Minds Capital Podcast Acquiring $10m of EBITDA as Industry Operators
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Mar 4, 2026 Edoardo Maggini, Operating Partner at StarStep and operator-led consolidator in specialty coatings. He recounts pivoting from a lost carve-out to aggregating founder-led firms. He walks through sourcing packaged deals, early integration wins, international expansion into Italy, and how operator-first playbooks and centralized procurement drove rapid roll-up growth.
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Operator Trio Built Industry-Focused Consolidator
- StarStep began in 2021 when three industry operators from PPG joined forces to build a long-term industrial group focused on specialty coatings.
- They pivoted from chasing a $45m EBITDA carve-out to targeting smaller, founder-led businesses where operational improvements create value.
Broker Packaged Three Targets To Create Critical Mass
- A broker who checked in periodically presented a packaged opportunity of three synergistic coatings businesses for sale as separate owners but one pitch.
- StarStep bought the package to quickly create critical mass: architectural, industrial, and a coatings distributor.
Operations, Not Financial Engineering, Drove Early Gains
- Operational play delivered improvements in revenue and margins across most acquisitions, though the architectural business lagged due to macro headwinds.
- Integration and operational fixes (sales teams, chemist hires, production tweaks) drove initial gains.