Permanent Equity stewards companies that care what happens next. We invest with no intention of selling in family-owned companies throughout North America.

Columbia, MO
At Permanent Equity, we’ve long said that we buy boring businesses, but the reality is that’s not the full story of what we value and what we do. When we invest, we steward companies that care what happens next. Read about the journey here: permanentequity.com/writings…
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What other people are obsessing over: Cryptocurrency Autonomous Driving Drones Machine Learning Us: HVAC Doors Meat Billboards #boring
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We believe in the long-term durability of family businesses, but Covid-19 is not a typical storm. To help, @PermanentEquity is launching Safe Harbor, a program for businesses that can responsibly use $3MM+ and are interested in a long-term relationship. permanentequity.com/safe-har…
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Compensation plans are incredibly powerful... and notoriously difficult. In our latest essay, we lay out what we've learned about building an incentive structure that engages your team and drives productivity while avoiding common pitfalls. permanentequity.com/writings…
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"The way to win is to work, work, work, work and hope to have a few insights." - Munger
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"One should recognize reality even when one doesn't like it, indeed especially when one doesn't like it." - Charlie Munger
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COVID-19 presents big challenges for small to mid-sized businesses. We’re thinking about reduced demand, access to resources, & customer, talent, & relationship concentrations. Tomorrow we’ll record a discussion for those of us in this space — tweet or email us your questions.
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New Fund, New Partners, — Spoiler Alert — Same Old Strategy The 2019 Annual Letter: adventur.es/2019-annual-lett…
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The Messy Marketplace Podcast launches publicly next week! 41 episodes with @BrentBeshore and @EmilyLEldridge annotating and expanding on the book topics. Want early access? Post a picture of your copy of the book and we'll send you a private link to a sample of 5 episodes.
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The CARES Act was signed into law this afternoon and contains a key provision called the "Paycheck Protection Program." We asked our legal team how this impacts small business. Here's their answer: permanentequity.com/writings… *Note that this essay is not legal advice
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One of the most common questions we've heard from operators in response to COVID-19: What expenses should I cut and how do I do it? We wrote up our thinking for you in our latest piece: How To Cut Expenses. permanentequity.com/writings…
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Adventur.es is now Permanent Equity. “Putting the Permanent in PE”: permanentequity.com/writings… Same approach. Same people. New URL: permanentequity.com
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“The Messy Marketplace: Selling Your Business in a World of Imperfect Buyers” is now available for pre-order. amazon.com/dp/0998030007/ref…
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What To Expect If Permanent Equity Buys Your Business: What Changes and Why permanentequity.com/writings…
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We intended to release this article before the pandemic and its economic impact took hold. But then we thought - maybe there's never been a better time to build a realistic, simple, dynamic, logical, and useful budget. Our latest here: permanentequity.com/writings…
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Focus, flywheels, and momentum w/ @fortworthchris
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"Oh go ask so-and-so, they know everything about [that process, that account, that machine, that filing system].” If people in your org are regularly saying something like this, you might have an institutional knowledge problem. 🧵 5 ways to start documenting:
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A reminder of our Open Data for Operators page: 57 free and regularly updated data sources ranging from consumer behavior and travel volume to jobs and construction. We hope you find it helpful - let us know if there are sources we should add. permanentequity.com/open-dat…
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The calculations behind PPP Loan Forgiveness can get a little complicated. We built a spreadsheet to help you keep track of your PPP loan over the next 8 weeks. Download it now from our Small Biz Toolkit: permanentequity.com/writings… (not financial advice, your mileage may vary)
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Our 2020 Annual Letter will be released later this week. The year certainly offered plenty of lessons. Sign up to receive the letter here: permanentequity.com/essays-l…
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We've never invested in: 1) A perfect company 2) A company without advantages worth protecting So how do you introduce change without disrupting your edge? Our latest: How to Manage Change. permanentequity.com/writings…
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#428 on Inc. 500: A Decade in Reflection adventur.es/428-on-inc-500-a…
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GORILLA MODE: What Amazon Means For The Rest Of Us adventur.es/amazon
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Honestly, we’re good with less zeroes 😉
Honestly, if the business plan for your company doesn't get you to a trillion dollar market cap, it's probably not even worth starting at this point.
