Welcome to the “Masters in Small Business Mergers and Acquisitions podcast.” I am your host, Peter Lehrman, and I’m the Founder and CEO of Axial (www.axial.net), a trusted online platform for business owners & their M&A advisors to use to safely and intelligently explore and execute capital raises, acquisitions, and exits with strategic buyers or professional financial sponsors.
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Welcome to the “Masters in Small Business Mergers and Acquisitions podcast.” I am your host, Peter Lehrman, and I’m the Founder and CEO of Axial (www.axial.net), a trusted online platform for business owners & their M&A advisors to use to safely and intelligently explore and execute capital raises, acquisitions, and exits with strategic buyers or professional financial sponsors.
Nick Huber’s journey from college entrepreneur to RE Acquirer back to full time CEO; a case study in entrepreneurial private equity
Masters in Small Business M&A
54 minutes 9 seconds
4 months ago
Nick Huber’s journey from college entrepreneur to RE Acquirer back to full time CEO; a case study in entrepreneurial private equity
Today’s guest is Nick Huber, founder and owner of Bolt Storage and current CEO of Somewhere.com, a worldwide staffing business acquired in 2024.
Nick joins Peter to discuss the formative acquisitions across his entrepreneurial journey – from growing a distressed storage portfolio into 60+ properties, to the $52M acquisition of worldwide remote staffing firm, Somewhere.com. They cover his transition from operator to acquirer and back to CEO, capital structuring tactics, and why he bet so big on Somewhere.com.
On top of it all, Nick found time to publish his book, The Sweaty Startup, and offers key insights from the book and why he wrote it.
Discussion Points:
Nick’s first storage buildout in 2015 and the pivot to acquisitions
A turning point deal: buying a mismanaged Erie, PA portfolio at public auction
Transitioning from scrappy operations to managing a global team
Building out a PE-backed acquisition engine for Bolt Storage
Underwriting and managing 62 storage acquisitions with global remote staff
Why Nick slowed down storage deals after the 2022 interest rate spike
The story behind acquiring Somewhere.com for $52M
Breaking down the deal structure and equity incentives
Rebuilding operations post-acquisition: new hires, new brand, new funnel
Why South Africa became central to Somewhere.com
Transforming sales and recruiting teams using global talent
Which industries are adopting global hiring (law, construction, SaaS, architecture)
Why AI is not replacing Somewhere.com’s business model anytime soon
Lessons from raising outside capital and the pressure that comes with it
The overlap between operating and authoring The Sweaty Startup
Masters in Small Business M&A (sign up for podcast drops here) is produced by its host, Peter Lehrman, and the team at Axial (
Masters in Small Business M&A
Welcome to the “Masters in Small Business Mergers and Acquisitions podcast.” I am your host, Peter Lehrman, and I’m the Founder and CEO of Axial (www.axial.net), a trusted online platform for business owners & their M&A advisors to use to safely and intelligently explore and execute capital raises, acquisitions, and exits with strategic buyers or professional financial sponsors.