Minds Capital Podcast

Chris Eichmann, co-founder of Pilsman Partners, brings banking, private equity, and operations experience. Edwin Burke, co-founder, focuses on industrials, manufacturing, and infrastructure with years of platform and add-on deal work. They discuss why they stayed deal-by-deal, their "suits & jeans" partnership approach, investing behind strong founders, M&A-driven rollups like PowerVac, and selective use of operating partners.

Corbin Cook, co-founder of Rise Run Capital and hands-on operator who led a 7x EBITDA exit, and Alex Swanston, former Q of E provider turned independent sponsor with deep diligence chops, discuss a founder buyout turned revival. They cover liberating employees, reinvesting in service and sales, whiteboard playbooks, long seller courtship, and disciplined valuation and growth levers.

Chris Breaux, founder of Emberline and former investment banker who builds government‑adjacent, growth-oriented tech businesses. He talks about leaving big banking for lower middle market. He explains rebuilding product stacks, using AI to accelerate development while keeping human judgment, and the idea of a portfolio-level applied AI engineer to scale operations across companies.

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.

Aaron Stahl, founder and CEO who built P3 Cost Analysts into a nationwide cost-reduction firm, sold after 21 years to reclaim time and enable growth. He recounts starting in college, scaling via partnerships and franchising, wrestling with the CEO bottleneck, choosing an independent sponsor for cultural fit and trust, and how sabbaticals shaped his priorities.

Justin Turner, managing partner at Traction Capital who led a $15M to nearly $100M growth and 11x MOIC exit. He discusses long-hold value creation, the three levers that scaled revenue, the split between organic and add-on growth, and the operational moves and CEO alignment that unlocked expansion and higher sale multiples.

In celebration of our 50th episode, the 3 GPs of Minds Capital share their journey: the media-first strategy's role in creating a deal flow flywheel, behind-the-scenes from the podcast, learnings from high-velocity investing, and thoughts on the future. A special note of gratitude to our investors; thank you for making this journey possible - we're having a blast!References and how to contact today's guest:Minds Capital | LinkedInMinds Capital invests equity into deals by independent sponsors and searchers. For independent sponsors with a deal under LOI, visit Minds Capital to start a conversation. Our website also contains more information about this podcast and for prospective investors.Connect with Minds:See past + future interviews on the YouTube channelConnect with hosts Will Smith and Niklas JamesVisit Minds CapitalCredits:Edited by Anton Rohozov

Kevin Wong, Chief Investment Officer at Lang Partners and active LP in the independent sponsor space. He discusses shifting into sponsor-led deals, why investing earlier in sponsor careers matters, yield-bearing versus buy-and-build return profiles, the importance of EQ and commercial GPs, scalable governance like observer seats, and building community through the Lang Outing.

Alan Baca, operator and partner scaling commercial landscaping roll-ups. Dana Robinson, independent sponsor building Verde with prior HVAC and plumbing roll-ups. They discuss warehousing early deals, moving fast on acquisitions but slow on integration. They explain retaining customers and employees, key early hires, and why an operator-first playbook matters.

In this engaging discussion, James Bohannon, Senior VP at Belzberg & Co, shares his wealth of knowledge about family offices and independent sponsors. He reveals how family offices assess funding opportunities and the crucial distinctions between family and funded capital. James emphasizes the importance of trust and alignment in GP-LP relationships and why diligent sponsors should ask the right questions. He also dives into market dynamics, the growth of institutional capital, and strategies for developing lucrative partnerships.