Graham Weaver

the veteran market. They built their own CEO and training program because they came through with Alpine's program. And they said, this is amazing. The company's called Apex. They built their own Apex. One of the early people they brought through was this guy named Brad Schwartz. So his resume is West Point, Green Beret, Wharton Business School.

the veteran market. They built their own CEO and training program because they came through with Alpine's program. And they said, this is amazing. The company's called Apex. They built their own Apex. One of the early people they brought through was this guy named Brad Schwartz. So his resume is West Point, Green Beret, Wharton Business School.

And he comes in to run this, I think, $8 million revenue business. And fast forward, he's running a $500 million division today. Oh my God. The business we initially bought was 40 million, I think, of revenue and 80 of EBITDA. This year, it'll do 3 billion of revenue. We haven't put any more equity in. They've just been accumulating these small little businesses.

And he comes in to run this, I think, $8 million revenue business. And fast forward, he's running a $500 million division today. Oh my God. The business we initially bought was 40 million, I think, of revenue and 80 of EBITDA. This year, it'll do 3 billion of revenue. We haven't put any more equity in. They've just been accumulating these small little businesses.

So the business has gone from, we put in 50 million of equity. This year, it'll do 500 million of EBITDA and we put in no additional equity. And it's just been an exercise in just really having each business that we acquire putting in incredible talent. We rip out their IT systems and we put in a financial package, an ERP system, a business intelligence system.

So the business has gone from, we put in 50 million of equity. This year, it'll do 500 million of EBITDA and we put in no additional equity. And it's just been an exercise in just really having each business that we acquire putting in incredible talent. We rip out their IT systems and we put in a financial package, an ERP system, a business intelligence system.

And then every single company we buy has to literally input every job they do exactly the same so we can compare all the data across all the companies. And then we have a training school now for the military veterans. I think that we have 80 companies military veterans as general managers of that company. They've been phenomenal.

And then every single company we buy has to literally input every job they do exactly the same so we can compare all the data across all the companies. And then we have a training school now for the military veterans. I think that we have 80 companies military veterans as general managers of that company. They've been phenomenal.

That's an example of starting literally with a blank piece of paper, which is how we do each thing. We form a pod of people to go assess a bunch of different industries. We design the playbook and then hopefully repatriate someone from our system into the leadership team. And we have a lot of the key decisions already made and evaluated.

That's an example of starting literally with a blank piece of paper, which is how we do each thing. We form a pod of people to go assess a bunch of different industries. We design the playbook and then hopefully repatriate someone from our system into the leadership team. And we have a lot of the key decisions already made and evaluated.

We have plenty of time and patience before we ever have to wire money.

We have plenty of time and patience before we ever have to wire money.

So if I think about if I step all the way back on like what service Alpine has and will render in the market, it's I have this visualization of decades of small businesses being built by the baby boom and Gen X generations or whatever. there's tons of them. I don't know how many there are, probably a gazillion HVACs alone. True for like every industry.

So if I think about if I step all the way back on like what service Alpine has and will render in the market, it's I have this visualization of decades of small businesses being built by the baby boom and Gen X generations or whatever. there's tons of them. I don't know how many there are, probably a gazillion HVACs alone. True for like every industry.

The problem is that there's nothing to do with them when those people want to retire. And basically your solution is solve that with talent. That was like the unique insight and thing that you've built up relative to other private equity firms or

The problem is that there's nothing to do with them when those people want to retire. And basically your solution is solve that with talent. That was like the unique insight and thing that you've built up relative to other private equity firms or

Yeah. And I would say at a headline, it's solve it with talent. And underneath that is a whole bunch of intellectual property about how to make that person who goes into that company on day one be really successful. Because if you just change management, it's really hard and it can go really badly. We've learned that the hard way.

Yeah. And I would say at a headline, it's solve it with talent. And underneath that is a whole bunch of intellectual property about how to make that person who goes into that company on day one be really successful. Because if you just change management, it's really hard and it can go really badly. We've learned that the hard way.

We have a lot of intellectual property on like, what does that CEO actually do on day zero and the first 30 days and 60 days and 90 days? We have intellectual property on the systems and how we're measuring it and literally how they're hiring. It is what you said, Patrick, but then underneath that, there's a lot of intellectual property about how to actually do that.

We have a lot of intellectual property on like, what does that CEO actually do on day zero and the first 30 days and 60 days and 90 days? We have intellectual property on the systems and how we're measuring it and literally how they're hiring. It is what you said, Patrick, but then underneath that, there's a lot of intellectual property about how to actually do that.