Minds Capital Podcast
Episodes
Winning Big by Doing Minority Recaps
06 May 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Erik Miller watched his entrepreneurial father build a thriving business, only to be squeezed by private equity. After 30 years in finance, Erik is no...
Fix Cash Crunch To Go From $15m to $35m Revenue
29 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
A podcaster and accountant, Leah Berend founded Minneapolis-based Merrin Investment Partners in 2024. 4 deals later, Leah shares their playbook, which...
$10m EBITDA After COVID Killed The Business
22 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Nicolás Lulli "grew up" at Relay Investments, a well-known fund in the traditional search fund world in the Prudential Tower in Boston. With their ba...
One Man's Trash: 5x MOIC on a 14-Deal Waste Roll-Up
15 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Chandos Mahon dreamed of driving garbage trucks at age 3. In 2024, he exited a tire recycling waste management platform to a strategic buyer for a 5x ...
$100m Acquisition as First Deal
08 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Former auto mechanic Eugene Polevoy is an independent sponsor based in Toronto. His strong opinions routinely go viral on LinkedIn and were recently f...
Almost 40% IRR across 55 Platforms
01 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Transition Capital Partners is a mainstay in Dallas private equity. Jason Faucett and his team are the 4th generation of partners at this 33-year old ...
"We're Not Operators": Bridging Capital & Management
25 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
As early deal-by-deal pioneers, Edwin Burke and Chris Eichmann of Pillsman Partners have have completed 7 platform investments and 23 add-on acquisiti...
7x Organic EBITDA Growth After Liberating Employees
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Corbin Cook and Alex Swanston of Rise Run Capital challenge the "get rich slow" reputation of independent sponsorship. Since starting 6 years ago, aft...
The Applied AI Engineer: A New PE Weapon
11 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Chris Breaux left the world of $500m middle-market deals as an investment banker to build Emberline, an independent sponsor focused on the intersectio...
Acquiring $10m of EBITDA as Industry Operators
04 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Edoardo Maggini is the Operating Partner at Star Step, a specialty coatings rollup. Founded in 2021 by 3 partners, Star Step pivoted away from chasing...
“I Sold My Business to an Independent Sponsor”
25 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Aaron Stahl sold his business in 2025 to an independent sponsor. He had spent the previous 21 years founding & building P3 Cost Analysts, a cost r...
11x MOIC by Scaling Revenue from $15m to $100m
18 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Justin Turner and Traction Capital Partners just exited a 7-year hold in the specialty fire equipment distributor space, where they grew revenue from ...
Behind the Scenes: Launching 2nd Equity Fund for Independent Sponsors
11 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In celebration of our 50th episode, the 3 GPs of Minds Capital share their journey: the media-first strategy's role in creating a deal flow flywheel, ...
A Family Office's View From 27 Platforms
04 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin Wong is the Chief Investment Officer at Lang Partners, a family office based in Dallas. With 15 years on the investment side of the lower-middle...
A 9-Deal Rollup Without Losing 1 Customer
28 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Alan Baca and Dana Robinson explain how Verde Equity Partners is buy-and-building a scaled commercial landscaping platform using an operator-led playb...
Family Offices + Independent Sponsors = Strong Match
21 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
NYC-based James Bohannon works at Belzberg & Co, a multi-family office with a keen eye to the independent sponsor asset class. Drawing on years of...
The 16-Year Path to a $175m Revenue Portfolio
14 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Based in New York, Michael ("Mike") Healy began his career as an attorney before deciding the real fun and action were on the deal side. After a stint...
Axial’s Lessons From 10,000 Lower-Middle Market Deals
07 Jan 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Peter Lehrman founded Axial in 2009, the leading deal origination platform for lower-middle-market M&A. Today, roughly 10,000 attempted transactio...
Working Under an Independent Sponsor Who Suddenly Passed Away
31 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
G.R. Kearney, a former inner-city Chicago teacher, was thrust into leadership when his senior partner tragically passed away. He navigated the emotion...
Skipping $2m EBITDA Deals ("The Messy Middle")
17 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Dan Tamkin, based in California and co-founder of Resurgent Capital Partners, is an operator, technologist, and turnaround investor, in that order. Af...
