Inspired Or Acquired

Clint Fiore, Patrick Dichter

The show where business owners get a valuation and share if they would sell or want to hold on. Real conversations, real numbers, real life.

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57 episodes
Updated Dec 17, 2025

Episodes57

Newest first

Feb 14, 2025 · 39 min
David Ensley - Building vs Buying Orthodontic Practices
Dr. David Ensley has built Celebrate Dental & Braces in Austin to $1.5M revenue and $500k EBITDA within 3 years. He has his sites on multiple offices in Austin, and he's also a partner in a larger DSO that does +$70M of combined revenue. We discuss what his practice could sell for now, how valuations range from 3x to 15x, building vs buying, and different DSO structures. David Ensley on X: https://x.com/theDSOguy Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Feb 7, 2025 · 49 min
Shane Ehrsam - Buying & Improving North Texas Trailers
Shane Ehrsam bought North Texas Trailers just a few years ago. Since then he's grown revenue to $11.5M, improved the team and tech, and maintained healthy margins. We dig into what the business is worth today and if he would sell soon, capital allocation for inventory vs real estate vs new acquisitions, and and how he thinks about building the best business it can be so it's a sellable asset. North Texas Trailers: https://www.northtexastrailers.com/ Shane Ehrsam on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shane-ehrsam/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/ Walker Deibel & Acquisition Lab: https://acquisitionlab.com/
Jan 29, 2025 · 44 min
Robert Mayer - Is A Party Business Worth $3-4M??
Robert Mayer has built an amazing business with Arizona Party Bike. It's a unique tour company based in Arizona specializing in pedal-powered party bikes where guests can enjoy their favorite adult beverages on board. He's been a pioneer in the industry bringing the model to the US, manufacturing the bikes for other locations, franchising, and even getting involved in legislation related to party bikes having alcohol. Clint explains why his current business is worth a high multiple, Robert debates selling, and Robert reveals some big expansion plans. Robert Mayer on X: https://x.com/RobertMayer Arizona Party Bike: https://www.arizonapartybike.com/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Jan 15, 2025 · 39 min
Hayden Slack - Scaling A Family Business 8x and Buying It
Hayden Slack joined the family foundation repair business at $4M revenue and grew to $30M. He also launched a plumbing business from scratch that's grown to $4M revenue. We discuss what the plumbing business is worth and if he'd sell it; we also cover what it's like navigating family dynamics and the key growth levers in the foundation business. Hayden Slack on X: https://x.com/Hayden__Slack Clint Fiore and Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter and Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Jan 10, 2025 · 59 min
Inspired Or Acquired - 10k downloads, listener questions, and our 2025 goals
This is a special episode of Inspired Or Acquired to celebrate 10,000 downloads, reflect on learnings from prior episodes, share 2025 goals, and answer listener questions. The shows hosts, Clint Fiore and Patrick Dichter, also give some of their career backstory of how they ended up Mergers & Acquisitions (Clint) and Accounting (Patrick). Clint Fiore & Bison Business: bisonbusiness.com Patrick Dichter & Appletree: appletreebusiness.com
Jan 2, 2025 · 49 min
Ben Tiggelaar - Buying IT Services Companies
In 2023 Ben Tiggelaar made the acquisition most people dream of - an IT services business that's recession resistant, with sticky clients, healthy margins, management team in place, and can be run remotely. He's steadily improved the business and made another acquisition already putting revenue over $8M. We discuss if he plans to sell, the IT services landscape, tuck in acquisition strategies, investing in other searchers, and why he's enjoying life more running DataTel. Previously Ben had a successful exit in a dental platform after his investment banking career. Ben Tiggelaar on X: https://x.com/bentigg DataTel: https://datatelco.com/ SMB Junction: https://www.smbjunction.com/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Dec 19, 2024 · 47 min
Marc Hawk - The Journey of Selling RevLocal To Hibu
