{"podcast":{"title":"Acquiring Minds","slug":"acquiring-minds-3909119","podcast_index_feed_id":3909119,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/acquiring-minds","website_url":"https://acquiringminds.co","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/L4RqrWQWQ35dO2yrZK1oM8-GSsnKnU7x_9oLElypgrQ/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zYjk2/ZDQwODk5YzNlY2Mw/MTIxN2FkMmYwZTRj/MjMwNS5qcGc.jpg","author":"Will Smith","episode_count":491,"summary":"Buying a business is an amazing path for many successful entrepreneurs. Learn how to buy a business from the entrepreneurs who have already done it. 2x per week: stories, insights, & valuable advice about acquisition entrepreneurship. Hosted by Will Smith, who is on his own path to acquire a business. Also on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@AcquiringMinds Sign up for episode summaries at: https://acquiringminds.co","last_synced_at":"2026-09-07T14:17:29.190427+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119"},"episode":{"title":"Product-Market Fit in the Trades: 4x in 2.5 Years","slug":"product-market-fit-in-the-trades-4x-in-2-5-years","published_at":"2026-07-23T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119/product-market-fit-in-the-trades-4x-in-2-5-years","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119","url":"https://acquiringminds.co/articles/patrick-beal-temperature-control-maintenance","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/0cb944bd/7610d060.mp3","summary":"Patrick Beal left tech to buy an HVAC business with 90% seller financing, no SBA. He's on track to hit $3.5m this year. Register for the webinar: Working Capital: One of ETA’s Most Expensive Mistakes - TODAY!! - https://bit.ly/4f8pSGY Topics in Patrick interview: Entrepreneurship in his family Zoom fatigue from remote work Searching in Northeast Ohio Finding a business through his network Meeting with the seller for almost a year Structuring 10% down, 90% seller note Underestimating working capital needs Keeping his W-2 until the business grew Quadrupling revenue in 2 years Working on getting his HVAC license References and how to contact Patrick: LinkedIn Temperature Control Maintenance Linh Tran on Acquiring Minds: The Dream Outcome: From $300k to $5m EBITDA Steve Carroll on Acquiring Minds: ETA Unicorn: $1 Billion in Revenue in 5 Years Download the New CEO’s Guide to Human Resources from Aspen HR: From this page or contact jenny@aspenhr.com Work with an SBA loan team focused exclusively on helping entrepreneurs buy businesses: Pioneer Capital Advisory Get a complimentary IT audit for acquisition diligence or post-close transition. Visit inzotechnologies.com/eta . Connect with Acquiring Minds: See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn Follow Will on Twitter Edited by Anton Rohozov and produced by Pam Cameron","meta_description":"Patrick Beal left tech to buy an HVAC business with 90% seller financing, no SBA. He's on track to hit $3.5m this year. Register for the webinar: Working…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5882,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/acquiring-minds-3909119/episodes/product-market-fit-in-the-trades-4x-in-2-5-years/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119/product-market-fit-in-the-trades-4x-in-2-5-years.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}