Financing Add-Ons Without New Equity
10 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
UK-based Sam Turner overcame a challenged first deal by pivoting the business model and eventually built a thriving facilities maintenance roll-up tha...
“Partner Equity, Not Private equity”
03 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Craig Dupper, based in Park City, Utah, founded Elan Growth Partners after years of seeing how the traditional fund model fails to optimize stakeholde...
$233m For and By Independent Sponsors
26 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Independent sponsor royalty Michael Kornman details how he built NCK Capital out of Dallas with his brother Grant, acquiring 5 platforms in 10 years. ...
33 PortCos in 6 Years
19 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Graham, based in Dallas, graduated from HBS in 2018 and acquired his first company the year after as a self-funded searcher using SBA7a financi...
Platform + Key Competitor = Multiple Expansion
12 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Willistown Capital’s journey offers a window into how independent sponsors can execute complex, high-stakes transactions with institutional precisio...
Buy Small ($1m EBITDA at 4x), Keep Winning
05 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ryan Sullivan's fully-baked & winning concept at North Park Group: buy $1m EBITDA firms at 4x, add the real estate, finance half with SBA debt, an...
$100m Fund? No, Thanks!
29 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Quinten Griffiths, based in Calgary, Canada, shares his journey from an empty-handed traditional searcher who walked away from 6 LOIs to a highly succ...
8 Years, 8 Portcos Since Starting as a Searcher
22 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Ian Reynolds, based in Houston, founded Thesis Capital Partner, recently ranked as a Top 20 independent sponsor. Thesis recruits Executives in Residen...
On the ground at the McGuireWoods Conference
15 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Join the team at Minds Capital as they debrief the first day of the McGuireWoods Independent Sponsor Conference at the Fairmont in Dallas. The MWIS Co...
Aggregating SMBs Inside a Public Company
08 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After an early search that didn't close and a decade in PE (incl. Alpine), former Marine Rob Casper found his stride inside a public company. Today he...
4 of 4 Exits Above 10x MOIC
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Marc Cabrera, based in Telluride, worked as a healthcare-focused investment banker from 1988 until his retirement last year. As a side gig to being a ...
The Journey to 7 Platforms
24 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Outspoken Nathan Chandrasekaran of Columbia River Partners, based in Seattle, Washington, has built a track record around carve-outs, portfolio synerg...
From Public Company CEO to Independent Sponsor
17 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Jeff Goldstein is an independent sponsor at Breakwater Management, formerly a private credit fund. Earlier this year they closed their first independe...
To Exit or Not to Exit: 2x MOIC in 2 Years
03 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Sarkaw Aziz acquired a $5 million EBITDA vacation rental platform in Colorado, structured it with a 50% seller rollover and a 3x EBITDA seller note, a...
The 3-5-7x MOIC Underwriting Framework
27 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Rick Apple built Upside Growth Partners out of Nashville after starting his career in the finance grind of New York. A Princeton grad turned entrepre...
A Portfolio Marked Up at 10x MOIC
20 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Stenning Schueppert, based in Austin, leads Evolution Strategy Partners, one of the most transparent and high-performing independent sponsors west of ...
Combining 2 Platforms to Reach $20m EBITDA
13 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zack Miller and his high school friend Johnny Lieberman combined their distinct backgrounds to launch Worklyn Partners, a dual platform marrying the V...
Behind The Scenes at Minds Capital: Building an Equity Fund for Independent Sponsors
06 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Celebrating 25 episodes, the founders of Minds Capital pull back the curtain on lessons from deploying Fund 1 capital, why they’re bullish on US pri...
24 Add-Ons in 24 Months
30 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Luis Reyes, an exited SaaS founder, is building a fire safety market leader in Spain through full-time focus on operations and rapid M&A with 24+ ...
20x MOIC After Decade-Long Hold
23 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
David Acharya has been an independent sponsor since the great financial recession His most notable deal, a 9.5-year investment in experiential marketi...
Carving Out an 8x MOIC in 3 Years
16 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Doug Song reflects on 25 years of experience as an independent sponsor, having co-founded Prodos Capital in 2003. He explains how Prodos views co-spon...
