Royce Yudkoff & Rick Ruback - Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition - [Invest Like the Best, EP.423]

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
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**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (1:22)
Hey everyone, Patrick O'Shaughnessy here. If you've been thinking about the infrastructure behind AI, what's powering it, where capital is flowing, and how to stay ahead of the curve, you'll want to join me for a live webcast I'm hosting with AlphaSense. It's called What's Next for AI and Data Centers. And we're diving into the future of cloud compute, data center investment, and the cybersecurity landscape that's forming around it. I'll be joined by Michelle Brophy from AlphaSense and Gary Michel, formerly of AWS, to break down the most important forces shaping this space. We'll also get into topics like the investment impact of Google's acquisition of WIS and how tools like DeepSeek are influencing spend roadmaps. The event is happening Wednesday, May 21st at 12 p.m. Eastern Time, and I'd love to have you there. Head to alphasense.com/invest to register. Again, that's alphasense.com/invest. Hope to see you there. Ridgeline gets me so excited because every investment professional knows the core challenge that they saw. You love the core work of investing, but operational complexities eat up valuable time and energy. That's where Ridgeline comes in. Ridgeline is an all-in-one operating system designed specifically for investment managers, and their momentum has been incredible, with about $350 billion now committed to the platform and a 60% increase in customers since just October. Firms are flocking to Ridgeline for good reason. They've been leading the investment management tech industry and AI for over a year with 100% of their users opting into their AI capabilities, putting them light years ahead of other vendors thanks to their single source of data. And they recently released the industry's first AI agents, digital coworkers that can operate independently. Their customers are already using this highly innovative technology and calling it mind blowing. You don't have to put up with the juggling multiple legacy systems and spending endless quarter ends compiling reports. Ridgeline has created a comprehensive cloud platform that handles everything in real time from trading and portfolio management to compliance and client reporting. It's worth reaching out to Ridgeline to see what the experience can be like with a single platform. Visit ridgelineapps.com to schedule a demo.
Hello and welcome everyone. I'm Patrick O'Shaughnessy and this is Invest Like the Best. This show is an open-ended exploration of markets, ideas, stories and strategies that will help you better invest both your time and your money. If you enjoy these conversations and want to go deeper, check out Colossus Review, our quarterly publication with in-depth profiles of the people shaping business and investing. You can find Colossus Review along with all of our podcasts at joincolossus.com.

**SPEAKER_3** (3:47)
Patrick O'Shaughnessy is the CEO of PositiveSum. All opinions expressed by Patrick and podcast guests are solely their own opinions and do not reflect the opinion of PositiveSum. This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions. Clients of PositiveSum may maintain positions in the securities discussed in this podcast. To learn more, visit PSUMVC.

**Patrick O'Shaughnessy** (4:15)
My guests today are Rick Ruback and Royce Yudkoff. Rick and Royce are Harvard Business School professors who teach their students how to search for, acquire and run small businesses directly after graduation. It's nuts but it's been almost a decade since our first conversation and unlike many past interviews that become outdated due to technology or market changes, the core principles they shared about entrepreneurship through acquisition remain remarkably relevant today. They explore fascinating developments in the search fund ecosystem, including the bifurcation between funded searchers, targeting larger companies and self-funded entrepreneurs finding success with smaller businesses. Rick and Royce share their accumulated wisdom on what makes a company worth buying, why the magic is in the multiples and how their students consistently achieve impressive returns through patient value-oriented business acquisition. Please enjoy my second-grade conversation with Rick Ruback and Royce Yudkoff.