5 Years Ago Today - I acquired Landmark Sign Company: Ask Me Anything

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July 28, 2025

by a searcher from Washington University in St. Louis in Chesterfield, MO, USA

It's my ETA Birthday -- I acquired Landmark Sign Company 5 years ago today through a self-funded search. Happy to answer questions about my experience.
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Reply by a lender
from California State University, Sacramento in Seattle, WA, USA
Fantastic post and interaction ^redacted‌. Congrats to you. And no offense taken from one of the lenders dedicated to the self funded search niche when you say that lenders don’t always make the best decisions. Compared to when you started 5 years ago, I think you’d be shocked at the leverage that acquirers and lenders and investors are willing to take on in today’s environment. And with 20% equity to start, you were able to weather the miss on the cap ex much easier in year two than if you had been leveraged up to the max. So hard to make first time buyers appreciate the difficulty of the first three years and the jcurve. Thanks for the generous interaction. Happy to chat about your growth by acquisition. redacted ^redacted‌
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Reply by a searcher
in Jacksonville Beach, FL, USA
Congrats Adrian! Thank you for sharing and inspiring! Looking back at your LOI, DD, and original modeling assumptions compared to how the last 5 years have gone, are there any pieces of advice for searchers to use related to working capital, cash conversion timelines, growth assumptions, revenue forecasts after takeover, or typical searcher assumptions that did not pan out as your younger version expected?
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