Quadruple EBITDA in 3.5 Years, Then Exit at 14x
09 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Former theater director Cory Sandrock explains how independent sponsorship is just stagecraft in a different suit: cast great people, raise funds for ...
Pushed Out by Anchor Investor
02 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
When Neal Doshi got within inches of closing a $40m+ transaction, his anchor investor rewrote the deal. Management fees and carry were stripped. Neal ...
Buying 9-Figure Deals
25 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Renaud Besançon is the founder of Ceres Industries Capital, one of Europe's leading independent sponsor firms. Free from the constraints of tradition...
Nick Huber: From 400k Followers to $52m Deal
18 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Serial entrepreneur Nick Huber turned a grueling college moving startup into a self-storage real estate empire. By mastering remote work and offshore ...
$16m Buyout to $55m Exit in 18 Months
11 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Kevin Ramsier's bought his first company for $60,000 and exited it for $77 million - growing EV by more than 1,000x! He also shares the story about a ...
Solo Sponsor: 5 Deals & 2 Exits
04 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Steven McGrath went from closing deals at billion-dollar family offices to becoming a solo independent sponsor headquartered in a LEGO-strewn basement...
Expand Multiple by Zone-Skipping EBITDA
28 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In just 4 years, Bobby Sheth has closed 10 platform deals, a rare pace for an independent sponsor. He focuses not on perfect companies, but on those w...
The State of SaaS in 2025
21 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Robert Koven discusses his journey from a SaaS-focused independent sponsor to founding a 100-man strong investment bank on Wall Street. Suit & tie...
Borgman: 500 LPs Across 10 Platforms
14 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Formerly a CPA, Sequoya Borgman realized his dealmaking clients were having more fun. In 2017, he hustled to raise the capital for his first platform ...
From Minority Stake to Double EBITDA in 2 Years
07 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
New York-based Neel Bhargava breaks down how a minority investment into a Crunch Fitness franchisee turned into a home run, scaling from 10 to 74 loca...
Why Committed LPs Beat Committed Capital
30 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
“Eat infrequently, eat well,” says Ramiro Alfaro, whose Paltus Capital goes slow, strikes big, and is pioneering deal-by-deal private equity in Ce...
Engineering 40% Carry
23 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Straddling the line between independent sponsor and self-funded searcher, MIT-educated operator Nick Haschka breaks down how to go beyond market terms...
$100m Deployed in 2+ Years — Thanks to Industry Focus
16 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In less than 3 years, Ben Hughes and Blue Ridge Construction Capital have acquired 4 platform companies in the building products industry, deploying o...
"I Care More About Moats Than Multiples"
09 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Serial entrepreneur and independent sponsor, Jory Caulkins, gives a tactical masterclass on how to build trust with sellers, partners, investors, and ...
Buying at <5x by Mastering Deal Flow
02 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Benjamin Graham-inspired value investor, Matt Bodnar, views deal flow and valuation discipline, specifically 4-5x, as the two mission-critical compone...
From UEFA Champions League to Deal-By-Deal PE
26 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
From playing against FC Barcelona at Nou Camp to negotiating with chain-smoking veterinarians, Nikolay Dimitrov at Unity Investment Partnership is tra...
How to Build an Investor Database of 4,000 HNWIs
19 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Zinger-machine Jay Fuquay is an EVP at Trinity Investors. Trinity was formerly an independent sponsor and is now a private equity and alternative inve...
How to Build an Indy Sponsor Team Before Chasing Deals
12 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Where many newly established independent sponsors "fake it 'till they make it", Shreveport-native Edward Crawford used his "Mission & Margin" prin...
From Searcher to Independent Sponsor to $225m Fund
05 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alex de Pfyffer and Ross Porter of Heritage Holdings share their journey from searchers (bringing a $45m revenue company to $140m) to sponsors (achiev...
Buying an 800-Unit Hair Salon during Covid
26 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Azhar Quader of Queens Court Capital specializes on special situations and walks us through how he used his large-cap Wall Street experience to take H...
20x a $10m investment in 2.5 years
17 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Michael Sutton, founder of Guideboat Capital Partners, discusses how he took a restaurant chain from $5m to $25m in EBITDA and then 40x'd the enterpri...