Over $60m of Second Bite Liquidity
Chad Scripps started Black Lake Capital in 2013 after stints at McKinsey, HIG, and several hedge funds. Based in Denver, Black Lake closes just 1-2 acquisitions per year despite reviewing thousands of opportunities. The firm calls itself tech-enabled, but Chad admits that’s a loose moniker: “If you’ve got email, we’ll call you tech enabled.”


More recent episodes

Behind The Scenes: Our Unique Angle In An Increasingly Crowded Space
The 3 founding partners mark the 75th episode with a behind-the-scenes look at their strategy, discussing rollup frequency, first-time sponsor pitfalls, AI in underwriting and capital supply-demand imbalances across the independent sponsor ecosystem.

"An Independent Sponsor Can Be My Favorite Kind of Buyer"
Dara Shareef of Benchmark International says content now builds stronger connections than cold outreach. For independent sponsors, winning requires trust, proven capital access, a clear value-creation plan and decisive execution after the LOI.

1 Equity Raise ($500k), 4 PortCos
Andrew McDonald didn't build Fourco Holdings with a deck and a thesis. He built it by buying one small business, making it throw off cash, then buying the next one.