Partnerships Playbook

Brent Beshore founded Permanent Equity, a lower-middle-market private equity firm that acquires and holds small businesses for the long term. Starting with an accidental $1M SBA-financed acquisition of Media Cross (a military recruitment firm) in 2010 at age 24, he built a portfolio of 16 companies generating over $350M in annual revenue with $50M in free cash flow. His differentiated model charges no management fees, uses no debt, and takes 40% carry only on returned cash flow—the opposite of traditional PE.

Firecrown Media is a portfolio of 54+ niche magazines (aviation, boating, trains, astronomy) acquired by entrepreneur Craig Fuller starting in 2021. Fuller bought Flying Magazine for ~$3.5M and grew it from $2.5M to $7M revenue in the first year by raising prices, upgrading quality, and building engaged subscriber bases. The company now generates ~$60M in revenue with 20% margins ($12M profit) and has expanded into adjacent commerce businesses—aircraft financing, e-commerce, and a 1,500-acre aviation community development—leveraging the magazine audiences' high purchase intent.

Syed Balkhi bootstrapped a billion-dollar portfolio empire centered on WordPress and related SaaS products without raising external capital. His strategy leverages what Andrew Wilkinson calls 'barnacle on the whale'—becoming deeply embedded in growing ecosystems like WordPress, QuickBooks, and Xero. His portfolio now generates over $100M in annual revenue and includes investments in companies like Seahawk Media (productized WordPress development services) and positions in open-source projects.

Sam Ratner dropped out of University of Missouri at 18 to build a mobile-first sports betting platform, recognizing that legalization would transform the U.S. gaming market. He built the company from credit cards and savings from a high school snow removal business, secured partnerships with the NBA and MLB as an authorized gaming operator, and sold the platform to Fubo TV for $40 million at age 23—before it even launched. Since then, he's explored numerous unconventional investments including purchasing a decommissioned riverboat casino and deeply analyzing a vending machine business.

Maitab is a 29-year-old independent sponsor who acquires distressed D2C e-commerce brands and turnarounds them using operational excellence and rapid cash recovery strategies. Starting from a health issue at 17, he built several seven-figure e-commerce businesses in guitars and pedals before pivoting to private equity-style investing. His current portfolio includes three majority-owned platform companies (SoloWood Flowers, a succulent company, and an apparel brand) worth mid-eight figures in revenue, plus minority stakes in 8-10 other companies.

Cherry is a browser extension that helps accommodation businesses get direct bookings by showing customers better deals when they search on travel sites like Expedia and Booking.com. In four months, they onboarded nearly 1,000 partner properties across Australia, New Zealand, and Canada, with plans to launch in the US with 20,000 properties by November. They charge hotels a performance fee of $10/month plus $0.79 per click, significantly cheaper than the 30% commissions charged by major OTAs.

Cat Coquilette is an artist and illustrator who built a successful solopreneur career by licensing her artwork and designs to major retailers including Target, Urban Outfitters, and Bed Bath & Beyond. She transitioned from working a traditional 9-to-5 job while living with her parents to traveling the world on her own terms while maintaining creative fulfillment.

China Ecom Boost is an agency founded by Matt Kowalak that helps manufacturers, product companies, and celebrities navigate and market themselves in the Chinese market. The company leverages deep expertise in Chinese supply chains and evolving commerce dynamics to facilitate business expansion. Matt has undergone a major re-evaluation of his business model to focus on the vast opportunities he sees in China.

GFNY is a cycling event company founded by Uli Fluhme that brought the Italian Gran Fondo model to New York City, becoming the first of its kind in America. The company has successfully expanded into a global brand by licensing and franchising the event concept to other markets.

Corebook is a collaborative online brand guidelines platform founded by Janis Verzemnieks to replace static PDF brand guidelines. The company achieved traction through design award recognition, direct personal outreach, and strategic partnerships—notably with The Futur, which drove 30% revenue growth in one week and generated 29K YouTube views. Corebook now serves unicorn brands like Miro and GoPuff, growing 20% month-over-month.

Tai Lopez is an entrepreneur and investor who built multiple income streams through digital marketing and course sales before pivoting to acquiring distressed retail brands. Through his company Retail E-Commerce Ventures (with partner Dr. Alex Mayor), he acquires well-known but struggling brick-and-mortar brands like Pier One and Dress Barn, converting them to e-commerce models. His early success came from Google AdWords lead generation for life insurance and financial services, achieving six figures within a year of starting in 2001.

TRX, founded by Navy SEAL Randy Hetrick in 2005, is a premium fitness hardware and education company that grew from $5M in angel funding to approximately $60M+ in annual revenue. Starting as a B2B business serving gyms and professional trainers for 10 years, TRX pivoted to B2C consumer sales and digital subscriptions, achieving massive growth during COVID-19 lockdowns when consumers sought home workout equipment.

Tiny Capital is a long-term holding company for profitable internet businesses founded by Andrew Wilkinson. The company acquires majority stakes in established, cash-flowing internet businesses across multiple verticals including design firms, SaaS products, job boards, and content platforms. Operating with a hands-off approach and conservative financing, Tiny Capital has grown to manage approximately 20 companies with 350-400 employees generating double-digit millions in revenue.

Mike Brown founded an oil and gas mineral rights aggregation company in May 2013 with his former naval flight officer friend. Operating in the Midland Basin/Permian Basin, they bought fragmented mineral rights from private owners and packaged them for sale to private equity funds. With only 5 employees at peak and completely bootstrapped using other people's money to fund acquisitions, the company grew to handle 45-50 deals annually and eventually achieved an eight-figure exit.

Keith Wasserman and his cousin Damian started Gelt in December 2008 by purchasing a single fourplex in Bakersfield for $150,000 with just 2.5% down ($5,000 borrowed, $10,000 credit card cash advance) during the financial crisis. Over the next decade, they grew to manage over $1 billion in real estate assets by focusing on value-add multifamily properties through strategic renovations and raising capital from 700+ accredited investors. Galena Wasserman runs Sky, a parallel real estate development company that acquires and renovates buildings through ground-up construction and adaptive reuse, with both operating on the principle of 'making money on the buy' by identifying undervalued properties and creating value before exit or hold.

Crabi is Mexico's first full-stack auto insurance startup, founded in 2017 by Javier Orozco, Arnoldo de la Torre, and Cristina Carvallo. After grinding for 2+ years to obtain their government insurance license, they launched in May 2019 and grew to over 10,000 policy holders through partnerships with online aggregators and organic SEO, achieving 110% year-over-year revenue growth. The company has raised over $8M in funding (including a $4M Series A from Kaszek Ventures, Tuesday Capital, and Redwood Ventures) and now operates with 50+ team members.

CuriousCheck is a software finder platform for small businesses that aggregates reviews from multiple sources and uses an interactive advisor tool to recommend the best business software based on company size, industry, and expert questions. Launched in January 2020, Carlos faced significant technical challenges with React SEO optimization but pivoted to WordPress, gaining 80+ partner businesses in the first 3 months through direct outreach and strategic partnerships. The platform offers free listings with premium features like national SEO and video ads, requiring a 3.5+ online reputation score for inclusion.

Bluetik.io is a cold and warm email follow-up SaaS tool built by Mike Taber, a former co-host of Startup for the Rest of Us. After nearly a year of working behind the scenes on a potential partnership with a complementary field sales CRM product, Mike is now exploring a 3-4 month trial partnership that could lead to merger, tight integration, or a "done for you" service offering Bluetik to the CRM's existing customer base. The company operates on a $50-$500/month subscription model and is currently evaluating an AppSumo deal while managing recurring annual Google security audits.