The Top 20+ SMB (Main Street) M&A Influencers to Follow in 2023 and other Resources
Here are the top people to follow if you are into or looking to get into buying, growing, and selling small businesses. If you are "Becoming an Acquisition Entrepreneur," start here for free. I specifically avoided corp-run accounts such as those by Deloitte, KPMG, etc... as they mostly create content for larger deals.
In No Particular Order! All are good. All are worth following and learning from.
| Who | YouTube | Why | Episode on How2exit | ||
| Podcasters / Content Creators | |||||
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Ronald Skelton |
@RonaldSkelton | Ron Skelton | @How2Exit | Host of How2Exit.com, where we interview the world's leading experts. Author of this site, co-owner of the newsletter bringing all the happenings in SMB M&A TheHub.ACQHUB.com - Just trying my best to serve this community well. | All of them: |
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Kison Patel |
@KisonPatel Hasn't tweeted since 2019, but maybe if we bug him, he'll come back | Kison Patel | @MAScience | Top Ranked SMB M&A podcast M&A Science, founder of Dealroom.net which is full of resources for mid-market deals. | E31 |
|
Joanna Oakey |
not active but @aspectLegal | Joanna Oakey | TheDealRoom | Australia’s First and Only Mergers and Acquisitions podcast! Discover best practices from industry advisors and businesses that are involved in sale and acquisitions activity. Get educated about the trends, challenges and issues that impact the business sale and acquisitions environment. | Not yet |
|
Peter Lehrman |
@petelehrman | Peter Lehrman | NO youtube (Masters in Small Business M&A Apple Podcast) | Pether is the Founder and CEO of Axial (www.axial.net), a trusted online platform for business owners & their M&A advisors to use to safely and intelligently explore and execute capital raises, acquisitions, and exits with strategic buyers or professional financial sponsors. | E99 |
| Will Smith | @whentheresawill | Will Smith | @AcquiringMinds | Acquiring Minds is a great podcast where Will interviews individuals who have acquired a company. | Not Yet |
| Michael Girdley | Michael Girdley | @AcquisitionsAnonymousPodcast | Podcast Helping you get smarter about small business acquisitions, growth, and operations. Hosted by Bill D'Alessandro, Mills Snell & Michael Girdley | Not Yet | |
| Mentors | |||||
| Jeremy Harbour | @JeremyJHarbour | Jeremy Harbour | The Harbour Club | O.G. Trainer Mentor in the creative acquisition of small to medium businesses. He's done it, he still does, and he teaches others. Tons of free content and upsells to paid courses. (Over 300 videos on his youtube should get you started). | Mentor Mini-Series E7 |
| Roland Frasier | @RolandFrasier | Roland Frasier | @RolandFrasierEPIC | Trainer Mentor in the creative acquisition of small to medium businesses. He trains you and surrounds himself with a team that will offer continued support. Lots of free content. (over 1,000 YouTube videos. Many of them 10 Mins or less). | Mentor Mini-Series E8 |
| Carl Allen | @DealmakerWealth | Carl Allen | @carlallenofficial | Trainer Mentor in creative and traditional methods of Small Business Acquisitions. Their YouTube channel has over 500 videos, and Carl seems to be a hands-on type of mentor who really cares that his people succeed. | Mentor Mini-Series E3 |
| Walker Deibel | @walkerdeibel | Walker Deibel | @BuyThenBuild | Walker Deibel is a serial acquisition entrepreneur, WSJ & USA Today bestselling author, an Emmy-nominated film producer, and an award-winning M&A advisor. He is the creator of Acquisition Lab, the premier business buying accelerator for entrepreneurs. | Mentor |
| Nick Bradley | Nick Doesn't Tweet | Nick Bradley | @TheNickBradley |
Nick Bradley is a world-renowned author, speaker, and business growth expert, who works with entrepreneurs, business leaders, and investors to build, scale and sell high-value companies. Host of the #1 Business Podcast in the UK "Scale Up With Nick Bradley". Over 160 videos on Youtube |
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| Gordon Bizar | Rarely Tweets but:@gbizwiz | Gordon Bizar | @gordonbizar1 | Just might be the REAL OG of SMB M&A --3,509 direct company acquisition. 87,343 Companies acquired by my students and counting ($41 Billion in sales). Over 357,000 trained entrepreneurs in 33 countries and 6 Continents. Over 50 years of experience. Has been on the top stages, including Tony Robbins, Grant Cardone etc... | Not Yet |
| Jonathan Jay | Doesn't Tweet | Jonathan Jay | @theDealmakers | Helping You Buy a Business Successfully - Youtuber, Podcaster, Author and Speaker. A UK leader in training people how to buy a business without risking their own capital. Jonathan Jay has bought and sold businesses for over 20 years |
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Can't forget The Queen of Online Content for Buying small businesses.... |
@Codie_Sanchez | Codie A. Sanchez | @CodieSanchezCT |
Founder Contrarian Thinking + Private Equity Investor + 26 Boring Businesses. With a degree in PR & Journalism and experience at top firms, Codie is one hell of a writer, and therefore, her content is both educational and flat entertaining. You can't go wrong following Codie. |
We Tried. She was too busy. Maybe someday. |
| SBA Loan Guys | |||||
| Ray Drew | @SBA_RAY | Ray Drew | @SBA_Ray | Host of Stroy Loans, podcaster, SBA loan Expert and creates content on the ins and outs of getting SBA loans. | E39 |
| Bruce Marks | @sbabmarks | Bruce Marks | NO Youtube | Financed over 1200 SBA Loans. Search Fund Lender. Very knowledgeable and gets things done. | E59 |
| Just Really Cool Peeps | |||||
| Raleigh Williams | @theraleighwill | Raleigh Williams | @dealmaven | Founder of Media Acquire - Investing in Cash-Flowing Digital Businesses. | E97 |
| Adam Coffey | @AdamECoffey1 | Adam Coffey | @macaviationart more personal than biz but it's there. | If you are looking to play a slightly bigger game, Roll-Up, raising private equity, selling your business to private equity, Adam has not only done it but he's written not one but multiple books on the subject. | E22 |
| John F Kettley | @JohnFKettley | John F Kettley | @JohnKettley |
Serial Business-Investor, 'Scale to Exit' Specialist, founder of the Sales Masters Guild Mentoring Association John has a brilliant mind, finds rapport fast and is willing to teach others to do what he does. |
E76 |
| Mike Finger | Mike Doesn't Tweet | Mike Finger | @yourexitsquad9840 | Part of "Your Exit Squad: Real Small Business Stories" and all around great story teller | E46 |
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David C Barnett |
David Barnett | @DavidCBarnett | OG of SMB M&A Content - Nearly 600 Videos, authored seven or more books, and has been on every show, podcast, etc. David is a wealth of knowledge and a great person to follow. | E44 | |
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Mushfiq Sarker |
Mushfiq Sarker | He's working on it :) | Mushfiq is the operator and founder of Inventige Media HoldCo. Inventige specializes in acquiring, growing, and then exiting digital online assets, such as websites, newsletters, domains, and SaaS businesses. Since 2008, he has exited over 215+ online assets with multiple 6-figure exits. |
E78 |
Other Resources:
Searchfunder.com is a Great resource for anybody looking to buy a business.
M&A Magazine with great articles
