Episode #322: Walker Deibel on Acquiring Businesses Instead of Starting Them

Walker Deibel is an acquisition entrepreneur. He has cofounded three startups and acquired seven companies. He currently serves as the President of EDC, which helps companies with multiple locations manage their supply chain through sourcing, inventory, and fulfillment management.Walker is the Managing Director for Centra, which currently owns and manages three companies. In addition Centra is a partner in over a half dozen firms covering: distribution, manufacturing, education, childcare, film and television production, enterprise software, online content, and eCommerce.Walker is the bestselling author of Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game, released by Lioncrest Publishing. He has also produced almost a dozen films and had premieres at some of the world’s most esteemed festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto International Film Festival. Listeners of this podcast would have learned all about building new ventures from the ground up, but not as much on acquiring ventures with a foundation to build upon, so it was great to get some fresh perspectives from Walker on a topic I haven’t explored in depth on this show.

We unpacked lots of lessons, including:

- When buying first makes more sense than building first

- How raising capital for an acquisition opportunity can become a virtual walk in the park when compared with raising capital for a startup; and

- How to identify and evaluate acquisition opportunities

With that, enjoy my conversation with Walker Deibel.

Topics Discussed:

- Why you should buy an existing company rather than starting from scratch

- How to raise capital for an acquisition

- What to look for in an acquisition target

- Where to find target companies and how to build your own deal-flow

- How to value an acquisition target

- What to look for in yourself before acquiring a company