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The adventur.es Home - "A strong family is built upon a strong foundation - both figuratively and literally." adventur.es/our-home/
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Overhead costs and company culture are closely related. Mr. Buffett in 1979:
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Never fear... @morganhousel helped improve the writing in the editing process. 😬 We appreciate your generous support of this project, Morgan. Pre-order here (shipping begins Monday): amazon.com/dp/0998030007/ref…
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Happy @MainStSummit Travel Day to all who celebrate! See you in Columbia!
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We're building a toolkit for #smallbiz to help navigate the current economic turmoil and gov't assistance. Now available: 1) Calculator for Paycheck Protection Program 2) Our internal memo on EPSLA 3) Our internal memo on EFMLEA Adding more as we go... permanentequity.com/writings…
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Here’s why we had more than one toast at lunch yesterday... The Finish and Starting Line: adventur.es/the-finish-and-s…
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“Permanent equity that can make generational bets” - @morganhousel describing us better than we describe ourselves.
New piece with discussion of military promotion, @BrentBeshore's new fund, and golf. collaborativefund.com/blog/n…
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We have some news to share, including a bittersweet victory, the launch of the Orbit, and welcoming @timhanso, @dbroekel, and Kelie Morgan to the team. Our Fall Update: adventur.es/fall-2018-update
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“Money is not a commodity. Most money is ruthless and short-term oriented... we optimized for something else.” - @BrentBeshore talking about finding LPs for PE1 fund with @NotreDame students
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Foundation 1: Keep Our Word, Always “We aim to do what we say we will, when we say we’ll do it, for the price and terms we agree to, without exception.” permanentequity.com/foundati…
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“CEOs have 5 essential choices for deploying capital—investing in existing ops, acquiring other businesses, issuing dividends, paying down debt, or repurchasing stock—and 3 alternatives for raising it—tapping internal cash flow, issuing debt, or raising equity.” The Outsiders
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15 Highlights from "15 Years in the Trenches of SMB Acquisitions and Operations":
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Introducing The Messy Marketplace #Podcast, an annotated #audiobook for business owners/ops, their advisors, and our peers. adventur.es/introducing-the-… Episodes are publishing now. Discussion timestamps are in the descriptions. We look forward to hearing feedback on this experiment!
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Foundation 2: No Assholes “Life is short and tradeoffs abound, so we want to work with people we admire, in places we enjoy, on work that matters.” permanentequity.com/foundati…
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In case you're looking for something to read/listen to while you're: a. Traveling b. Digesting pie c. Taking some you-time 🦃Here's the big list of everything we've published recently.🦃
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The "Families First Coronavirus Response Act" (FFCRA) was signed into law Wednesday night. We asked our legal team: "How will this impact Small Business?" Here's their answer in our newest piece: permanentequity.com/writings… *Note that this essay is not legal advice
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Our article on how to acquire: permanentequity.com/writings… Finding Middle Ground - Demystifying Deal Structure: permanentequity.com/deal-str… Valuing Companies: permanentequity.com/writings… How We Evaluate Investments: permanentequity.com/writings… Other Essays here: permanentequity.com/essays-l…
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The CARES Act passed on Friday includes a massive expansion of Unemployment Insurance. We asked our legal team for their analysis of how it's designed to work and the incentives it might create: permanentequity.com/writings… *this essay is not legal advice
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We’re excited to officially welcome @greg_trinkl and @nashsteviej to the team tomorrow. Apparently they’re so excited that they showed up to the office on Sunday...
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Hanging out at our office in the “other Columbia” today!
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We've put together 3 anonymous surveys about the impact of COVID-19 and would love for you to participate. SMB Owners/Execs: forms.gle/geWXTgZuTQnWdzNc7 Employees: forms.gle/ToXwM9CHspyUjuc5A Lost your job: forms.gle/Qf5o55RWaYUCy1bL7 We'll be sharing the results in the coming days.
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NEW ESSAY: Build a Better Small Biz Budget for 2023 We're FIRMLY in the back half of 2022, and new challenges (inflation, supply chain disruptions, labor shortages) continue to pop up. Here's our best advice for building an *adaptable* budget for 2023. ow.ly/aV0w50KCTSm
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“If your aim is for things downstream of culture: good outcomes, good decision-making, or even good intentions, then you best also aim for good luck, because you’re going to need it.” Our 2021 Annual Letter: permanentequity.com/writings…
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Game night at the office
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Happy Holidays from the adventur.es team (and a few of our better halves)
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We’re growing and could use a little help! We are currently looking to fill two accounting positions within adventur.es and our family of companies. For more details, enter Orbit and @keliemorgan will reach out! adventur.es/the-orbit
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Our General Counsel is passionately debating sports investment principles in the English Premier League, based on our latest book club read: The Club.
