Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: This $44 billion deal failed fast A daycare for sale in Phoenix How to roll-up software businesses 🔑 When leverage fails What happens when a massive bet goes horribly wrong? Today we're going to walk through a disaster of a deal - one that still haunts private equity. In 2007, a group of investors executed the largest LBO in history (at the time), acquiring TXU Energy. KKR, TPG Capital, and...
13 days ago • 3 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: They lit $1.45 billion on fire. Here's what you can learn from them Warning to all business buyers My collection of business buying lessons 🔑 How to lose $1.45 billion in less than 2 years The 1980s was a defining moment for business buying. Many would call it the LBO Craze. Leveraged buyouts (LBOs) were a new mechanism for buying companies that fueled a frenzy of acquisitions. That frenzy...
20 days ago • 4 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: They bought too many businesses 20+ people showed me how to buy a business 🔑 When Conglomerates Go Wrong In the 1960s, American businesses were swept up in a wave of optimism. Post-World War II prosperity, a booming stock market, and loose antitrust enforcement created a perfect storm for companies to expand. Enter the conglomerate, the hot new business model of the time Conglomerate: a...
27 days ago • 3 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: The sexiest venture investment of the 80s: Office supplies Don't make this business buying mistake If you want to buy a business, we'll each you 🔑 Turning $4 million into a billion-dollar company "It's like a supermarket - but for office supplies!" If a VC heard a pitch like that today, they're throw the founder out of their office immediately. But back in the 1980s, this was the start of a...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: Buying a small business is chaos. Here's how to navigate it Off-market childcare & early learning center Making millions by cleaning up crime scenes 🔑 There are 350,000+ businesses waiting for you There are over 350,000 businesses in the United States with $5m to $100m in annual revenue. No, there isn't "too much competition" for you to find one good business to buy. I love this chart,...
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: Why does a $2 billion company sell for $103 million? Don't make this business buying mistake How to invest $1.5 billion in hotels 🔑 What happens when VC-backed startups fail to take off? You can probably name a dozen companies that took on venture funding and hit astronomical growth rates. Facebook. Uber. Google. DoorDash. Airbnb. Stripe. Early investors saw their initial capital multiple...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: They spent $4 billion - and then the industry collapsed Don't always be an optimist My friend bought 100+ auto shops (here's how) 🔑 They made a huge acquisition - and then the industry collapsed I love studying old deals. It helps me understand what makes a business acquisition successful (or a total flop). In many cases, luck plays a huge role. This is one of those cases. In 2006, Vulcan...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: Why he bought 9 businesses Don't buy a company without doing this I got some free advice on how to run hotels 🔑 "Why start a holding company?" I get this question all the time. I was chatting with my friend Rafael, who runs a holding company with 9 businesses. Years ago, Rafael and his business partner were choosing between starting a: Vertical holding company (owning several businesses in...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Welcome to The Business Buying Academy with Sieva Kozinsky. Here's what we have in store for you today: Questions to ask before buying a business A 133-year old business you should check out How he bought a business and tripled it 🔑 Everything to ask before buying a business Let me tell you a little secret about due diligence: Due diligence won't tell you everything about the business you're about to buy. You can find out about 50% of what you need to know. And you'll find out that other 50%...
2 months ago • 4 min read