Royce Yudkoff

Do you want me to take a crack at that, Royce? Yeah, you go first. I'll lob in some if I have it.

Do you want me to take a crack at that, Royce? Yeah, you go first. I'll lob in some if I have it.

Okay. So when we talked in 2016, nearly a decade ago, as you say, first of all, I had hair. So that was a big difference. You look great. Thank you. But aside from that, one of the things that has really changed is that the small firm space, the small firm acquisition space is really bifurcated.

Okay. So when we talked in 2016, nearly a decade ago, as you say, first of all, I had hair. So that was a big difference. You look great. Thank you. But aside from that, one of the things that has really changed is that the small firm space, the small firm acquisition space is really bifurcated.

With the funded searchers really moving up market into much larger deals, the averages keep moving around, but think $20 million of average total enterprise value.

With the funded searchers really moving up market into much larger deals, the averages keep moving around, but think $20 million of average total enterprise value.

And the unfunded or self-funded or spouse-funded or family-funded, whatever you want to call it, where they don't take investor money at the time they begin their search, so unfunded for me, those unfunded deals have actually gotten a little smaller. So people have discovered that there are great opportunities buying below a million dollars of EBITDA, thinking about, well, what if SDE is $600,000?

And the unfunded or self-funded or spouse-funded or family-funded, whatever you want to call it, where they don't take investor money at the time they begin their search, so unfunded for me, those unfunded deals have actually gotten a little smaller. So people have discovered that there are great opportunities buying below a million dollars of EBITDA, thinking about, well, what if SDE is $600,000?

Can I get by? Can I grow this business? And we're finding more and more students buying smaller businesses at lower multiples, think three, four, and other students going in the opposite direction, buying much bigger companies at much higher multiples, think six, seven, eight. So it's really bifurcated in a way that I wouldn't have predicted 10 years ago.

Can I get by? Can I grow this business? And we're finding more and more students buying smaller businesses at lower multiples, think three, four, and other students going in the opposite direction, buying much bigger companies at much higher multiples, think six, seven, eight. So it's really bifurcated in a way that I wouldn't have predicted 10 years ago.

And I think that's growing because people are saying, wow, I don't want to pay eight times to buy a $2 million EBITDA firm. So maybe what I'll do is pay three times and buy three and a half $600,000 EBITDA firms or something like that. And so they're buying low and sometimes the synergies and roll up potentials, but oftentimes they're just running three separate companies.

And I think that's growing because people are saying, wow, I don't want to pay eight times to buy a $2 million EBITDA firm. So maybe what I'll do is pay three times and buy three and a half $600,000 EBITDA firms or something like that. And so they're buying low and sometimes the synergies and roll up potentials, but oftentimes they're just running three separate companies.

But they're getting critical mass and they're getting some diversification and some drive and some opportunity to apply their talent. So it's pretty exciting. If I could add just one other thing, 10 years ago, this career path was viewed as quirky. To pick a word, Royce may have a better word, but quirky.

But they're getting critical mass and they're getting some diversification and some drive and some opportunity to apply their talent. So it's pretty exciting. If I could add just one other thing, 10 years ago, this career path was viewed as quirky. To pick a word, Royce may have a better word, but quirky.

We used to say jokingly to students that we would get calls from their parents and they would say, what did you do to my kid? I mean, my kid graduated from a really good undergraduate school, had... five years of really good work experience. And now they're sitting in their pajamas all day, staring at a computer screen with headphones on, sort of talking to themselves.

We used to say jokingly to students that we would get calls from their parents and they would say, what did you do to my kid? I mean, my kid graduated from a really good undergraduate school, had... five years of really good work experience. And now they're sitting in their pajamas all day, staring at a computer screen with headphones on, sort of talking to themselves.

Is this a depressive episode? Is this some sign of psychological break? Do we need to get our child, man or woman, do we need to get them therapy? Because it was such a quirky and unusual career path. Now it's become a much more traveled path.

Is this a depressive episode? Is this some sign of psychological break? Do we need to get our child, man or woman, do we need to get them therapy? Because it was such a quirky and unusual career path. Now it's become a much more traveled path.

And our students can look back and whether they're men or women or veterans or English majors or engineers or private equity people in their former employment, they can always look back and say, wow, there are literally dozens of success stories that I can look back on. So it has now become a well-traveled path and a more acceptable path.

And our students can look back and whether they're men or women or veterans or English majors or engineers or private equity people in their former employment, they can always look back and say, wow, there are literally dozens of success stories that I can look back on. So it has now become a well-traveled path and a more acceptable path.