consider when evaluating SBA and conventional financing options. Rick and Royce lead a practical, insightful conversation covering deal structures, loan terms, and the importance of transparency with lenders, making this episode a must-listen for anyone exploring or navigating the acquisition process.

You Don't Need an MBA to Pursue ETA Sep 22, 2025

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It's always fascinating to hear the journey of someone who doesn't have a conventional MBA background but still finds their way to ETA, identifies high-quality acquisition opportunities, and then successfully buys and operates a small business. In this episode, we meet Tom Allsworth, who was in the Merchant Marine Academy and the Marines Corps, followed by some work experience at home and abroad, before acquiring Pacific Opportunities, a company that helps adults who experience intellectual or developmental disabilities to find and maintain employment. In 2024, he closed on a second acquisition, Trellis, to further expand his service offerings. In this conversation, Tom reflects on the process of finding and acquiring Pacific Opportunities, including why he considered himself to be “the luckiest guy in the world”; the magic in the multiples, but also how the multiple can change depending on which factors are included in one’s calculations; stroke-of-pen risk in government funded services; leadership, company culture, and building organizations with meaningful community impact; and more. Tom’s story is both inspiring and instructive – a compelling reminder that there’s no single path into ETA, and that diverse experiences can be powerful assets on the road to becoming an acquisition entrepreneur.

A Bird’s Eye View of ETA Sep 15, 2025

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Will Smith, Partner at Minds Capital, has been host of the Acquiring Minds podcast for over four years and, during that time, has had the opportunity to speak with hundreds of searchers-turned-entrepreneurs, affording him a true bird’s eye view of the ETA landscape. In this wide-ranging discussion, Will reflects on personal traits that set top-performing searchers apart; company characteristics that can stack the odds of success in a searcher’s favor, with a focus on quality of revenue; common pitfalls that can derail even the most dedicated of searchers; advice for new business owners, including the power of small gestures; and more. Whether you’re already running a search-acquired business, in the midst of a search, or still in the early days of exploring ETA, this episode distills years of hard-earned wisdom into one must-listen conversation.

The Value of Roll-Ups As Seen Through the Lens of Music Schools Sep 08, 2025

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Jeff Homer is the founder of Ensemble Performing Arts, an organization that provides back-of-house support to music schools, allowing teachers to focus on what’s most important to them, excellence in music education. Though there are now over seventy music schools under Ensemble’s umbrella, it all began with Jeff’s acquisition of a single school in Colorado, initially meant as a side hustle that would allow him to both work at his day job in a family office and to pursue his passion for music. What he discovered along the way, as he began to roll up more music schools around the country, is that many of these founders are immensely talented musicians but are far less interested in, and have not been trained to carry out, the administrative burden that goes hand-in-hand with music school operations. In this conversation, Rick and Royce ask Jeff for his thoughts on the value of lower market roll-ups and why he believes music schools to be high-quality businesses. They also discuss the perils of part-time search, and those rare instances when it just might work; why, in hiring, Jeff selects for senior leaders who have an affinity for music; his approach to financing the many acquisitions he's made; why Jeff decided against rebranding the schools that he acquired; his vision of the future for Ensemble; and more. Listeners will gain insights on not only creating value in a roll-up but also on finding creative niches in the marketplace to roll-up. It’s a fascinating conversation!

Where Are They Now? A Conversation with Nick Wheeler Aug 25, 2025

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Last summer when, after a self-funded search, Nick Wheeler was only a few months into his new role as President at Tra-Cal, Rick and Royce had a chance to speak with him about his early experiences at the company’s helm. In that Season One episode, Nick confessed that he was “drinking from the fire hose”, but he also believed that Tra-Cal had been a high-quality acquisition and was optimistically looking ahead to the company’s future. In this conversation, Nick reflects on the journey he’s taken since last touching base with Rick and Royce fourteen months ago. Together they discuss the ongoing evolution of the company, encompassing Nick’s own transition from an early-days learning mode to a current focus on growth; hiring challenges and successes; advice to current searchers on the kinds of skills that are important for successfully running a small business; what Nick most appreciates about his current role; and more. Our hosts also look ahead to Think Big, Buy Small’s third season, launching on September 8th, in which they'll engage in many fascinating, forthcoming conversations. Tune in wherever you get your podcasts!

Questions and Answers with Rick and Royce Apr 21, 2025

Show notes

At the end of each episode, Rick and Royce ask listeners to reach out with any questions they may have related to entrepreneurship through acquisition. In response, we’ve heard from people at all stages of their entrepreneurship through acquisition journeys, along with other stakeholders in search. Now, in the final episode of Season Two, our hosts address many of the queries that were received. This wide-ranging discussion includes reflections on how undergraduates can begin to think about the ETA path; traits of successful acquisition entrepreneurs – and whether they’re innate or can be learned; insights on financial modeling and valuation; whether franchises are appealing acquisition targets; mistakes to be avoided in due diligence; trade-offs for investors considering traditional versus self-funded opportunities; artificial intelligence, and more. Rick and Royce also share their thoughts on whether there are ETA-related topics on which they disagree – and they look ahead to Season Three!

A Successful Model for Roll-Ups in Automotive and Beyond Apr 14, 2025

Show notes

A few years ago, Logan Leslie began his search with the goal of rolling up smaller, same-industry enterprises under the umbrella of one company. Fast forward to today and Logan is CEO of Main Street Auto, which is the parent company to over ninety auto repair shops around the country. In this engaging conversation, Logan shares why he believes the auto industry is ideal for roll-ups, along with his strategy for doing so therein; his thoughts on the importance of a cultural fit in search; how and why he’s been so successful in building the team around him; the role of sale-leaseback transactions in supercharging growth; and his reflections on the advantages of scale, to name but a few examples. Listeners may recall that Rick is generally skeptical of roll-ups. In this episode, however, we learn about the “secret sauce” in Logan’s approach that has Rick reconsidering his long-held position.

The Journey and Impact of a Mission-Driven Searcher Apr 07, 2025

Show notes

In the last three years, Adriana Garcia Ceja graduated from Harvard Business School, became a mother and, after a funded search, acquired an aging life care management business called ElderTree. Many would-be CEOs set out on their searches primarily wanting to experience the joys of operating a small business, while being more agnostic about what the company does. This was not the case for Adriana, who from the outset wanted to acquire either an addiction

recovery center or a company in the elder care space, searching for a business that she believed contributed to the greater good. In this discussion, she reflects on how the mission-driven aspect of her search was instrumental in fundraising conversations; the experience of closing on a business while being thirteen weeks pregnant; how and why the ETA career path can align so well for women; the merits and potential downsides of having an MBA while searching; her future plans for the company; and more. Tune in to learn about Adriana’s distinct journey and why she’s now so well positioned for both personal and professional success.

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