{"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":"The Origin Story of a Compounder ($80m and Counting)","slug":"the-origin-story-of-a-compounder-80m-and-counting","published_at":"2026-06-04T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119/the-origin-story-of-a-compounder-80m-and-counting","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/acquiring-minds-3909119","url":"https://acquiringminds.co/articles/greg-shapiro-zach-cooper-vastola-hickory","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/dcfe90dd/baf03db2.mp3","summary":"Greg Shapiro & Zach Cooper-Vastola are building a long-term, compounding business they see as the anti-PE of the trades. Register for the webinar: Franchising for the ETA Buyer: Resales, Roll-Ups, and Real Deals - TODAY - https://bit.ly/49sKF4H Topics in Greg and Zach’s interview: Founders combined technical and financial expertise Shifted from SaaS to long-term ownership Acquired century-old Manhattan HVAC company High cost and complexities of New York market Avoided SBA limits to scale acquisitions What “Anti-PE” means to them Digitization takes longer than you think Living lean on low salaries Predicting HVAC roll-up market shakeout ahead Influence and investment from Will Thorndike References and how to contact Greg and Zach: Hickory Greg Shapiro LinkedIn Zach Cooper-Vastola LinkedIn Will Thorndike Steve Carroll on Acquiring Minds: ETA Unicorn: $1 Billion in Revenue in 5 Years Get a complimentary IT audit for acquisition diligence or post-close transition. Visit inzotechnologies.com/eta . The ecosystem for serious acquisition entrepreneurs—education, capital, community, and post-close support to buy and grow a business: The Acquisition Lab Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program: Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team 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":"Greg Shapiro & Zach Cooper-Vastola are building a long-term, compounding business they see as the anti-PE of the trades. Register for the webinar: Fra…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":5123,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/acquiring-minds-3909119/episodes/the-origin-story-of-a-compounder-80m-and-counting/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/the-origin-story-of-a-compounder-80m-and-counting.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}