I’m a firm believer that more & more entrepreneurial ‘builders’ will evolve their operating company into a HoldCo
Scaling initial capital light successes (like a service co) & redeploying cash flow into concentrated bets leveraging existing know-how, infrastructure, & expertise
Why?
- lower barriers than ever to building asset light/capital light co's
- existing co infrastructure makes acquiring/building another co easy
- more non-dilutive funding options available
- talented operators/investors can use brand, capital, & know-how to scale meaningfully
But first… what is a HoldCo?
It’s fancy term for “holding company” which is an entity that owns/controls the assets of other different companies
Most HoldCo portfolio companies operate autonomously... with their own team, balance sheets, systems, processes etc.
Major capital allocation decisions are performed at the “TopCo” (ie, primary owners of the HoldCo)
Most HoldCo’s are C-Corps due to structural/tax advantages, but sometimes you see them operate as LLCs
Distributions to shareholders are less common, w/ free cash flow used instead for new acquisitions, spinning up new products/services, or using for existing portfolio co needs