Top M&A Entrepreneurs

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

Bill Snow shares his journey in the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provides valuable insights into the industry. He introduces himself and talks about his background, giving viewers an overview of his origin story. Bill discusses his first deal, a spin-out deal that unfortunately did not reach fruition. He then touches on the concept of valuation, emphasizing how some individuals can have overly optimistic expectations.

Bill goes on to recount his first successful deal, where he worked with a $20 million marketing company. He highlights the importance of not providing a disservice to clients or offering bad advice. The quality of earnings reports is strongly recommended by Bill, and he notes the increasing prevalence of Reps & Warranty Insurance in the industry.


Towards the end, Bill mentions "10 Reasons Acquisitions Fail" and "10 Lurking Problems for Sellers," which are discussed in his book. These sections cover common challenges and pitfalls encountered in M&A transactions, providing valuable insights for anyone involved in the process.

Overall, Bill Snow's video provides a comprehensive overview of his experiences in the M&A industry, offering valuable advice and insights for professionals and enthusiasts alike.



SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:51  Intro to Bill Snow origin story
03:43  first deal Bill worked on - spin-out deal - did not get deal done
04:34  Valuation - stars in their eyes
05:28  First successful deal working on a $20 million marketing company
06:54  disservice to client or bad advice
08:05  Quality of Earnings reports - strongly recommend
08:40  Reps & Warranty Insurance - seeing it more and more...
09:20  How an investment banker gets paid
11:39  The Best part of the M&A job & How Negotiating & playing cards are similar
16:29  How to win at poker and M&A
19:42  How many deals did Bill work on before book
20:25  Why he wrote the book, M&A for Dummies
26:11  Don't give my company ideas about wanting royalties
29:15  Did the "For Dummies" brand help you?
30:43  Did the M&A for Dummies book open new doors or backfire?
35:41  What is difference between first edition book and 2nd?
36:57   What's my Valuation?   A. "It depends"
38:58   how to create Sell Side Valuations for buyers
43:30   When 80% of your revenue is from one customer
46:15   If the Quality of Earnings Report is done right...
47:58   I am the Tax man.   page 185 of Mergers & Acquisitions for Dummies
49:44   10 Reasons Acquisitions Fail:  Bureaucracy,  Zombie,  No Authority,  pg. 331 
55:37   10 Lurking Problems for Sellers: Accruals,  Parallel Activities & The End Run pg. 335




LINKS to Bill Snow
www.linkedin.com/in/billsnow
Mergers & Acquisitions for Dummies by Bill Snow  on Amazon.com

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

Bill Snow shares his journey in the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provides valuable insights into the industry. He introduces himself and talks about his background, giving viewers an overview of his origin story. Bill discusses his first deal, a spin-out deal that unfortunately did not reach fruition. He then touches on the concept of valuation, emphasizing how some individuals can have overly optimistic expectations.

Bill goes on to recount his first successful deal, where he worked with a $20 million marketing company. He highlights the importance of not providing a disservice to clients or offering bad advice. The quality of earnings reports is strongly recommended by Bill, and he notes the increasing prevalence of Reps & Warranty Insurance in the industry.


Towards the end, Bill mentions "10 Reasons Acquisitions Fail" and "10 Lurking Problems for Sellers," which are discussed in his book. These sections cover common challenges and pitfalls encountered in M&A transactions, providing valuable insights for anyone involved in the process.

Overall, Bill Snow's video provides a comprehensive overview of his experiences in the M&A industry, offering valuable advice and insights for professionals and enthusiasts alike.



SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:51  Intro to Bill Snow origin story
03:43  first deal Bill worked on - spin-out deal - did not get deal done
04:34  Valuation - stars in their eyes
05:28  First successful deal working on a $20 million marketing company
06:54  disservice to client or bad advice
08:05  Quality of Earnings reports - strongly recommend
08:40  Reps & Warranty Insurance - seeing it more and more...
09:20  How an investment banker gets paid
11:39  The Best part of the M&A job & How Negotiating & playing cards are similar
16:29  How to win at poker and M&A
19:42  How many deals did Bill work on before book
20:25  Why he wrote the book, M&A for Dummies
26:11  Don't give my company ideas about wanting royalties
29:15  Did the "For Dummies" brand help you?
30:43  Did the M&A for Dummies book open new doors or backfire?
35:41  What is difference between first edition book and 2nd?
36:57   What's my Valuation?   A. "It depends"
38:58   how to create Sell Side Valuations for buyers
43:30   When 80% of your revenue is from one customer
46:15   If the Quality of Earnings Report is done right...
47:58   I am the Tax man.   page 185 of Mergers & Acquisitions for Dummies
49:44   10 Reasons Acquisitions Fail:  Bureaucracy,  Zombie,  No Authority,  pg. 331 
55:37   10 Lurking Problems for Sellers: Accruals,  Parallel Activities & The End Run pg. 335




LINKS to Bill Snow
www.linkedin.com/in/billsnow
Mergers & Acquisitions for Dummies by Bill Snow  on Amazon.com

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

In this YouTube video, Craig Dickens from JD Merit Group is interviewed about his experiences in the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Craig begins by sharing his background, including his success in building a mail-order company for tri-athletes, which he eventually sold. He then discusses how he used the proceeds from that sale to pursue his next ventures.


SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:51  Intro to Craig Dickens from JD Merit Group
01:23  Building mail order company for Tri-Athletes - 26k mail list - and sold that
05:59  What was next?  Parlayed the proceeds 
07:11  How much did you parlay to the next opportunity
08:53  Finding his niche size
11:18  Buying & Selling a QuickBooks company
12:23  Looking for another acquisition - How you make decisions to invest
15:20  Bending will to reality - the endowment effect  
16:23  Elon Outlier 
18:25  Any of those acquisitions not work out and why?
21:45  Why Craig sold one at a time
23:18  What usually happens when you over pay for acquisitions
25:08  Did you use partners?
27:18  How Craig structures deals - Finding the deal,  Sponsoring the Deal
29:22  How much money does Craig bring to deal
30:52  Example of $20 million deal - law of large numbers Capital Providers
33:30  PE or FO or HNWI 
35:24  Why he moved from owning the companies to M&A Advisor
37:30  Personal Guarantees - learning from our failures
40:04  Should I sell now?
42:24  How do you know - John Warrillow - Built to sell 
44:24  How do you find clients - Guess what?  LinkedIn
45:45  Why do they pick your firm over others?
49:12  First time sellers - first time buyers
51:24  What do you do if seller wants more than company is worth?
54:57  Fastest deal done - and average
56:45  How much of your tri-athlete mindset helped you in M&A - learn to accept suffering
58:24   When you deal has hair on it - the M&A Axiom - price the risk
59:54  How Craig's M&A firm charges
1:02:01  How many deals do you work on per month
1:02:30  How do feel about your work today
 


LINKS to Craig Dickens
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigdickens/
https://jdmerit.com/

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

In this YouTube video, Craig Dickens from JD Merit Group is interviewed about his experiences in the world of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Craig begins by sharing his background, including his success in building a mail-order company for tri-athletes, which he eventually sold. He then discusses how he used the proceeds from that sale to pursue his next ventures.


SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:51  Intro to Craig Dickens from JD Merit Group
01:23  Building mail order company for Tri-Athletes - 26k mail list - and sold that
05:59  What was next?  Parlayed the proceeds 
07:11  How much did you parlay to the next opportunity
08:53  Finding his niche size
11:18  Buying & Selling a QuickBooks company
12:23  Looking for another acquisition - How you make decisions to invest
15:20  Bending will to reality - the endowment effect  
16:23  Elon Outlier 
18:25  Any of those acquisitions not work out and why?
21:45  Why Craig sold one at a time
23:18  What usually happens when you over pay for acquisitions
25:08  Did you use partners?
27:18  How Craig structures deals - Finding the deal,  Sponsoring the Deal
29:22  How much money does Craig bring to deal
30:52  Example of $20 million deal - law of large numbers Capital Providers
33:30  PE or FO or HNWI 
35:24  Why he moved from owning the companies to M&A Advisor
37:30  Personal Guarantees - learning from our failures
40:04  Should I sell now?
42:24  How do you know - John Warrillow - Built to sell 
44:24  How do you find clients - Guess what?  LinkedIn
45:45  Why do they pick your firm over others?
49:12  First time sellers - first time buyers
51:24  What do you do if seller wants more than company is worth?
54:57  Fastest deal done - and average
56:45  How much of your tri-athlete mindset helped you in M&A - learn to accept suffering
58:24   When you deal has hair on it - the M&A Axiom - price the risk
59:54  How Craig's M&A firm charges
1:02:01  How many deals do you work on per month
1:02:30  How do feel about your work today
 


