What 137 Acquisitions Taught Me About Operational Excellence | Robert Irving Interview

In this episode, Robert Irving of Buffalo Growth Partners shares what he learned from building a fire protection business from zero to $20M in revenue, selling it to private equity, rolling equity, and then helping execute a 137-company rollup.

Timestamps:
0:00 Why PE value creation is harder than it sounds
1:52 From fire protection operator to $20M in revenue
4:09 The three sales roles that drive B2B growth
6:25 Building hospitals, data centers, and complex fire systems
8:07 Selling the company and rolling equity into the platform
9:33 Going from one business to 12 offices and 800 people
11:21 The hidden pattern behind great acquisitions
13:53 Why integrations usually fail because of people
15:49 What 100+ acquisitions teach you that one or two never could
18:13 How to diligence small businesses without overcomplicating it
19:30 The danger of fast rollups and pure multiple arbitrage
23:39 Retaining owners and creating alignment after the deal
25:15 The real craft of off-market sourcing
31:00 Buffalo Growth Partners and the “guys in trucks” thesis
37:39 Reimagining private equity through operations
40:12 Small consistent improvements that compound into big results
42:06 Constraint-based growth and finding the real bottleneck
45:05 Meeting operators where they are with technology
48:51 Where to find Robert Irving and Buffalo Growth Partners

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.