Marc Hawk joins Inspired Or Acquired to share the journey of selling RevLocal to Hibu. Marc Hawk was the CEO of RevLocal for 14 years and is now part of the Hibu team as EVP. During that 14 year run, RevLocal became one one of the biggest digital marketing agencies for small businesses. Marc explains they didn't have to sell and the 3 reasons why you might sell a company after growing to +$50M revenue. We also cover the details of integration, the company synergies, and how he's feeling a few months post close. Marc Hawk on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marchawk/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Dec 12, 2024 · 44 min
Jameson Haslam - Can West Coast Decks grow to $10 million?
What does a Stanford grad and former investment banking employee employee do when they start their own business? A deck construction company of course. Jameson Haslam has quickly built West Coast Deck to over $1.2M revenue within 2.5 years. He's dialed in content marketing and social media, and built some innovative online tools that he might license to other contractors. We discuss if he would sell today, new products he's launching, and how he's modeling his business after other $7-10M deck builders in other markets. Jameson is funny, scrappy and reflective. Enjoy! Jameson Haslam on X: https://twitter.com/jamesonhaslam West Coast Decks: https://www.westcoastdeck.com/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Dec 5, 2024 · 39 min
Ian McKenna - To Sell Or Grow A Great Lab Services Business?
Ian started InTech Scientific years ago and it's become a very profitable and well respected business. He services lab equipment in universities, hospitals and bioteach startups through New England. Now he's getting inquiries and offers from buyers, and he's wondering what his business is worth and what a sale could look like. We also discuss if he decided to staff up and scale to 2-3x the value in the next few years. InTech Scientific: https://www.intechscientificsolutions.com/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Nov 20, 2024 · 38 min
Cheryl Ham - Building A Craft & Subscription Business To +$1M Revenue
Cheryl Ham has built Hypnotic Yarn into a +$1M revenue business with 28% net profit margin and 80% of revenue on a subscription basis. She was an amazing story of trying to 'create a little side hustle' that has become a great business with a great mission to help customers unleash their creativity. We discuss what her business might be worth today and future plans for the company. Hypnotic Yarn Website: https://hypnoticyarn.com/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Nov 15, 2024 · 51 min
Devin Wanzor - Lessons Buying and Selling 10 Businesses
Devin Wanzor has bought and sold more than 10 businesses. He joins the podcast to share his journey from being an SBA lender to being part of a sign manufacturing roll up to buying a high end liquor store and recently buying a business close to his passion for flying planes. We also discuss how he's improved profitability as an operator and his unique perspective helping others with financial due diligence. Devin Wanzor on X: https://twitter.com/DevinWanzor Devin Wanzor on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devin-wanzor-5459a31/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Nov 6, 2024 · 43 min
Chis Edwards - Buying, Growing, and Selling A Flooring Business
Chris Edwards recently sold his flooring business in Steamboat, Colorado. He bought the business just 3.5 years prior then quickly grew revenue 50% and grew EBITDA 100%. He's an amazing example of what's possible in acquisition entrepreneurship. Our conversation dives into the hard lessons, growth levers, and his decision to sell. Chris Edwards on X: https://twitter.com/toph_edwards Chris Edwards on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-edwards-44664052/ Clint Fiore & Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter & Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Oct 30, 2024 · 36 min
POV Husband - Buying Restaurants, Real Estate & Content Creation
'POV Husband' is a genuine, funny follow on TikTok and Instagram. Prior to becoming a content creator he worked in banking and bought a business to escape his 9-5. He ended up buying a fast casual restaurant in 2020. Then they quickly bought a 2nd and 3rd location with real estate. In 2022 they decided to sell 2 of the locations. We discuss how much they made on the sale, why restaurants sell for lower multiples, and what businesses he's debating next. POV Husband on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pov_husband POV on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pov_husband/?hl=en POV Husband YouTube video on restaurant profitability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd4wrWpwHdI&t=28s Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Oct 23, 2024 · 36 min
Matt Cafrelli - From CPA To Home Services HoldCo
