Grew EV 10x in 5 Years
Ben Rudman knew he wanted to work in food before he knew what investment banking was. His first independent sponsor deal, Western Smokehouse Partners, started with ~60 employees in 2018. By the time it sold 4.5 years later, it had almost 700 employees across 4 facilities and enterprise value had grown ~10x.
More recent episodes
Grew EV 10x in 5 Years
Ben Rudman knew he wanted to work in food before he knew what investment banking was. His first independent sponsor deal, Western Smokehouse Partners, started with ~60 employees in 2018. By the time it sold 4.5 years later, it had almost 700 employees across 4 facilities and enterprise value had grown ~10x.
On the Ground at McGuireWoods 2026
Recorded from McGuireWoods in Dallas after Day 1, Niklas, Max & Will compare notes from the conference floor. Last year had ~2,000 attendees and this year felt bigger. The Minds team had ~30-40 meetings, found 3-5 qualified deal leads & ~6 prospective podcast guests. The day before, Minds hosted its annual Investor Day with 70+ RSVPs from 142 LPs and 8 portfolio sponsors attending.
32x MOIC After 100 Investors Said No
Since Kevin Ramsier's last appearance on this podcast, his firm, Sier Capital, has closed a new infrastructure platform (where Minds Capital is an investor) and exited another business that generated a 32x MOIC over a 7-year hold. The same business started with 95% customer concentration and nearly 100 investors said no.