LINKS to Craig Dickens
https://www.linkedin.com/in/craigdickens/
https://jdmerit.com/

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

Adrian Pinto is CEO of Georgia Scapes.   Georgia Scapes is a licensed and insured provider of landscape services, including: commercial maintenance and installation, irrigation, anti-erosion, and residential design and installation

SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:48  Intro to Adrian Pinto 
01:35  Learning Experience - and his background at PE firms
03:36  What did you Adrian do at the PE firms?
06:25  When & Why he made the decision to buy a company
10:04  Did you want to do it by yourself or with partner?
10:50  How did you find the acquisition?
12:34  What was your criteria 
13:26  Why did seller want to sell?
14:11  Who did the audit?
14:43  Was business reasonably priced / valuation?
17:10  Working Capital in the PE world - and the SMB seller wants it
19:50  Why is SBA loan a double edge sword to future growth?
24:25  Talking about Mark Leonard at Constellation Software & Operational Excellence 
28:10  Creating Havoc with more acquisitions
28:38   How he grew the acquisition by 42%
30:15   How the SBA views history when you are a 25 year old company
32:33  Why he chose landscaping business
34:09  What was experience like with employees when you don't know anything
36:25  Any employee leave?
37:05  Any surprise red flags or seller disingenuous? 
39:04  Did you create a risk that was not real - being reasonable?
42:43  Recurring Revenue & what he liked about the business


LINKS to Adrian Pinto
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianpinto/
https://www.georgiascapes.com/

This episode was brought to you by The Magnolia Firm.  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.  https://exit.themagnoliafirm.co/top

Adrian Pinto is CEO of Georgia Scapes.   Georgia Scapes is a licensed and insured provider of landscape services, including: commercial maintenance and installation, irrigation, anti-erosion, and residential design and installation

SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Episode brought to you by The Magnolia Firm
00:48  Intro to Adrian Pinto 
01:35  Learning Experience - and his background at PE firms
03:36  What did you Adrian do at the PE firms?
06:25  When & Why he made the decision to buy a company
10:04  Did you want to do it by yourself or with partner?
10:50  How did you find the acquisition?
12:34  What was your criteria 
13:26  Why did seller want to sell?
14:11  Who did the audit?
14:43  Was business reasonably priced / valuation?
17:10  Working Capital in the PE world - and the SMB seller wants it
19:50  Why is SBA loan a double edge sword to future growth?
24:25  Talking about Mark Leonard at Constellation Software & Operational Excellence 
28:10  Creating Havoc with more acquisitions
28:38   How he grew the acquisition by 42%
30:15   How the SBA views history when you are a 25 year old company
32:33  Why he chose landscaping business
34:09  What was experience like with employees when you don't know anything
36:25  Any employee leave?
37:05  Any surprise red flags or seller disingenuous? 
39:04  Did you create a risk that was not real - being reasonable?
42:43  Recurring Revenue & what he liked about the business


LINKS to Adrian Pinto
https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianpinto/
https://www.georgiascapes.com/

This episode was brought to you buy https://themagnoliafirm.co/  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.

Eric Hsu (on Twitter at Lawyer4SMBs)  2nd degree connection2nd
Business Acquisition Lawyer | M&A, SBA Deals, SMB | I help self-funded entrepreneurs negotiate/structure/close SMB acquisition deals

SHOW NOTES:
00:00  


LINKS to Eric Hsu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyer4smbs/
https://lawyer4smbs.com/
@lawyer4SMBs

This episode was brought to you buy https://themagnoliafirm.co/  Specialty M&A Business Brokerage firm helping business owners sell their company.

