How I Left Real Estate PE, Bought 6 Companies and Sold To A Strategic Buyer In 23 Months

HoldCo Builders

Mike Botkin went from being a real estate private equity COO to buying a small landscaping business doing $780K in revenue - with no prior experience and no money down. Just 23 months later, he sold it for millions after scaling through 6 smart acquisitions and ruthless focus.
This is one of the most tactical and inspiring HoldCo journeys you’ll hear in a long time. If you’ve ever thought about leaving your job to buy a business, this is the episode that might make you do it.
Thank you to our newest sponsors:
Scalepath: https://www.joinscalepath.com/
Spacebar Studios: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/
In this episode, we cover:
00:00:00 - Why Mike left a PE COO role to buy a $780K landscaping business
00:00:31 - “I wasn’t qualified” - Mike explains why he took the leap anyway
00:03:13 - Sponsor: ScalePath - Peer groups for HoldCos and SMB operators
00:04:30 - Burn the boats: betting everything on himself with a newborn at home
00:06:23 - How he found his first business on BizBuySell and closed in 45 days
00:08:20 - The myth of perfect deals and how Mike created his own luck
00:13:00 - Sponsor: Spacebar Studios - Growth engine for B2B PE-backed companies
00:14:10 - Why Mike fired $3M in revenue and focused only on profitable customers
00:20:12 - A reporting hack that boosted margins by cutting wasted labor time
00:22:53 - He wasn’t buying businesses, he was acquiring great people
00:26:10 - Don’t buy from tired sellers, look for mid-career owners instead
00:28:20 - Why Mike avoided SBA loans and bought 6 businesses with no debt
00:34:19 - How he raised millions without putting in a dollar of his own
00:38:55 - The exit: selling the company and why early retirement didn’t stick
00:42:50 - Starting Canvas Outdoors: replicating the model with two platforms
00:44:15 - Why maniacal focus beats portfolio diversification for HoldCos
00:50:00 - Lessons from a CEO: “Keep the main thing the main thing"
00:52:42 - Mike’s favorite book and his brutally honest best investment advice
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Subscribe on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/6lr5bE3SNZF2uEE7Nb0DHh
Subscribe on Apple Podcasts:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holdco-builders/id1695713724
Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy⁠⁠⁠
Mike on Twitter: https://x.com/MikeBotkin_
This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.