How to Be a Serial Acquirer from Scratch

When most people leave banking to become entrepreneurs, the story usually ends with a startup, maybe some venture funding, and if they’re lucky — an exit.

But that’s not what Ashish Achlekar did.

He walked away from a successful banking career to become a first-time operator in the skilled trades — HVAC, plumbing, electrical — and used M&A not as an exit strategy, but as the foundation to build something with real, lasting value.

We’re talking about a business doing several hundred million in revenue across 12 states, built in just a few years.

I wanted to understand how he did it — not just the strategy, but the mindset. Here are the three most valuable things I took away from our conversation:

1. M&A works best when it’s used to solve real operational problems — not just financial ones.

I talk to a lot of acquirers. A good number of them start with a spreadsheet and a synergy plan. But what stuck out about Ashish is how he started by talking to people. He literally went out and met with over 100 contractors, asking questions, listening, and looking for real friction in the system.

He saw an opportunity in the skilled trades — not because it was trendy, but because it was broken in ways he could help fix:

“The biggest problem in the value chain is labor shortage... It tied so closely with my desire to create jobs, to provide people training, to bring technology to make people more productive.”

This wasn’t a short-term roll-up play. It was a long game to modernize a fragmented industry and build a place where frontline workers — the people doing the hard work in 100-degree heat and freezing cold — could build a better career.

That’s a very different use of M&A than what we often see in PE-backed playbooks.

Ashish didn’t just acquire revenue — he acquired relationships, culture, and local legacies. Then he reinvested in them.

And it worked, because he wasn’t forcing a one-size-fits-all integration. He was building something additive.

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2. Your first deal is a proving ground — for your process, your grit, and your mission.

The way Ashish approached his first deal made me rethink how more founders should be approaching M&A. He didn’t wait until he had outside capital. He bootstrapped the first acquisition through personally guaranteed SBA loans, and it took 18 months and three failed LOIs before the fourth one finally closed — just weeks before COVID hit.

That’s real skin in the game.

“Thinking about entrepreneurship can be a part-time job. Being an entrepreneur is a full-time job... The day you decide to execute, there is no choice but to cut the cord.”

What I appreciate most is how transparent he was with the seller. There wasn’t a polished “we’ll take care of your legacy” slide. There was a conversation — about what Ashish was building, why he cared about the industry, and how he planned to grow the company long after the founders stepped away.

“There is not a page in my PowerPoint presentation that my board members and advisors would see that a seller would not see.”

That level of honesty became part of his brand. And because of that, most of NearU’s future acquisitions came from referrals — one seller telling another, “You can trust these people.”

When your reputation becomes your main sourcing channel, you’re doing something right.

3. Clarity of mission is the ultimate growth lever.

Ashish wasn’t trying to build a business just to make money. That’s the part of our conversation that stuck with me most.

He saw the skilled trades not just as a viable market, but as a way to give back to the country that gave him opportunity.

“Once you know that you're going to enjoy the experience because of the sheer virtue of why you're doing it... the why is more important than the what and the how.”

His thesis was phased, deliberate, and based in first-principles thinking:

• Phase 1: Build scale by partnering with the right operators, not just buying companies
• Phase 2: Invest in training and technology to increase workforce capacity and operational efficiency
• Phase 3: Create a nationally consistent, trustworthy customer experience and become the best place to work in the trades

That’s not just a strategy — that’s a movement.

And it’s the kind of clarity that helped Ashish choose the right partners (like SkyKnight and Freeman Spogli), hold onto more equity, and retain autonomy over his vision.

“We told every seller exactly what we were going to do... We want to make money through hard work, integrity, and bringing more value — not at the cost of someone else’s lack of knowledge.”

We talk a lot about deal mechanics — timelines, integrations, synergy levers. But if you’re using M&A to build a business that matters, it all starts with why you're doing the deal in the first place.

Ashish’s story is a case study in leading with purpose, backing it with grit, and using acquisitions to accelerate a mission — not just a balance sheet.

Highly recommend giving this episode a listen if you’re looking to build something that lasts.