Alex Vantarakis

This transcript has been edited for better readability: Henry Harrison Podcast — Entrepreneurs, Business & Finance Guest: Alex Vantarakis Henry Harrison I want to welcome my good friend Alex Vantarakis to the show today. This is Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance, and Alex has been an especially good friend for what we were just saying is pushing nearly 20 years now. We originally met when Alex joined Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Dallas while I was on the board and in charge of membership. He has now spent nearly half his life as an entrepreneur, so congratulations on that. We’ll talk more about that in a few minutes, but thank you for being a friend, Alex. Alex’s business, The Vant Group, has helped my wife and me buy a business. It has helped sell a business. Alex and I even bought a business together, had someone else run it, and later sold it. It was a win — maybe not a huge home run, but definitely a win. He has also invested with me before. We’ve been to each other’s houses, our wives are friends, and in my view we are especially good friends. But today we’re really here to talk about all the interesting things Alex has done, and continues to do, in the world of business, entrepreneurship, and finance — and also some of the ways he gives back to the community, which I think are especially unique and meaningful. In addition to owning The Vant Group, which is now celebrating 25 years, you also own another business called Thornhill Catering. You’ve bought and sold your own businesses over the years, invested in other people’s businesses, and won at least one ethics award at The Vant Group. It would take all day to go through everything you’ve done, along with all the successes and challenges. I also know your team well because I once had office space in your building. Your people have always seemed genuinely happy to be at The Vant Group. So let me start with this: your company does business valuations, helps people sell businesses, and works as an investment banking advisory firm. Why don’t you give us a thumbnail sketch of what The Vant Group does? Alex Vantarakis Absolutely, and thank you for that kind introduction. The Vant Group started in 1999. I had bought and sold a business in 1998, and I became enamored with the process of buying and selling companies. So I took the leap and started The Vant Group, and fortunately we’re still here 25 years later. We are a boutique mergers and acquisitions firm. In simple terms, we help people sell companies, buy companies, and value companies. We focus on what’s called the small to medium-sized business space, which generally means businesses valued between $1 million and $100 million. That’s roughly 80 percent of the businesses in the United States. Henry Harrison One thing I’ve always thought was interesting is how intentionally you chose to focus on that market. A lot of these businesses might be called “small businesses,” but some are doing millions in revenue. I know your motivation was partly that you saw a gap there — a lack of professionalism in that segment — and you had a real passion for the small business owner. Alex Vantarakis Absolutely. My parents were entrepreneurs. They bought and sold small businesses, and they were immigrants from Greece who came over and built their lives by buying a business. That’s really where I got my upbringing. At one point I had a choice. I could have gone to Wall Street and worked for a large firm like Morgan Stanley, but that just wasn’t the culture or lifestyle I wanted. I moved to Dallas — God’s country, in my view — and loved it so much that I had to decide whether to join a large firm or start my own. You’re right that I have an affinity for the small business entrepreneur. And to be clear, even a company doing $100 million in revenue is still considered a small business in many contexts. So when we say “small,” we are not talking about a candy stand on the side of the road. These are real companies employing tens, and often hundreds, of people. It was partly a numbers game. Since about 80 percent of businesses are under $100 million in revenue, I wanted to bring the professionalism of true Wall Street investment banking into the small business community. That’s one of the things that sets The Vant Group apart. It doesn’t matter whether we’re selling a company worth $1 million or $100 million — they get the same quality of service. Henry Harrison And another thing that sets you apart is the level of education and experience on your team. You went back and earned an MBA, and a number of the people who work with you have MBAs or even law degrees. That may not be the only requirement, but it certainly reflects the seriousness of how you approach the work. Alex Vantarakis Absolutely. Having an MBA in finance and an undergraduate degree in finance — and having most everyone on my team come from similar academic backgrounds — is important. I do think that’s a fundamental requirement to understand the financial side of transactions. But the more deals you do, the more you realize that the financial component is probably only 10 to 20 percent of the overall transaction. We’re not selling Apple stock between anonymous parties. We’re dealing with a business owner who may have owned a company for 30 years. That company is like family to them. Their employees are like family to them. It’s an emotional decision. And on the buy side, we may be dealing with someone trying to become an entrepreneur for the first time, or a private equity group looking to expand a portfolio. But at the end of the day, we’re still dealing with people. Honestly, I would trade all of my finance degrees for a psychology degree every single time. Henry Harrison That really gets to one of the great things about The Vant Group. You start with people from the very beginning. You set expectations. You explain the process. You educate them. You even give them books to help them understand what the journey is going to be like. You help them