Axial’s top 2022 podcast episodes and 3 others to check out

Podcasts took off in the last couple of years and we finally got in on it in 2022 with the launch of Masters in Small Business M&A, hosted by Axial founder Peter Lehrman. 

Hopefully we’re adding something meaningful to the conversation. We’re having a great time interviewing operators and dealmakers solely within the Axial niche of American small business M&A.  

Below are our most-listened to episodes so far, as well as three other podcasts we think you should check out.

Enjoy the content, have safe travels, and happy holidays!

From 70 to 2000 employees – The Awesome EtA Growth Story of Pearce Services with its CEO, Bret Forster → Apple | Spotify

In this episode, Peter reconnects with his grad school classmate Bret Forster, CEO of Pearce Services. Bret sourced Pearce Services via Axial back in 2014 and has gone on to transform the company with entry into new markets, acquisitions and a big round of capital from New Mountain Capital.  

Goodbye Wall St, Hello SMB Holding Company → Apple | Spotify

Two Fidelity portfolio managers walk away from their great careers as public equity fund managers and decide to buy a chocolate business that they sourced via Axial. Peter investigates why they made the career switch, how Warren Buffett influenced their decision, and how they deliberately went about navigating their transition from their Wall Street careers to their new careers supporting family owned chocolate businesses. 

Steve Cook and the making of a true Operator-first Private Equity GP → Apple | Spotify

The path to managing partner path in private equity almost always starts in the investment banking ranks. But not always.  

In this episode, Peter sits down with Axial member Steve Cook, whose path prior to becoming Managing Partner at LFM Capital had him inside the cockpit of the US Navy’s A-6 and F/A-18 fighter jets and then building and managing state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities for Dell in their growth heydays. 

How to Win as a Generalist Family Office in the Lower Middle Market → Apple | Spotify

Ken Heuer walks through why he has never thought twice about his decision to leave venture capital in favor of long-term investing in the lower middle market. Ken also explains how the Kidd & Company family office goes about winning deals while maintaining a generalist posture in a world of increasing industry specialization.

Here are three other good podcasts in the private equity and M&A niche in case you’re looking: 

M&A Masters – good lower middle market podcast with good guests and a nice deep catalog of episodes at this point. 

Acquisitions Anonymous – fun and informal podcast with Bill D’Allesandro and Michael Girdley where they review a deal that they are evaluating and go through how they think about the opportunity. 

Acquiring Minds – A solid EtA-centric podcast. Largely focused on very small M&A deals and how the entrepreneur searcher got them done.

P.S. do you have any good guests to recommend for Axial’s podcast? If so, please email [email protected]. We’re building the schedule right now for the first half of 2023.