Buyers and Builders
00:40:53 · Sam Allsopp
[00:40:53] S1: So it is the shiny object. We have highly considered. We've actually gotten, you know, under LOI with a pretty sizable roofing company up north in a market that we weren't in. We we have been, you know, spoiler alert, it didn't go through, and we just greenfielded into that area. You know, it's something that we've looked at, we've gotten pretty close to doing it, but the one that we got, you know, kinda down to the one yard line with, we just didn't like a couple thing. We we put a really good team together. A lot of people I've met on X, right, just connected me with good attorneys, M and A, people that have done this before that could kind of advise us. We all just sort of agreed that there was... It just wasn't it wasn't gonna work out. And ICE continue to have conversations with roofing companies that are interested in partnering, interested in doing something. It's not something I put a huge emphasis on just because when I look at our core business and what we've done since inception and how fast we've been able to grow and drive enterprise value, it almost feels silly to not just keep doubling down on what we've been doing. Right? Like if we hit some sort of inflection point or some sort of cap on, like, where we thought we could go and m and a was kind of the next piece of the puzzle to keep growing, then I think we'd be putting a lot more emphasis on it. We're happy with our growth and we're actually... I mean, hey, perfect if acquisition, like, rolled up and knocked on our door, and it made sense. We would we would do it. But I'm super interested in greenfielding. It's something that we've done three, four, three? Yeah. Three now. The most recent being over in Tampa. So we cover the East Coast and cover the West Coast. I mean, the economics. Like, it just... You can put it on a spreadsheet and say, hey. If we can go do this, why would we acquire a company at this stage? Right? I'm not saying that m and a is not gonna eventually be part of the playbook, but right now, I'd much rather go open up offices from scratch and get them to a million dollar EBITDA run rate and, you know, a little bit over a year and do that over and over and over.
00:42:56 · Mikk, Sam Allsopp
[00:42:56] S0: But I would I would interrupt you here. What makes a roofing company attractive to acquire or what would make a company attractive to acquire? If if if something comes to table, is it just a valuation multiple or what would you look at? [00:43:09] S1: Yeah. I mean, obviously, like, the the... There's the arbitrage, you know, argument. Right? Can you tuck it in and integrate it with your company and create create enterprise value? Like, sure. But operationally, I guess it's more so... At least what I'm finding is it would have to either be to get into... To kind of speed up getting into a new market, and and it has to be like worth it. Like, are are we gonna go buy a $304,100,000 dollar EBITDA company? No. Because we can spin that up in a new market pretty fast. So we're still kind of creating like what our thesis is there and what and what that would look like, but I mean, the obvious answer is the arbitrage. In doing that, obviously, you have to integrate the business and you have to really... You go through that process so that you have a playbook there, so assuming that was done and that's an obvious benefit, yeah, it would be getting into a new market and speeding up the growth in that market with an established brand that has a chunky enough kind of even a number where it's where it's worth it and not something that we could just spin up ourselves.
00:43:09 · Sam Allsopp, Mikk
[00:43:09] S1: Yeah. I mean, obviously, like, the the... There's the arbitrage, you know, argument. Right? Can you tuck it in and integrate it with your company and create create enterprise value? Like, sure. But operationally, I guess it's more so... At least what I'm finding is it would have to either be to get into... To kind of speed up getting into a new market, and and it has to be like worth it. Like, are are we gonna go buy a $304,100,000 dollar EBITDA company? No. Because we can spin that up in a new market pretty fast. So we're still kind of creating like what our thesis is there and what and what that would look like, but I mean, the obvious answer is the arbitrage. In doing that, obviously, you have to integrate the business and you have to really... You go through that process so that you have a playbook there, so assuming that was done and that's an obvious benefit, yeah, it would be getting into a new market and speeding up the growth in that market with an established brand that has a chunky enough kind of even a number where it's where it's worth it and not something that we could just spin up ourselves. [00:44:11] S0: Have you ever considered selling a business or you're just enjoying the the the process and you really know that you can not maybe double it that fast, but even if it happens over the next three, four years, it's still a massive outcome because you're young. Yeah.
00:44:27 · Sam Allsopp, Mikk
[00:44:27] S1: No. I mean, we're... We are open to to partnering right with with the right partner. It's not something that we're, like, really aggressively going after. Everything is good right now. Like, we're making money. We're happy. We're having fun. We're growing. We're enjoying the ride. I am very competitive. You know, if I... Could I be convinced that, you know, this partner has ran a greenfield? You know, they can grow at this rate, they've done this before. They're very confident they can do this. They can put in an m and a playbook. They can beef up the balance sheet. Like, yeah. I mean, I... I'm open to it. I think the biggest thing for me, is that... And you touched on it. I'm young. I have no intention of stopping. Right? And that's something that I think a lot of people, you know, employees or, you know, there's kind of like a stereotype where there there... People have like this preconceived notion of like what selling is, and there's just so many different flavors of of it. And, you know, one extreme being, Sam, are you gonna just sell the company, roll off into the sunset, sell a 100%, and chill for a couple years and then go do the next thing? Like, no. Absolutely not. I I love what we've created here. We have a ton of momentum, and I wanna be around for that. So we're more so looking for someone who could come in potentially and and amplify everything that we're doing that sees the value in in what we've built and the people that that we have at the company. [00:45:49] S0: Okay. How old are you, Sam? [00:45:53] S1: 31.
00:45:53 · Sam Allsopp, Mikk
[00:45:53] S1: 31. [00:45:53] S0: 31. Nice. I forgot to ask, how have you been... When it comes to sales and marketing, it's it's your bread and butter. Over the years, what have been some of the things which you have done to to get better? Obviously, you're you're world class at it, but what have been some of the things you've been just like... And what what sources is it? There are no books about this, I guess, but but maybe there are some people you've learned from or what what has been the the the personal evolution on on getting better at at sales and marketing? [00:46:23] S1: You gotta get in the arena, I think, and that's just... I can speak to that because that's what I did. Right? Did I go take a course or read a book or have a mentor? None of the above. It's funny. I was about to say that I'm like... I have a high risk tolerance. I guess in business, sort of do. Personally, I'm relatively conservative, but I'm down to go in and bet on myself and spend a big chunk of money and test things out and see what works. And I'm confident in myself that, you know, I can learn fast and and and, you know, it won't put us upside down. Right? So go... Getting in the arena and actually doing this stuff and and not being afraid is probably the number one thing that you could do. I guess if I was actually to go back a little bit, I kinda did that with other people's money when I started, right, at the marketing agency. I was using other people's [00:47:17] S0: What do you mean?
00:47:17 · Mikk, Sam Allsopp
[00:47:17] S0: What do you mean? [00:47:17] S1: At the... When I was running ads, I was using their money. Right? Wasn't my Yeah. Mean, they were paying me a retainer, and they're kinda like, I need more leads. Go figure it out. Right? So I'm running PPC, I'm running Facebook, I'm doing LSA, and I'm using their money. So I get... So, you know, that's an important probably piece to to to recognize on how I got here is I actually got to learn on other people's time. But then once I did that and I saw what it did for their business, I've just had delusional optimism and confidence in myself since I did that. You gotta do it. You gotta get in. You gotta do it. Do it for yourself or get under someone who's doing it. See how they do it. It's it's the only way. There's no... I don't think there's any courses or books that you could really sit down for a couple days and, okay, now I'm ready to go build a $50,000,000 roofing company. [00:48:01] S0: Do you think you can rep... Replicate that in the future again?