oday's interview is a wild ride through a harrowing 5-year journey of acquisition entrepreneurship.

Ayo Phillips bought a resurfacing & refinishing business in 2017. Within weeks the wheels started coming off.

Ayo's wife suffers a traumatic delivery in a Chicago hospital, which keeps him there during the first crucial days of his transition to owner of the business, which is based in Houston.

The first payroll checks don't clear.

Hurricane Harvey slams Houston.

Sales slide, fast.

He loses people, many of whom launch competing services in an already viciously competitive market.

And to his horror, he discovers that corruption is rife throughout his adopted industry.

And all of that is just in year 1.

But this saga doesn't end in collapse. Gradually, desperately, Ayo is able to pivot into a better market, build a business there, and exit to a strategic, doing right by his investors and walking away with a little money for himself.

In terms of takeaways, there are countless, and that's where we spend much of our time today. Ayo does a phenomenal job of crystalizing lessons — both strategic and spiritual — that other searchers might learn from.

You'll hear us talk about his 16 Commandments of Acquisition Entrepreneurship. We only had time for a handful of those, so make sure you click the link in the show notes to see the full list.

This is a long interview at almost 2 hours, but frankly we could have gone for 5.

Please enjoy this conversation with the humble, self-reflective, and hardened operator, Ayo Phillips.