How to unwind a dead deal
How to unwind a dead deal: • Maintain a good relationship with the seller (unless they screwed you). They might come
Houston Happy Hour (Nov 2025)
Thank you to all who attended the LCS Forensic Accounting & Advisory fall cocktail reception last night in Houston, TX!
Mixed feelings about virtual data rooms
I have mixed feelings about investor portals / virtual data rooms (VDR). Yes, they are useful for organization and real-time
Discontinue other convos when under LOI
Should you discontinue ongoing business owner conversations if you're under LOI with someone else? Yes, kind of, if
Private Equity Podcast: The importance of differentiation
Alex RAWlings invited me on the Raw Selection show (YouTube, Spotify, etc.), which aired earlier this week. I appear border-
Benefits of no cross-collateralization
“What is really attractive about the independent sponsor model is not having investments cross-collateralized,” says Nathan Chandrasekaran. A PE
Deal of the Year Award
Sep 12, 2024: Malia Funk submitted Willistown Capital's new deal via the Minds Capital website. Oct 23, 2024:
11th hour, seller changes his mind
Your seller changed his mind in the 11th hour. The deal is gone. Not on pause, but dead. You have
Catchups are usually included in the waterfall
Catchups (100%) are almost always included in the waterfall. The exception is when the carried interest is set significantly above-
Buy the real estate w/ company
Say YES to buy the real estate associated with the target company. Often a business owner will prefer to retain
Purpose-driven independent sponsorship
Quinten Griffiths of GoodCapital in Canada bought his first business, a struggling Govt SaaS carveout from a bigger (healthier) enterprise
Zone-skipping, visualized
This is what zone-skipping looks like. Bigger companies = Bigger multiples Why? Because bigger companies tend to carry lower risk:
Board member comps in the LMM
Board member compensations in the lower-middle market: Investors who take board seats will usually be free. After all, they
Example of undifferentiated narrative
If this pitch (screenshot) resembles your narrative, then consider yourself an undifferentiated generalist. It’s time for you to craft
HNWIs live everywhere
One of the best parts of raising capital from retail/HNWIs is meeting genuinely interesting people. Last week I had
PE returns are superior to most
PE returns have been superior to those of VC, S&P 500 (big public stocks), and Russell 2000 (small
Warrants + Independent sponsors = 💔
Warrants + Independent sponsors = 💔 A warrant is like a stock option, giving lenders the right to convert a portion of the
Sunglasses when pitching investors
Don't wear sunglasses on your first Zoom call with a prospective investor.
1yr runway is too little
Most new searchers/sponsors give themselves 2 years of runway to close a deal. Remember that it usually takes 6+
McGuireWoods 2025
Today's Minds Capital Podcast episode was recorded in my hotel room last night. I'm typically locked
When losing a brokered process
If you lose a deal in a brokered process (i.e., somebody bid higher), stay in touch with the broker
Options for excess cash
"What should we do with our excess cash?" is everyone's favorite question at a board meeting.
Public company in the search world
Kingsway Financial Services is a public company whose legacy & history is in the insurance & warranty industry. However, Kingsway
IS ecosystem is collaborative
The independent sponsor & search spaces are often characterized as collaborative, as opposed to the sharp elbow reputation of high
