Key Takeaways

  • Kanbrick sourced four of its seven platform investments directly through an internal network of 4,000 mid-market business leaders.
  • Tracy Britt Cool structured the firm around an executive peer model after experiencing operational isolation while running Pampered Chef for Warren Buffett.
  • The initiative launched with a single "Build with Kanbrick" cohort of five CEOs and scaled strictly through executive peer recommendations.
  • Kanbrick delivers operational training on hiring, KPI processes, and performance benchmarks to owners years before discussing a liquidity event.
  • The strategy aligns proprietary deal flow with a 15-plus year holding period, bypassing the typical three-to-five-year private equity exit mandate.

Intermediated Auctions Alienate Founder-Led Targets

Private equity deal sourcing in the middle market typically relies on investment banks running broad auction processes. For owners who built companies across multiple generations, an auction feels cold and mercenary. It forces founders into high-speed bidding contests with financial buyers who look at their life work as a collection of cash flows and debt multiples.

Cool saw this disconnect during her years as a top deputy to Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. When she co-founded Kanbrick, she discarded the auction playbook entirely.

“The days of auctions, it's transactional, it's not how most people think about their businesses,” Cool said. “If you've built your business over decades or it's a family business or you're a founder, the idea of selling it through an auction doesn't resonate with a lot of people.”

Sellers who care about long-term stewardship often resist transactional processes. Kanbrick positions its capital to match that resistance. By using a 15-plus year holding horizon, the firm removes the threat of an immediate financial flip, making direct outreach credible to owners who want stability for their employees.

Solving CEO Isolation to Build Long-Term Trust

Direct deal sourcing usually stalls because cold outreach from investment associates feels self-serving. Kanbrick resolved this by offering practical operational assistance long before any transaction is on the table. The insight grew directly out of Cool's transition from financial analyst to operational leader.

“When I started as CEO of Pampered Chef, it was lonely,” Cool said. “I had to go out, meet with owners, meet with other executives to understand, 'How do you manage a business effectively and well?'”

To recreate that support system for other operators, Kanbrick launched an executive curriculum called Build with Kanbrick. The firm did not hire marketing agencies or buy email lists.

“We started with our first program, it's called Build with Kanbrick. CEOs applied to it. In our first cohort, we had five CEOs we selected. Those first five CEOs recommended other CEOs.”

That initial cohort of five grew into a network of 4,000 executives, owners, and C-suite leaders. Kanbrick organizes cohorts, hiring masterclasses, and operational roundtables.

“Now, we have 4,000 CEOs in the community and owners and C-suite executives where we're helping them with their business, taking a step back and saying, 'This is what a great KPI process looks like. These are what the best benchmarks are,'” Cool explained.

Proprietary Origination Outperforms the Intermediated Pipeline

This continuous operational support creates an information asymmetry that traditional financial sponsors cannot match. Kanbrick observes how prospective targets operate, how their leaders handle stress, and how their management teams measure performance over months or years. By the time a founder decides to take chips off the table, Kanbrick is a known collaborator rather than an aggressive bidder.

The economics validate the time spent. Out of seven platform investments completed by Kanbrick, four originated directly through this executive community, and all seven closed via direct relationships.

“All of our investments have come through direct relationships. Four of our seven have come through the community. We're building good will, we're building trust,” Cool noted. Delivering operational value upfront earns bilateral deal access that competitive auctions eliminate.

Why It Matters

Intermediated auctions compress buyer margins by bidding up asset prices and squeezing closing timelines. Kanbrick proves that replacing cold sponsor outreach with practical operational education gives long-horizon capital a defensible path to bilateral deal flow. This signals an ongoing shift among sophisticated sponsors toward proprietary networks that trade short-term advisory work for un-shopped deal flow.