ne of the ways that acquisition entrepreneurship differs from zero-to-one entrepreneurship is that you need to adopt the mindset of an investor.

‍Think about all those considerations we talk about here when evaluating which business to buy:

  • Quality of revenue
  • Longevity of the business
  • Strength of the brand
  • Customer concentration
  • Market tailwinds & headwinds
  • Return on assets
  • Et cetera

We're doing the analysis of an investor.

‍There are of course even more considerations for the acquisition entrepreneur, who will also be the one actually leading & living in the business.

But when you're taking a first look at the CIM of a business for sale, most of the time you're thinking like an investor.

And today, we're going to lean into that.

‍It was a pleasure to interview Rafael Quinn.

Rafael is American born & raised, but in his 20s sold all his belongings on Craigslist, and moved to his mother's native Panama. He's been there ever since.

‍Over the last 13 years, he and his partner have built a holdco of 3 businesses in Panama, and have more recently raised almost $30m to look for larger opportunities back here in the States.

What you're going to hear today is what this path of buying small businesses could look like if taken to the investor extreme.

If you wanted to live here in SMB land, but never be an operator.

‍You just wanted to buy & hold businesses.

It is possible, but it requires discipline and extreme patience. Which are two qualities that Warren Buffet talks about a lot, and it's no accident that Rafael and his partner are aficionados of the Oracle of Omaha.

So today's guest has a bit of a different profile than my usual guest, but plays in the same sandbox and has a lot to share about it.

Here's Rafael Quinn, president of Alternative Holdings.