Why Bad Bunny's dating "playbook" is bad for investor outreach - and other actionable insights to help you crush the rollup game

Disclaimer: Unless noted otherwise, views and analysis expressed here are the author's own and based on public sources. The article is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional for investment decisions.

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I don't sit still most days, but boy, did I have a hell of a travel schedule last week! 

On Monday, in between ski runs and moderating the Rollup Bootcamp (thanks Strada and Reef Pass for delivering a killer module on industry thesis + team), Helen and I broke the back of the Röko sequel article, which is coming out next week (meanwhile, check out the original deep-dive). 

On Tuesday, we headed to London for meetings with investors and searchers, and of course for our 13th (!) Serial Acquirer Summit. By Friday morning, I was feeling pretty beat… but it was time to head back to Switzerland for an ETA-themed ski trip. 

All in all, I reckon that in the last fortnight I have spoken to / dialled into calls with 20+ investors spanning the entire ETA spectrum. Search funds. Long-Term Holds. Independent Sponsors. EIRs. PE-backed rollups.   

Why should you care? Because now I have 3 actionable insights to share, to help you crush the rollup game: 

1. Fundraise Like a Pro

2. Don’t be Fazed by Competition

3. Exit Ready From Day 1

Before we dig in, a heartfelt thanks to our supporters, including TechCredit Partners (the only debt adviser you’ll ever need); Pavleta from PPH Financial (the Fractional CFO par excellence); Grata (private-company intelligence); Reef Pass (invest globally and across ETA “genres”, bringing thought leadership and decades of compounding experience)...

…and the latest addition, Strada Partners: Europe’s leading "buy-and-build" investor. 

What do all these firms have in common? They deeply care for the ETA community. 

Insight #1: Fundraise Like a Pro

It’s 2026, and the world is going mad… about serial acquirers!

If you have an idea you’re passionate about, that you have traction with (LOIs in hand, path to margin uplift etc.), you are going to get funded. It’s a question of when and how - not whether. 

However… you have to put in the paces! There’s so much literature about differentiated M&A deal sourcing amidst the AI slop and hordes of desperate MBAs in their 3rd year of search. We all agree that spamming people doesn’t work, right? 

Therefore: do not treat your investors differently. 

In other words, do not follow the advice of Bad Bunny:

Use this 4-step playbook to achieve your objective without going overboard on investor dating: 

Step 1, answer a simple question: what do you want from the rollup game? Maximum starting capital, longer / shorter liquidity horizon, absolute amount of exit proceeds, the extent of autonomy, free time… You can't have it all. But you do get to pick the combo.    

Step 2, choose the structure that best aligns with your preferences. Thankfully the market has evolved to a point where there’s a lot on offer:    

The good news is, there are flexible investors that straddle multiple categories, with Strada and Reef Pass being two prime examples. 

Step 3, identify key players in your target space - and learn as much about them as you can. Check size? Hold period / fund duration? How do they think about industry selection? Do they back tightly integrated buy & builds, decentralised HoldCos - or both?     

Speaking of which: have you registered for our NYC Serial Acquirer Conference on 31 March? The event brings together the most successful serial acquirers, PE professionals exploring buyout entrepreneurship, and world-class serial acquisition investors. 50%+ sold.

Step 4, when you are clear on what you want and what you can offer, create your targeted pitch and reach out - your chances of success are high! 

Insight #2: Don’t Be Fazed by Competition

At the London conference, I hosted a fireside chat with Anders Barklöf, a co-founder of Aspira - a Swedish Independent Sponsor-turned-Fund Manager which we profiled here. Aspira’s bread-and-butter are Business Services buy & builds in Scandi Lower Mid Market.

You heard that right: Business Services + Northern Europe + Lower Mid Market. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more competitive space anywhere in the world, including in the US!   

And yet Aspira has prevailed, with 6 live platforms and 100+ add-ons.

The largest one is Teqt Group - a B2B focused roofing rollup. €250M+ sales achieved in 5 years from 40+ acquisitions. Underlying the investment thesis is a highly compelling industrial rationale with procurement synergies (Anders mentioned 2x cost variations), a transition to photovoltaic energy, and the recurring maintenance element. With Teqt currently in the market after a partial exit in 2025, we’ll find out soon just how good that business is, but for now, an obvious question:

How does one get going in a market far from obscure, faced with stiff competition from both HoldCos (Novedo, Fasadgruppen, Vestum) and PE-backed aggregators (Nordic Capital / Soltech)? 

Anders’ response was four-fold: 

1. In the first year, the team spent 300 days on the road, meeting 300 companies to map the Nordic market

2. They “hand‑picked” local winners to join the group. The initial platform had scale: SEK 250 / $27M in revenue and a 12% EBITDA margin

3. Stay disciplined and ignore competitors that bid “very aggressive valuations and without reviewing numbers”. Aspira’s patience was rewarded after multiple competitors began to peel away, halting acquisitions or even divesting (e.g. Vestum). 

4. Win deals through industrial knowledge and advisor relationships. Early on, Teqt appointed the Chairman of the Swedish Roofing Association as an advisor

Insight #3: Exit Ready From Day 1

Next, the indefatigable Linus Eriksson, the CEO of the debt advisory firm TechCredit Partners, took over to interview Max-Otto Griesam and Stefan Matei. 

Who are Max-Otto and Stefan and why does their opinion matter? 

Max-Otto has not one but 2 rollup exits under his belt. Both in Germany. Number one, Hestia: a roll-up of property and damage restoration contractors. Exited in 2022 through a merger with Artus, a PE (Castik Capital) backed consolidator. Following the major merger, Max served as CFO of a €300M revenue organisation. Max’s other rollup, Artus (infrastructure engineering), was sold to GS Private Equity in 2024 at €60M revenue. 

Whereas Stefan is a founding partner of Opera, a Swiss-based investor in Independent Sponsors: The Rollup of Tomorrow Vol 12. 98% rejection rate & positively paranoid: meet Opera, a tenacious backer of Europe’s Independent Sponsors

Stefan and Max-Otto shared 5 key lessons:

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