Nick Huber·June 19, 2025

How a First-Timer Pulled Off a $52m Acquisition | Nick Huber Interview

Nick Huber is the 'Sweaty Startup' entrepreneur and Twitter influencer who built a 63-property self-storage portfolio (Bolt Storage) and became famous for advocating boring-business entrepreneurship. In this episode he details how he acquired majority control of Somewhere.com (formerly Support Shepherd), an international recruiting/offshoring platform, at a $52 million valuation in May 2024. He structured the deal as an independent sponsor: raising $20.3m from 38 investors in a bifurcated equity tranche (20% carry for checks over $1m, 30% carry for smaller checks), negotiating an 18% seller note directly from founder Marshall Hos to himself as a personal upside instrument, and rolling his existing 12.75% minority stake — all while wiring only ~$375k personally at close. The post-acquisition period has been turbulent: the rebrand collapsed SEO leads from 400 to zero, the Twitter algorithm change gutted Nick's social media marketing funnel, and tariff shocks caused a $250k single-month revenue hit. Despite these setbacks, Q1 2025 revenue was up 26% year-over-year, driven by improved sales processes, variable compensation, and geographic diversification of talent toward South Africa and Latin America. The episode is as much about Nick's broader thesis — that a worldwide remote workforce (especially South Africa for finance/sales, Latin America for operations) gives operators a structural cost and quality advantage that compounds across every business he touches — as it is about the specific deal mechanics.

Deal facts

purchase price: $52m enterprise valuation (majority acquisition; ~$20.3m cash raised from investors for 39.25% equity tranche + ~$9m seller note for 18% equity tranche)
multiple: less than 6x EBITDA (stated by guest)
financing structure: 39.25% equity tranche raised from ~38 investors ($20.3m cash); 18% seller note directly from seller Marshall Hos to Nick Huber (collateralized by the business); Nick rolled existing 12.75% equity stake; seller retained ~13.5%; 20% carry for investors >$1m, 30% carry for investors <$1m; no preferred return, no AUM fee; Nick wired approximately $375k personally at closing
notes: Business was rebranded from Support Shepherd to Somewhere.com prior to close. Nick had previously bought 15% minority stake in April 2022, then was diluted to 12.75% when co-investor Sean Perry bought in. Three-month negotiation period; valuation rose from initial $47m (Andrew Wilkinson/Tiny offer) to $52m. Closed May 1, 2024. Nick acquired 70% control total (12.75% existing + 57.25% new). Seller note structured so only the 18% equity tranche cash flows service it; Nick's existing 12.75% distributions flow to him separately.

Why this business

Nick became a customer of Somewhere.com (then Support Shepherd) in 2021, used it to build all his companies, and became a 15% partner in April 2022 after driving significant revenue as an affiliate. He chose to acquire majority control rather than let it go to Andrew Wilkinson/Tiny because he believed the business had $500 million revenue potential: 'I thought that this was the first business that I had been involved in that had $500 million revenue potential over time... I don't want to own less of this. I want to own as much as possible.' He also feared regretting not taking the swing if the business eventually went public.

What's working

Remote workforce strategy: Nick replaced Filipino-heavy call center with South African sales team at Bolt Storage, lifting storage unit conversion rate from 32% to 41%, contributing to 14.1% revenue growth and 20%+ NOI growth year-over-year in Q1 when publicly traded competitors posted revenue declines
Overhead arbitrage: Nick runs his entire 50-employee real estate PE management company for $1.5m/year vs. a comparable competitor at $5m/year, enabling him to toggle off management fees at struggling deals and still break even
Repeat business expansion: Average placements per client at Somewhere.com rose from 1.2 to 3, indicating strong retention and expansion revenue replacing lost marketing-driven leads
Q1 2025 revenue at Somewhere.com was up 26% year-over-year despite earlier SEO and Twitter-driven lead collapses
Variable compensation introduced for recruiters and sales staff, improving productivity and alignment
Investor network built through Twitter and real estate track record allowed Nick to raise $20m from 38 investors despite no prior operating-company PE track record
South Africa identified as prime talent hub for finance and sales roles: chartered accountants who fly to the US seasonally, fluent English, professional maturity, same-day time zones with Eastern US

What's hard

Rebranding from Support Shepherd to Somewhere.com caused SEO organic traffic to collapse from 400 leads/month to zero; took until Q1 2025 to recover to pre-acquisition levels
Twitter algorithm changes reduced Nick's reach dramatically: tweets that used to drive 3,000-4,000 website visitors and 200 leads 'don't work at all' now; lead volume fell from 1,500/month to 700/month at the trough
AI risk to the offshoring/recruiting business model was the primary reason Andrew Wilkinson withdrew interest, and remains an overhang
Tariff shock in April 2025 (Liberation Day) caused a $250k revenue drop in one month as e-commerce and direct-to-consumer clients froze hiring; lost 50 deals from a 400-deal pipeline in that period
Operational complexity of drastic geographic shift: went from 80% Philippines placements to 40% South Africa / 40% Latin America / <15% Philippines, with significant talent and client disruption during the transition
Skin-in-game concerns from investors: Nick wired only ~$375k personally at closing, which caused some investors to decline; had to have difficult conversations about the seller note structure and his lack of cash contribution
No paid growth channel identified yet to replace lost SEO and social media leads; still heavily dependent on referrals and existing customer expansion
First 18 months post-acquisition described as a 'J-curve': expenses went up as the business was prepared for scale; CEO installation did not allow a passive ride-off-into-sunset outcome as hoped
Platform risk concentration: business was heavily dependent on two channels (SEO and Twitter) that both deteriorated simultaneously

Notable quotes

I thought that this was the first business that I had been involved in that had $500 million revenue potential over time. Obviously, this has this is a business with a model that's proven. There are 100 plus companies in the United States that do this and make more than 100 million a year of revenue. I don't want to own less of this. I want to own as much as possible.

I realized after two or three meetings with capital investors for small business that there's no such thing as a 50% promote. Cap the cash calls the shots.

I did not hire a banker. I'm not a former PE guy. I was still calling it a promote in these meetings because I didn't know they call it a carry.

The public storage, the publicly traded storage companies, extra space storage, public storage, they posted year-over-year revenue decreases in Q1. Our revenue went up 14.1%. Our net operating income was up over 20% in Q1. Year-over-year.