Matt Cafrelli left a stable career in accounting to dive into the riskier world of acquisition entrepreneurship. He and his partner created a HoldCo to buy some service businesses. Their first acquisition was a window cleaning company in April 2023, followed quickly by a landscaping business in March 2024. We discuss the pros and cons of buying on the small side, future acquisitions, and their long term goals for the holding company. Matt Cafrelli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattcafrelli/ Clint Fiore and Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter and Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Oct 17, 2024 · 36 min
Jesus Montelongo - Inspiring Story Of Growing Longhill Contracting to +$2.7M EBTIDA
Jesus started Longhill Contracting 7 years ago doing drywall and paint contracting for home builders and multifamily developers. They've grown organically very quickly due to Jesus' servant leadership, his great team doing great work, and housing growth in Colorado. In 2024 they're on pace for $23M revenue and $2.7M EBITDA. We discuss what his company is worth today and where he wants to take it in the next +5 years. Longhill Contracting: longhillcontracting.com Jesus on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jesus-montelongo-18960163/ Clint Fiore and Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter and Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Oct 10, 2024 · 36 min
Mike Pedro - Scaling & Selling A Med Spa Group Platform
Mike Pedro and Danielle Pedro started MD Esthetics med spa in 2018. They've grown quickly to 13 locations and $2.5M EBITDA through acquisitions and brand new locations. They recently signed a Letter of Intent to join forces with a private equity group - so we dive into how the deal happened, picking their PE partner, and their growth plans. This is a fascinating interview to hear from someone in the middle of an acquisition. MD Esthetics: https://www.mdestheticsus.com/ Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Oct 2, 2024 · 42 min
Johannes Hock - Leaving Private Equity Career To 10x DFW Turf
Johannes Hock left private equity early in his career with the aim to build wealth faster through an exit after buying a business. In 2022 he bought DFW Turf and he's quickly grown the business from $5M to $20M revenue and +3 states through organic growth and additional acquisitions. He sees a path within a few years to $50M revenue and healthy EBITDA before an exit. We discuss whether he enjoys the investor or operator seat more, and what might tempt them to sell. Johannes Hock on X: https://twitter.com/HockJohannes Johannes Hock's blog: https://buysmallsellhigh.substack.com/ Clint Fiore, Bison Business: https://bisonbusiness.com/ Patrick Dichter, Appletree: https://appletreebusiness.com/
Sep 26, 2024 · 48 min
Mike Botkin - Massive Landscaping Rollup & Exit Within 2 years
Mike Botkin is an incredible story of what's possible in the small to mid sized acquisitions space. He left a great job to buy a very small $780k revenue residential landscaping acquisition. Then he completed 6 more acquisitions and focused on commercial maintenance landscaping. They ended up becoming one of the top 100 biggest landscaping companies nationwide and exited - all within 2 years time. We dive into how stressful it was, how he made it happen, and his decision to sell. We also learn what he's up to now in his next venture. Mike Botkin on X: https://twitter.com/MikeBotkin_ Canvas Outdoors: https://canvasoutdoors.com/ Clint Fiore on X: https://twitter.com/ClintFiore Patrick Dichter on X: https://twitter.com/patrickdichter
Sep 18, 2024 · 39 min
Ryan Bakke - Quickly Scaling a CPA Firm
Ryan Bakke has built Tax Strategy 365 very quickly and his profit margins are 20-30% better than most similar tax firms. This also makes it difficult to place a value on and tough to tempt him to want to sell. We dive deep into the marketing tactics and funnel he uses to grow quickly and where his firm is headed before he tries to sell. Ryan Bakke on X: https://twitter.com/LearnLikeaCPA Tax Strategy 365 website: https://taxstrategy365.com/ Patrick Dichter on X: https://twitter.com/patrickdichter Clint Fiore on X: https://twitter.com/ClintFiore
Sep 12, 2024 · 40 min
Jordan Evans - Buying The Family Business and Scaling to $12M
Jordan Evans bought his parents small language services business and has grown it very quickly to $12M revenue. He discusses how they've growth through organic growth and additional acquisitions. And he has his sites set on $50M revenue before a possible exit. Jordan Evans on X: https://twitter.com/JordanPEvans The Language Network: https://www.languagenetworkusa.com/