The Anti-Private Equity Playbook: Buy Great Businesses and Don’t Change Them | Justin Escajeda

My guest today is Justin Escajeda, an entrepreneur who owns 12 trade businesses around Pittsburgh, employing roughly 250 people and generating more than $50 million in annual revenue.What makes Justin’s story interesting is that he never set out to become an acquisition entrepreneur. He started in masonry, construction and real estate before buying his first roofing company which did $600k in SDE in 2018 for $846k. That acquisition changed how he thought about building businesses.Today, Justin owns companies across masonry, roofing, insurance, material supply, general contracting, property management and luxury remodeling. His approach is unusually simple: buy businesses that already work, preserve what made them successful, put great operators in charge and resist the temptation to change things simply because you can.We also explore how he manages 12 businesses without micromanaging them, the four KPIs he watches every day and why he stopped taking cash from portfolio companies to fund new acquisitions.TIMESTAMPS0:00 Building a $50M portfolio of trade businesses1:24 The first acquisition that changed everything4:34 Buying a roofing company for under $1M with an SBA loan6:21 Why Justin never wants to start another company8:15 Why he avoids changing businesses after buying them12:24 Inside a portfolio of 12 trade businesses15:00 The acquisition Justin overpaid for16:49 SBA loans, cash, and why he prefers seller financing22:25 Solving key-person risk after an acquisition27:14 Growing companies without micromanaging operators31:05 Why Justin went an entire year without buying anything34:38 The four numbers he watches every day37:42 A $300K mistake, liquidity, and why ownership isn’t passiveThis podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.