Eric Hsu (on Twitter at Lawyer4SMBs)  2nd degree connection2nd
Business Acquisition Lawyer | M&A, SBA Deals, SMB | I help self-funded entrepreneurs negotiate/structure/close SMB acquisition deals

SHOW NOTES:
00:00  


LINKS to Eric Hsu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lawyer4smbs/
https://lawyer4smbs.com/
@lawyer4SMBs

🆓 FREE LinkedIn Deal Flow Course - https://www.dealflowsystem.net/free 👉Learn More about How to Buy a Million Dollar Business www.DealFlowSystem.net 

Ron Holt  Former CEO & Founder of Two Maids & A Mop. Current Founder of Pink Zebra Moving.


SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Intro to Ron Holt
01:20  Where did he get the inspiration?
03:48  How he launched Two Maids and a Mop
04:47 How much did you save up?
06:33  Why go after a fragmented industry?
08:02  Did you create a formal business plan?
12:45  How long did you go without paycheck?
15:12  Who was your Darth Vader?  
16:10  How did you turn it around - figure out product market fit?
19:24  How did you pay your people?
20:40 Did you terminate the bottom 10%?
21:19  What were the economics of your franchise?
22:24  You got it figured out,  what did that do your revenue?
23:34  Where did the franchise idea come from?
26:04  You met a Subway billionaire on accident?
28:13   What was the conversation like?
30:43  Did you keep in touch with him?
32:43  How did you go from 11 to 93 locations?
33:15  How much did you sell a franchise for?
37:29  Why were people attracted to the opportunity?
39:12   Fast forward,  93 locations,  why did you sell to PE?
40:58  The new idea...when did that start?
43:22  There is not repeat revenue in moving business - or is there?
44:54  Pink Zebra,  is that from Purple Cow,  #sethgodin 
45:39  Did you hire an investment banker to help you sell?
49:02  What kind of multiples did you get on a 93 location franchise?
50:16  You have a boat load of money now,  did you apply same boot strap ideas?
53:02  How many franchises do you have now?
53:50  What was a big mistake you made in that first business?
55:50  Do you feel like you are following in Fred DeLucas shoes?
56:35  What is a win for you?
58:48 Revenue for the moving company now?
59:22 How many are you going to add per year?


LINKS to Ron Holt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronholtfranchise/
https://pinkzebramoving.com/

🆓 FREE LinkedIn Deal Flow Course - https://www.dealflowsystem.net/free 👉Learn More about How to Buy a Million Dollar Business www.DealFlowSystem.net 

Ron Holt  Former CEO & Founder of Two Maids & A Mop. Current Founder of Pink Zebra Moving.


SHOW NOTES:
00:00  Intro to Ron Holt
01:20  Where did he get the inspiration?
03:48  How he launched Two Maids and a Mop
04:47 How much did you save up?
06:33  Why go after a fragmented industry?
08:02  Did you create a formal business plan?
12:45  How long did you go without paycheck?
15:12  Who was your Darth Vader?  
16:10  How did you turn it around - figure out product market fit?
19:24  How did you pay your people?
20:40 Did you terminate the bottom 10%?
21:19  What were the economics of your franchise?
22:24  You got it figured out,  what did that do your revenue?
23:34  Where did the franchise idea come from?
26:04  You met a Subway billionaire on accident?
28:13   What was the conversation like?
30:43  Did you keep in touch with him?
32:43  How did you go from 11 to 93 locations?
33:15  How much did you sell a franchise for?
37:29  Why were people attracted to the opportunity?
39:12   Fast forward,  93 locations,  why did you sell to PE?
40:58  The new idea...when did that start?
43:22  There is not repeat revenue in moving business - or is there?
44:54  Pink Zebra,  is that from Purple Cow,  #sethgodin 
45:39  Did you hire an investment banker to help you sell?
49:02  What kind of multiples did you get on a 93 location franchise?
50:16  You have a boat load of money now,  did you apply same boot strap ideas?
53:02  How many franchises do you have now?
53:50  What was a big mistake you made in that first business?
55:50  Do you feel like you are following in Fred DeLucas shoes?
56:35  What is a win for you?
58:48 Revenue for the moving company now?
59:22 How many are you going to add per year?


LINKS to Ron Holt
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ronholtfranchise/
https://pinkzebramoving.com/