The SMB Investor
The SMB Investor
Podcast Description
Forget startups. Forget climbing the corporate ladder.
The real path to wealth? Owning profitable small businesses.
Hosted by Sean Smith and Nick Bryant, The SMB Investor dives into how investors, operators, and dealmakers are building wealth through small business acquisitions, syndicates, and holding companies.
We talk to the pros—fund managers, investors, searchers, and service providers—who are making SMB investing the next big asset class.
Whether you want to invest, operate, or build your own holding company, this podcast is your playbook.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers a range of content themes centered on small business investing, including evaluating small business acquisitions, building supportive communities for entrepreneurs, and the nuances of creating a profitable SMB portfolio. Specific episodes highlight important factors such as Quality of Earnings evaluations, effective community building for success, and strategies for distinguishing successful SMB investing approaches.
Forget startups. Forget climbing the corporate ladder.
The real path to wealth? Owning profitable small businesses.
Hosted by Sean Smith and Nick Bryant, The SMB Investor dives into how investors, operators, and dealmakers are building wealth through small business acquisitions, syndicates, and holding companies.
We talk to the pros—fund managers, investors, searchers, and service providers—who are making SMB investing the next big asset class.
Whether you want to invest, operate, or build your own holding company, this podcast is your playbook.
In this in-depth conversation, Sean Smith, Managing Partner of Search Fund Ventures and Founder of SMB Investor Network, sits down with Jon Staenberg, Founder & CEO of Agate Hound Fund, to explore the evolution of search funds and the rise of microcap private equity.
Jon shares firsthand perspective from the earliest days of search at Stanford Business School, how the traditional search fund model emerged, and why he views it as microcap private equity with a repeatable playbook. The discussion covers portfolio-style investing through a fund-of-funds approach, diversification and access for investors, and how demographic tailwinds are shaping the future of small business acquisitions.
They also examine how the search ecosystem is evolving, differences between traditional MBA-led search and mid-career operators, and why technology and AI may meaningfully improve acquisition diligence, operating efficiency, and long-term outcomes in SMBs.
This episode is essential viewing for investors, operators, and anyone interested in entrepreneurship through acquisition and long-term value creation in the SMB market.
👉 Subscribe for more long-form interviews on SMB investing and acquisition strategies.💬 Share your thoughts or questions in the comments below.
📩 Connect with the speakers:
- Jon Staenberg LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonstaenberg/
- Jon Staenberg Email: [email protected]
- Agate Hound Fund: https://www.aggathound.fund
- Sean Smith LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-smith-47ab2a70/
- SMB Investor Network: https://www.smbinvestornetwork.com/
Disclaimer
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