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We’re publishing a 2-part, 7800- word update to adventur.es/Amazon tomorrow. Operators & Owners: make sure you’re on our mailing list: adventur.es
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What a crazy, wonderful day. Thank you to everyone who has reached out publicly and privately. We were excited to share the letter, but the feedback has exceeded all expectations. We look forward to continuing the adventure, and sharing highs, lows, and lessons along the way.
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Back to basics. Back to our roots. Back to the future. We’ve been revisiting what it means for us to be Permanent and have gone back to our Foundations. 🧱a thread🧱
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A sustainable competitive advantage: “The willingness to wait longer than your competition,” as explained by @morganhousel
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"I sell everything at cost." "How do you stay in business?" "I buy below cost." - Joke from Howard Marks' dad
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People who have information about an individual case ....
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Congratulations to @SussB on her 10-year anniversary on our team! She’s an incredible leader and we couldn’t imagine adventur.es without her. adventur.es/susanne-bylund
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On the new pod @fortworthchris talks: Finding a North Star Building exceptional teams Nurturing real friendship & support Knowing where you add value & find satisfaction Prioritizing an operator's mindset w/hosts @BrentBeshore & @DavidACover permanentequity.com/posts/re…
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Gorilla Battles: Q1 2018 Update on What Amazon Means for the Rest of Us adventur.es/gorilla-battles-…
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New essay: "At Permanent Equity, 'Do No Harm' is a primary cornerstone of our approach, defined within the context of our values and priorities. 'Do No Harm' sounds simple. But what counts as harm?" permanentequity.com/writings… #PermanentEquity #PrivateEquity #SmallBiz
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2020 Resolution: Publish more frequently. On that note, new post coming out tomorrow morning...
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Enjoyed a great happy hour to welcome our newest team member @Clayton_Dorge! We initiate people by having them tell embarrassing stories over wine.
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New Programs Interested in careers? Join The Orbit: adventur.es/the-orbit Interested in connecting biz owners with us to evaluate deal potential? Become a Scout: adventur.es/scout-network Want to analyze potential deal value? Use Instant Appraisal: adventur.es/instant-appraisa…
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On endurance in investing – and asking the right questions w/ @morganhousel
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Thank you to everyone who came out to see us yesterday in SC and FL! It was great to see what feel like old friends (@mikedariano, @SpencerBElliott) and meet new ones.
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“Essentially, capital allocation is investment, and as a result all CEOs are both capital allocators and investors.” The Outsiders
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Happy Halloween from the highly caffeinated, Patagonia vest-wearing, Allbirds step-counting VCs in the office today... Costume Inspiration: fortune.com/2017/09/29/group…
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New essay out tomorrow morning. Join the mailing list here: permanentequity.com
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It’s a beautiful day in Columbia! Let’s get those @MainStSummit sessions started!
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3 offers structured 3 different ways. Which offer is best? More on interpreting deal structures: permanentequity.com/posts/pa…
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How do you know if your business has operational dependence on its owner?
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“Most of the year it felt like we were sitting in the middle of a big puzzle, during a particularly windy day, watching pieces plop down around us and scrambling to figure out how they all fit together.” Our 2018 Annual Letter: adventur.es/serving-the-sixs…
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Boosted Chick-Fil-A’s average order size for the day...
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Boring Businesses: "Less glamour..." "You just make a lot of profit."
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New Resource Now Available: OPEN DATA FOR OPERATORS Aggregating regularly updated and freely available data on consumers, travel, logistics, food, production, jobs, construction & more to help inform operators permanentequity.com/open-dat…
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A CEO & his/her Board should stand, join hands & in unison declare, “What is smart at 1 price is stupid at another” berkshirehathaway.com/2016ar…
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“The first six months of 2018 have proven to be the most jam-packed in adventur.es’ history.” Our Mid-Year Update: adventur.es/sweating-hay-in-…
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🤔We buy boring businesses ...
It shall be called "The Boring Company"
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Ladies & Gents, our CEO...
Ever wondered what $10K gets you? Me, with the lovely folks at @LoveINCColumbia, belting out @taylorswift13. If you're as disgusted with my singing/dancing as I am, consider donating to Love INC to make yourself feel better. gofundme.com/f/brent-sings-f… piped.video/LZs3pbndXRI
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"I can give you the complete recipe for the secret sauce, and the chances are good that you still won't use it." - Adrian Slywotzky
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