Key Points From the Interview
oday's guest thought he would buy a single business for the long term.
Sure, there might be bolt-ons and strategic M&A opportunities along the way, but he wasn't envisioning acquisition being the core motion of the project.
Well when he found a business he wanted to buy and went into the market looking to raise equity, one investor gave him a piece of pivotal advice:
Make this acquisition a platform, and do a roll-up.
Elliott Edge took the advice.
4.5 years later, he's acquired 7 businesses and is at $16m in revenue.
As if to make the point, you'll hear how Elliott was going to give the Day 1 speech at his latest acquisition literally right after our interview.
Now, in addition to getting a peek inside the life & strategy of someone pursuing a roll-up, a few particular themes to listen for:
First, adding value. A good roll-up should be more than an assemblage, a collection of disparate businesses that happen to be in the same industry. No, what you want is for the whole to be greater than the sum of the parts. And you do that by integrating your acquisitions, stitching them together into a cohesive single entity.
Which leads to theme #2: change management.
Integrating the businesses, rather than just leaving them as islands unto themselves, means you're going to change each business you buy. Elliott has learned a lot about the art of doing so, and we spend time here.
And finally, payday.
At the end of the interview Elliott does the napkin math for how much money the entrepreneur behind a roll-up stands to make. I so appreciated his transparency here, understanding exactly what all that revenue & EBITDA could actually mean for Elliott's own net worth when he exits.
OK, here is Elliott Edge pulling back the curtain on his roll-up for us to learn from. Enjoy.