Buyers and Builders How We Bought 160 Businesses and Built a $1.5B HoldCo at 33 and 35 | Ramsey Sahyoun of Evergreen
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May 13, 2026 Ramsey Sahyoun, co-founder and CEO of Evergreen who built a $1.5B holdco through ~160 acquisitions, shares rapid-growth stories and hard lessons. He talks proprietary sourcing, why decentralization preserved customer intimacy, and how talent becomes the engine of value creation. Expect tales of failed roll-ups, a 15,000-company sourcing database, and the playbook behind scaling acquisitive companies.
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Build A Proprietary Sourcing Engine By Hustling
- Hustle on sourcing: personally research companies, call owners, and set weekly goals for database additions and outreaches.
- Ramsey started as the sole sourcer, doing ~10 owner calls per day and building a proprietary pipeline before scaling the team.
Volume Of Opportunities Creates Deal Discipline
- Proprietary deal flow creates discipline because having many opportunities lets you walk away from bad deals.
- Ramsey reports ~80% of Evergreen's deals are proprietary, enabled by an active outreach engine and large database.
Break Ice By Being Helpful And Honest
- Build rapport by doing research, talking shop about industry tech, sharing real challenges, and offering non-self-serving guidance.
- Ramsey often tells owners when he thinks they should not sell to build trust and long-term relationships that later convert.