Shaun Stimpson·October 30, 2025

Started Mid-Career, Grew to $38m in 3 Years | Shaun Stimpson Interview

Shaun Stimpson spent 20 years in wealth management (Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Private Bank) in sales leadership before leaving in 2021 to search for a business to acquire. After an 18-month proprietary cold-calling campaign of ~1,200 industrial distribution owners, he acquired Mitten Fluid Power in December 2022 for a holding company he calls North Iron Holdings, then added Frank Merkin Products in September 2023 and Flynn Rubber and Plastics in December 2024, reaching $38m in combined revenue within three years. The businesses distribute fluid connectors, rubber/hydraulic hoses, pneumatics, and related products — a value-added distribution niche with 10-12% EBITDA margins and repeat customer rates of 81-85%. Stimpson's edge has been applying a formal sales strategy to businesses that previously had little or none, investing in inventory and branch locations to serve local MRO demand, and cold calling as the core sourcing method. He financed the deals entirely outside the SBA using personal-network equity investors and mezzanine/senior debt, with himself and co-investor Robert Wolf each owning approximately 25% of the platform. He explicitly rejects the 7-10 year exit timeline typical of self-funded search, instead targeting a 20-25 year build toward $100m in revenue through further acquisitions and organic growth.

Deal facts

multiple: just over 3x EBITDA (leverage on Mitten)
sde ebitda: EBITDA margins 10-12%; gross profit ~40%
revenue: $38m combined (Mitten $14m at acquisition, grown to $22m; Frank Merkin Products ~$6m; Flynn Rubber and Plastics ~$9m)
financing structure: Mitten: $6.5m equity raised (12 outside investors + $250k each from Stimpson and Robert Wolf), plus mezzanine debt + term note + line of credit, no SBA. Frank Merkin: all-debt deal (seller rolled some equity, majority funded with additional debt on Mitten). Flynn: $4.5m new equity raised from existing investors + additional mezzanine and senior debt.
notes: Three acquisitions: Mitten Fluid Power (Dec 14, 2022), Frank Merkin Products (Sep 18, 2023), Flynn Rubber and Plastics (Dec 3, 2024). Stimpson and co-investor Robert Wolf each own ~25% of the holding company. Search funded by Wolf covering all search expenses. No SBA used across any deal. Profits interest LLC structure used for Flynn acquisition.

Why this business

Stimpson had a wealth management client who owned an industrial distribution business and turned him onto the space. He was drawn to the characteristics: low capex, predictable cash flow, no significant customer concentration, high repeat purchase rates, and a large number of owners in their 60s and 70s without succession plans. He also saw that the technical expertise in larger businesses was not owner-dependent, making it transferable. He specifically targeted value-added distributors with a light manufacturing component (hose assembly, hydraulic systems) so that the advisory relationship — not just price — drove customer loyalty.

What's working

High customer retention: 81% of Mitten revenue, 83% of Frank Merkin, and 85% of Flynn revenue came from customers who bought in all five prior years
Sales-first approach: prior owners had no formal sales strategy; Stimpson hired salespeople and built an outbound sales culture from day one, growing Mitten from $14m to $22m in ~2.5 years
Localness strategy: opening additional branch locations close to customers so they can walk in and get emergency hose repairs fast, reducing downtime for industrial customers
Inventory investment: invested $1.2-1.3m in inventory at Mitten to enable MRO (maintenance, repair, operations) business alongside existing OEM business
Proprietary deal sourcing via cold calling: 25% response rate; sellers cited the phone call as what differentiated Stimpson from the flood of emails they received
Credibility compounding post-acquisition: sellers who ignored outreach during the search responded quickly once Stimpson owned Mitten; Frank Merkin owner contacted him 8 days after the Mitten acquisition closed
Long-tenured investor relationships: raised $6m from personal network without traditional search fund investors; investors are aligned to a 20-25 year hold
Representing top-tier manufacturers (e.g., Parker Hannifin) gives pricing power and quality differentiation

What's hard

Three companies still running on three different ERPs; integration and systems consolidation is an ongoing challenge
Cold calling surfaces emotionally ready sellers who haven't yet prepared financials or a sale package, adding work to the diligence process
Managing organizational change during integration: Stimpson notes that people implicitly hate change and draws on his experience living through the Morgan Stanley/Smith Barney merger
Original deal structure for Mitten left him and Wolf at 25% combined ownership; he wishes he had known about profits interest LLCs earlier as it would have allowed a more favorable structure from the start

Notable quotes

Private equity is nothing more than a complex math problem.

Sean, I get a thousand emails. But the fact that you called me piqu my interest enough to open the email that you sent me, read your materials, and the fact that you're going to come here and run the business and you're going to be an active part of the business and not an investor. That sparked my interest enough to reach back out to you and have at least a conversation with you.

A lot of business owners do a great job of working in their business, but they don't do that great of a job working on their business.

I thought staying in corporate America was a riskier decision than launching a search. Having a W2 is 100% customer concentration — all your revenue is coming from one customer, your employer.