Thursday Apr 23, 2026
Scaled a Business to $30M After a Brutal First Deal | Joe Van Deman
He went from working at Google to driving trucks at 3AM after a brutal first acquisition—then turned those hard lessons into a business that scaled to nearly $30M.
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In this episode of the M&A Launchpad Podcast, Casey Minshew and Ben Suttles sit down with Joe Van Deman of Circle City Capital Group to break down what it actually looks like to buy and operate small businesses.
After reviewing more than 1,200 deals, Joe and his partner acquired an overnight trucking business that looked great on paper but quickly became a grind of middle-of-the-night routes, missed drivers, and operational chaos. Instead of walking away, they stabilized it, grew it, and exited using that experience to reshape their entire strategy.
From there, they built a diversified portfolio across e-commerce, bookkeeping, and manufacturing, including scaling an American-made denim platform to nearly $30M in revenue. Their approach is simple: buy stable businesses, improve operations, and focus on long-term value, not hype.
In this episode, we discuss:
- Reviewed over 1,200 businessesand still got the first deal wrong
• Bought a “great on paper” business that had them driving trucks at 3 AM
• Doubled the business in year one and exited to a strategic buyer
• Scaled a niche denim manufacturing business from under $2M to ~$30M
• Built a portfolio by buying overlooked businesses most people ignore
Guest Contact Info:
Joe Van Deman
Email: joe@circlecitycapitalgroup.com
Website: https://circlecitycapitalgroup.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joevandeman/
Additional Resources:
Contact Casey Minshew, Ben Suttles and Feras Moussa at info@equitylaunchpad.com
https://www.equity-launchpad.com
About The M&A Launchpad:
The M&A Launchpad provides insights into acquiring, investing in, and selling profitable businesses in the lower to middle market. Whether you are a business owner, investor, or aspiring entrepreneur, we will provide you with the knowledge, guidance, and capital to navigate the world of mergers and acquisitions.
The M&A Launchpad presents a series of weekly podcast episodes and hosts an annual M&A Launchpad Conference tailored to the M&A community.
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