🎙️He Raised $125M on LinkedIn to Buy Boring Businesses

Hello SMB Deal Hunters!

Most people raise capital by begging friends and family.

Sam Silverman raised $125 million by cold messaging strangers on LinkedIn.

He started as an SDR in tech sales making $37,000 his first year. The next year he made $120K, then $250K, and he kept doubling from there.

He lived below his means the entire time, saving a majority of his income while his peers spent everything they earned.

He started buying rental homes.

But then, he quickly realized that paying 16x to make a few hundred dollars a month was a brutal waste of time.

So he sold all of them.

He started buying cash-flowing businesses instead, raising capital from other people to fund the deals.

He did it by cold messaging people in sales and tech on LinkedIn, targeting investors who understood variable income because he'd lived it himself.

By the time he left his corporate job in September 2022, he'd already built Silverman Capital and raised over $30 million while still fully employed.

Today, Sam runs 3 businesses simultaneously.

A paving company roll-up called The Pave with 4 acquisitions closed in 18 months and more under LOI. An accounting firm he built from scratch with a CPA partner. And a private credit fund.

His portfolio has 100+ employees across the companies.

He raised $125 million in five years with no team, and just hired his first associate two weeks before this interview.

His next target? $300 million in the next 36 months.

This week, I sat down with Sam to break down his full playbook.

Here's why this episode is a must-watch:

🔥 How he raised $125M from LinkedIn cold DMs and why he targeted people in sales and tech specifically (the peer-to-peer psychology behind it is something anyone can replicate)

🔥 Why he thinks real estate is a terrible wealth-building vehicle and the math behind buying businesses at 3-4x versus properties at 16-17x

🔥 The immense potential of the paving roll-up “boring business” model. $800K equipment per piece means almost nobody can compete, and the sellers are referring their friends after closing.

🔥 His advice for high-earning W2 professionals thinking about making the leap, including why he says go bigger on your first deal and not smaller

Here's his must-watch breakdown...

And for our audio-only listeners, jump in and listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts!

Member Spotlight

For those who missed it, we also did an SMB Deal Hunter Pro alumni interview breaking down Tatiana's acquisition of a $3.1M print and mail business in Rochester, NY.

She runs it from her desk in Manhattan on a second laptop.

Tatiana is a fraud litigation attorney in NYC. Zero business buying experience. 

She'd invested in real estate, could barely break even, and now wanted to buy something that would actually build wealth.

7 months after joining Pro, she closed. 

And she found the deal on her very first day in the program.

Here's what makes this story worth watching:

→ She was the lowest of 12 offers and lost the deal. Six weeks later, the winning buyer's deal fell apart and she got a second shot.

→ She structured a creative seller's note with the retiring owner that cut her down payment in half.

→ She closed a $3.1M deal WITHOUT quitting her job.

→ In her first 3 months, revenue is up 50% year over year and she's already taking cash out of the business.

If you want to watch the full alumni interview, click below:

And when we asked what she valued most about the program:

So, if you want me and my team to work with you to find, finance, and acquire a million-dollar cash-flowing business in the next 6-12 months, you might be interested in the Pro program.

👉️ Learn more and book a call

COMMUNITY PERKS

• Ready to buy and operate a $1M+ business? Get expert help at every step.

• Want to invest passively in SMB acquisitions? Get access to investment opportunities.

• Get a personal introduction to my preferred SBA 7(a) lender, non-SBA lenders, Quality of Earnings providers, or legal counsel

• Raising capital for your deal? I’ll connect you with investors from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

• Interested in selling your business? I’ll help you connect with buyers from the SMB Deal Hunter Community.

THAT’S A WRAP

Want me to interview you for my podcast? Hit reply.

See you next week with some new deals!

-Helen Guo
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Disclaimer

This publication is a newsletter only and the information provided herein is the opinion of our editors and writers only. Any transaction or opportunity of any kind is provided for information only; SMB Deal Hunter does not verify nor confirm information. SMB Deal Hunter is not making any offer to readers to participate in any transaction or opportunity described herein.