How I Bought 20+ Small Farms and Built a $350M HoldCo in My 30s | Jack McCarthy Interview

Want to grow your B2B business? Start with your inbox. Spacebar Studios builds newsletters that drive pipeline, build authority, and generate real revenue. Bonus: The first six founders who raise their hand get their newsletter built for free.Reserve your slot: https://www.spacebarstudios.co/inquireScalepath is the sponsor of this episode. If you’re a searcher or operator and want real stories + actionable playbooks from the trenches, check the Scalepath newsletter and peer groups: https://scalepath.beehiiv.com/Jack McCarthy, co-founder & CEO of Goldleaf Farming, shares how he’s building one of the largest specialty-crop platforms in the U.S. We cover why almonds & pistachios, raising $250M+, buying 20+ farms, and scaling to ~12,000 acres.Jack explains valuing farms by cash flow (not price per acre), managing water/climate risk, navigating commodity cycles, aligning with long-term LPs, and keeping leverage low.Timestamps:00:00:00 Intro00:00:28 What Goldleaf is building00:01:26 Jack’s background & meeting co-founder Brandon00:04:06 Wednesdays at the almond mill; lean-startup exploration00:05:01 Partnership: Scalepath00:06:26 Pivot from agtech to owning farms; meeting Brandon; first investors00:09:48 Buying the first farm (Fall 2017)00:10:35 Lessons from the first acquisition00:14:10 Why almonds & pistachios00:15:51 How they value farms (cash-flow/DCF mindset)00:17:13 Partnership: Spacebar Studios00:18:10 Capital raising phases (friends & family → family offices)00:19:15 Alignment with LPs; team equity & structure00:23:09 Diversified LP base (sub-$1M checks)00:25:47 Capital structure: lower debt, higher equity00:28:01 Biggest risks: water & growing conditions00:29:09 Selectivity: ~1,400 farms reviewed; 27 bought00:30:12 Early mistakes; refocusing on water/quality00:32:02 Jack’s advice: constant improvement; long slog; do it00:34:12 Personal Q: family (4 kids)00:34:35 Culture & benefits: family-first values00:36:57 Best investment advice & favorite book (East of Eden)----------------------------------------------Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuyThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.