[re-posting this now as investor/PPM] Hey y'all. Been lurking here a while so figured I'd finally say something! Like a lot of you, I bought a business with a giant SBA loan and very little industry-specific experience (or experience running a small business at all, really). After 3 years, it certainly hasn't been an easy journey, but we're growing and honestly doing better than would have thought at the start. I'm now also working with a local family office to invest in other good businesses. We've formed Cloud Peak Co. There are three of us, it's our own money (don't have to wait for us to raise it), we know the actual experience of acquiring and owning a small business, and there's no investment committee to wait on. We're specifically interested in minority investments (searcher acquisitions, owner recapitalizations, and independent sponsors), but we'll buy something outright or majority here and there. We're flexible on size (a piece of a bigger raise, or the whole equity check) and on structure. We're also not using SBA money, so we're not stuck with their rules on earnouts, rollover, or how long a seller can stay involved (though we can work with SBA deals as well). We'd rather shape something around your situation than force your deal into our box. So if you're looking to acquire and need capital, or you've got an SBA loan choking your cash flow and you'd be open to recapitalizing with equity, or you're putting a deal together and need a piece of it covered, let us know! Probably not a fit: turnarounds, distressed stuff, or deals that only cash flow at the end. Happy to talk if any of that fits. cloudpeakco.com has the details. And if you're early in your ETA journey, check out my Acquiring Minds episode so you can make fewer mistakes than I did!