162: Walker Deibel — Buying a Company and Then Building It
Release Date: 08/07/2019
Job Scorecards for Hiring and Performance Coaching
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode Bill contrasts the job scorecard's effectiveness with traditional job descriptions, which he finds overly bureaucratic and filled with generic language. The job scorecard, with its clarity and simplicity, provides a structured framework for outlining the responsibilities, expected outcomes, and key performance indicators (KPIs) for a role, making it an invaluable asset in evaluating candidates and managing employee performance over time. Bill outlines the key components of a job scorecard, including the job title, reporting lines, a succinct headline describing the role's main...
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Ingraining Culture with a Manifesto
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode Bill emphasizes the significant impact of crafting a company manifesto as a foundational tool for embedding cultural elements deeply and swiftly into the organizational fabric. This manifesto should articulate the company's purpose, its emotional core, the vision for the future, the values guiding its operations, promises made to customers, and a long-term transformational goal, commonly referred to as a "big, hairy, audacious goal" (BHAG). By doing so, a manifesto provides a comprehensive overview of why the company exists, its direction, how it plans to get there, the...
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Culture, creating a strong one
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill delves into the significance of creating a powerful and positive company culture as a foundational strategy for scaling businesses effectively and sustainably. He likens the ideal company culture to a "good cult," emphasizing the need for intentional, cult-like qualities within a company to foster unity, commitment, and shared values among team members. By drawing parallels with companies like Disney and Apple, known for their strong, cult-like cultures, Bill outlines how such a culture can significantly contribute to a company's success by enhancing...
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Managing a Positive Cash Flow with Peter Kingma
Scaling Up Business Podcast
If maintaining positive cash flow is keeping you up at night, this is the conversation you need to hear. Once you’ve got cash figured out, everything runs more smoothly. Peter Kingma works with multinational clients and leads EY Working Capital services in the Americas. Corporate leaders entrust him to help liberate cash through operational improvements, which help in reducing costs and improving service quality. His new book, Cash Is King, discusses why your company’s cash position should be on an equal footing with sales, cost, and service, and how to make that happen. ...
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Core Values, how to develop and use them
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this insightful episode, Bill delves into the essence and significance of company core values, demystifying how to get them right and why they are so crucial for creating a thriving, scalable business. He emphasizes that core values are not mere aspirational statements or the embodiment of desired traits but rather a reflection of how a company operates at its best. Bill argues that core values should guide the behavior and decisions within a company, ensuring it grows in a way that remains true to its founding principles without becoming overwhelming or diverging into something the founder...
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Delegating as a Leader with Dave Kerpen
Scaling Up Business Podcast
Effective leaders know how to delegate the things they don’t do well — or don’t want to do well — so that they can focus on their strengths and move the company toward greater success. Dave Kerpen is currently an advisor to many companies and is the CEO/Co-Founder of Apprentice, a platform that connects entrepreneurs and business leaders with smart and motivated college students looking for real-world experience and mentorship. Dave’s new book, Get Over Yourself, shares the roadmap for how you can shift your mindset (and your workload) to focus on the things most important for...
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Perfecting your pitch
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, the focus is on mastering the art of pitching within the context of growing a company, emphasizing the importance of engaging people effectively despite their inherent complexities and irrationalities. Recognizing that people, including ourselves, operate in ways that might only make sense to them, the episode delves into how to craft a pitch that resonates and leads to more affirmative responses. The key lies in sharing a compelling vision of the future that addresses a problem or gap and depicts an improved future state. This approach not only demonstrates an understanding...
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Don't Self Sabotage with personal worries
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill delves into the psychological barriers that hinder our ability to secure affirmative responses in business interactions, emphasizing the detrimental impact of personal concerns and self-doubt. He identifies common worries, such as fearing one is too salesy or arrogant, and illustrates how these internal fears can prevent effective communication and diminish the enthusiasm in pitches or proposals. Bill proposes a solution to shift focus away from oneself and towards understanding and addressing the needs and interests of the other party. By acknowledging and setting aside...
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Designing a Company That Can Get Rich with Christopher Volk
Scaling Up Business Podcast
The ultimate goal of building a company is to build its value. Designing a company that can get rich is not always top-of-mind for business owners, but it should be. Christopher Volk is the author of The Value Equation. Christopher was instrumental in leading and publicly listing three successful companies, two of which he co-founded. A 2019 regional winner of EYs’ Entrepreneur of the Year award, Christopher is a frequent university lecturer and serves on multiple non-profit boards. Not all companies are created equal. While many companies focus on their goods or services that...
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Talent Assessment and Development
Scaling Up Business Podcast
In this episode, Bill introduces a comprehensive approach to talent assessment aimed at enhancing team performance and fostering a positive work environment as businesses grow. He emphasizes the critical importance of assembling a team that not only performs well but also aligns with the company's values and culture. Bill introduces the concept of a talent assessment tool and process that focuses on two main criteria: fit with the company's values and performance in their current roles. This straightforward assessment provides a clear strategy for managing team members, highlighting the need...
info_outlineShould you buy or build your company? It’s a question we hear a lot in the world of entrepreneurship and scaling up. Today’s show focuses on how you can use buying and then building as an acquisition growth strategy.
Walker Deibel is the co-founder of three startups and has also acquired seven companies, and exited two of them successfully. He is the author of Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game and will be providing some insight as to how you should approach acquisitions.
Walker Deibel believes entrepreneurship is a condition rather than a job or position. Most of the time entrepreneurs simply can’t keep a job because of the way they are wired. After his first startup failed, Walker decided to make the rounds and raise capital for 18 months on another business idea. It was there where he decided it was better for him to buy a business than to build one from scratch.
After lots of research, Walker decided to make a weird decision and purchase a book publishing company in 2008, a time where books were turning digital. It was a declining industry. But Walker saw something unique happening — self-publishing was going to explode, and it did! His business decision was a success.
The industry doesn’t necessarily matter when it comes to the company you’re buying. The point is you’re buying an already existing infrastructure of a company that you can then expand upon and build out from there. It could go into a completely different industry if you like if the basics and foundation are already there.
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