understand what the business is actually worth, what is realistic, and what buyers are going to look for. A lot of firms overpromise and underdeliver. I think if anything, you probably underpromise at the beginning because you know you can’t guarantee anything. And I also know you sometimes work with clients a year or even several years before they sell, helping them get ready. Alex Vantarakis That’s exactly right. I have yet to meet a business owner who believed their business was worth less than it actually was. Even I think my own businesses are worth more than what the market might pay because I have tremendous pride in them. But one thing we are not at The Vant Group is yes-men. We are very selective in the clients we work with because we spend an inordinate amount of time teaching them what the market is like, what buyers look for, what financing options are available, and all the factors that ultimately drive value. When the value the market supports matches our client’s expectations, we are successful almost 100 percent of the time. When those two things do not line up, we either show them a path to reach the number they want — or they go elsewhere. You mentioned the ethics award, and I take tremendous pride in that. There’s a distinction between true M&A advisors and what many people call business brokers. Both may perform a similar function on the surface, but the level of professionalism and rigor is very different. A rough analogy would be the difference between hiring day labor versus hiring a licensed, professional construction team. That’s not a perfect analogy, but it makes the point. That’s really where we separate ourselves. Henry Harrison And one reason you understand business so well is that you don’t just advise on it — you’ve done it. You’ve bought and sold businesses yourself, and you currently own a sizable business in Thornhill Catering, which one of my companies has done work for. You’ve developed enough expertise that you can delegate and let strong people run the business while you continue to build other things. And if someone is in Dallas, they should absolutely look up The Vant Group if they are buying or selling a company — and look up Thornhill Catering if they need that service. Another thing I find so interesting about your work is that it puts you in a very dynamic environment. You are always meeting active people who are building, buying, selling, growing, or repositioning businesses. And many of them become friends for the long term, even if they never sell the business. The process is so personal that you and your team really get to know them. I see them at your house. I see them at your gatherings. Do you find that rewarding? Alex Vantarakis Tremendously rewarding. We only get one life to live, and how we spend our days matters. I could have made money in a lot of different ways — or at least I think I could have — but what I’ve found is that I want to make money and help people. I want to have fun. I want to take care of people. I want to build real relationships. When you work with a seller for six months or a year to sell their company, it really helps to become close to them, to understand how they think and what matters to them. Not only does that help in selling the business, but it also helps you coach and guide them through the process. When people see that you genuinely care about them and that they are not just a paycheck, real friendships form. And you’re right — a large percentage of the people who come over to my house and spend time with me are former clients. Henry Harrison One thing I’ve always known about you is that you’ve done things to help people — whether it’s through formal charity, helping someone with a loan, or simply giving someone a lift when they needed it. Some of those people were once very successful and fell. Others never got far enough up to fall and just needed help getting started. Now you’ve formalized some of that through something called Equip for Life, which is a ministry and charitable effort that you’re deeply involved in. Why don’t we wrap up with that? Alex Vantarakis Absolutely. I’d be happy to. Equip for Life is a men’s ministry that I started after I gave my life to the Lord seven years ago. Coincidentally, those have been the most prosperous seven years of my life — not because you go to God and ask for prosperity, but because when you truly change your heart and the way you interact with people, everything changes. You become a better father. You become a better friend. You become a better husband. You become a better businessperson. People can see that, and it resonates. Equip for Life is a men’s ministry. We host four weekly Bible studies, we have a podcast, and we do a lot of retreats and connection-based activities. I also created something called the Benevolence Fund. Many of the men who come through the ministry do not have the same economic advantages that you and I have had, and I see them struggling every day. So we created a fund that functions like a safety net. We help with things like rent, buying a car, going on a retreat, or consolidating debt. We want to show that men can genuinely love and support other men in a pure and healthy way — and that kind of environment doesn’t exist often enough today. Men are often taught to hide their feelings and avoid vulnerability with other men. I think that’s one reason why there is so much depression and anxiety right now. We’ve created a space where the Lord leads the discussion, where men can be men, and where we simply love on each other and support each other. Henry Harrison I really admire that. And honestly, I can’t think of a better way to wrap up than with those words. Thank you. I will see you soon — actually tonight, because one of the things you also do for the community is host gatherings that let people network personally and professionally at your office building. So thank you again, and I’m really glad you were able to come on. Alex Vantarakis Absolutely, Henry. God bless you, and I’ll see you tonight.