What’s the firm’s origin story?
The genesis of Augr Inc. is probably best characterized by a healthy dose of overconfidence, curiosity, and a desire to get our hands dirty.
My educational background is in physics and economics. In fact, I originally had no intention of working in PE. I was on pace for a career in neurosurgery. It wasn’t until halfway through university, when I decided to reroute to PE – I figured owning a hospital would be much more interesting than working in one. Yes, my thinking was remarkably one-dimensional. For my remaining years in undergrad, I did a deep dive into PE. While my roommates partied, I learned to build LBO models. My recreational reading was about Wayne Huizenga and rollups. I skipped class to meet with funeral directors, veterinarians, mining company CEOs, dentists, medspa owners, etc. I was building an investment thesis and sought to identify low-hanging fruit.
After graduating, I joined a family office/RE development group and cut my teeth working on deals in the self-storage space. In January of 2023, I made the jump to PE and founded Augr Inc.
Augr Inc. is in a position to capitalize on the surplus of boomer-owned, small/mid cap businesses that are hitting the market now and for the next decade. Many of these companies are boring, unsexy businesses – owners are struggling with succession planning. In today’s world, what kid wakes up and salivates at the thought of taking over his pop’s chemical manufacturing business? Not many…but that’s a good thing for us.
What is your investment thesis or value proposition?
We prefer to invest in companies that operate in overlooked industries (e.g., chemical manufacturing, security, debt collection, O&G, and other sectors). We avoid hot, attractive, and sexy industries (e.g., cybersecurity, AI/ML, biotechnology, mainstream healthcare). Our sweet spot is $5M-50M of enterprise value.
Our value proposition is simple. We offer owners liquidity while providing management teams the sophistication and growth capital needed to take the business to the next level. If the management team is a little light, we’re not afraid to roll up our sleeves and get involved operationally.
Any notable differentiators for the firm?
We’re willing to turn over rocks that come with added complexity. In fact, we welcome complexity. We’re currently sourcing deals in sectors such as: firearm accessories, O&G, radioactive substances, etc. Augr Inc. has a unique risk assessment framework that enables us to identify, mitigate, and manage unconventional risks.
Our second differentiating factor is our approach to growth — we’re quite aggressive. Inorganic and organic growth are the primary engines of our scaling strategies. That said, we don’t rely on existing playbooks or cookie-cutter growth initiatives. Our approach to growth is fundamentally centered around reasoning from first principles.
What are you looking for, and where are you seeing opportunities?
Our ideal acquisition candidates are 1) off-market, family-owned businesses with owners at/near retirement age, and 2) founder-led companies in overlooked industries that are seeking a growth partner.
The mass “exit”-dus of baby boomers has presented many opportunities. This is true regardless of the industry. Furthermore, we’re consistently identifying attractive deals in overlooked industries/complex sectors where we find a lack of PE firms.
Finally, can you regale us with an interesting or funny M&A story?
I was recently doing a site visit for a manufacturing company on the West Coast. The property was a large industrial building with well-maintained grounds. I arrived at the site and was immediately greeted by the owner. We walked into his office, I sat with my back to the windows, and we began our meeting. It was about 30 minutes into our meeting when I heard a small tap on the glass. I turned around and was shocked to see a full-grown African crane (search “African crane” on Google if you don’t know what they look like). The owner explained to me that he owned dozens of rare/exotic birds which were housed on the property. He offered to give me a bird tour… I happily accepted. In addition to African cranes, the guy had white peacocks, black swans, ducks, geese, and hundreds of koi fish. There were even two emus – he kept them in the horse corral behind the building. At the end of the tour, the owner told me to take a few crane eggs home (for the purpose of making an omelet). Unfortunately, there’s no way I could have gotten those eggs through TSA. Each of them was the size of a softball! I thought about sneaking them through, but I decided to leave without them.
So for anyone looking to try a crane omelet, I’ve got the hook-up. The owner says you can’t beat it!
