Chris Hoffmann
@STLChrisH
Blue-Collar Grit. White-Collar Strategy. Zero Outside Capital on journey from $9M to $200M. Author of The Path Less Traveled (link in bio)
What an honor to receive tonight. But I’ll be honest - I feel a little strange accepting an award with “Entrepreneur” in the title when I didn’t actually start the business. That credit goes to my dad, Robert, who founded Hoffmann Brothers with a toolbox, a vision, and -…
Nobody at your company cares about your affiliation with PE, that you used to work at BCG, or that you went to Harvard. In many cases, these affiliations do more harm than good in the eyes of your employees. Prioritizing ego over effectiveness?
Fall in love with the job you have to get promoted to the job you want In high-growth businesses team members often focus on 'what the next role could be' … this comes at the expense of 'hitting a home-run' in their current role The fastest path to advancing in any…
Treat people fairly, not equally. Don't let becoming a large organization force you into seeing everything in 'black & white', building 100+ page policy manuals, and losing the ability to respond to each unique situation. Our ability to retain our family business feel as we…
Many companies think their work is done when they invoice their customer and recognize revenue. However, the best companies know the work is done when cash is deposited. Adjust your processes + incentives accordingly.
The side of entrepreneurship most don’t talk about. I’m betting on you, John 👍👌📈
Quitting and going back to a W2 has never looked more appealing than it has this week. Equipment failures and team mistakes are absolutely killing our momentum. I’ve been battling broken pumps and equipment issues all year, finally got everything fixed—and now this. While I was…
My friend, John O’Leary, was given a 1% chance to live at 9 years old. After 100% of his body was covered in burns. 87% 3rd degree. This is his story… in theaters this Fall. Thank you Sony Pictures for bringing this inspirational film to the world! Mark your calendars.
On HVAC equipment price increases from manufacturers… “U.S. wholesale prices of HVAC equipment in June extended their multi-year climb, and are now up 47 percent since January 2021, per the latest data.” -(Homepros)
Undisciplined funds that got caught up in the exuberance of 2019-2021 are in trouble. Lots of home service activity during this period. Many still hanging on by a thread. Especially if you were paying top of market prices…
This is the third PE-backed petcare business that somewhat seriously tried to buy us at one point, that has zeroed their equity so far in 2025. All 2019-21 vintage. Combined across the 3 I believe it’s $550m of equity capital and ~850-950m including debt.
Should I buy or lease my building? I get this question a lot. Here’s how I think about answering this:
What would you pay for this? Industry: Residential Irrigation Service & Installation Revenue: $9 million Gross margins: 43% EBITDA: $1.1 million Founded: 2002 Team size: 43 Location: Missouri Seller wants to roll 20%, but NOT be the GM post closing
When you and your brother get caught having a friendly competition while waiting for the girls to leave the restaurant…
It should sell for $1 million. Somebody with an SBA loan will pay $5 million.
New passive income opportunity. What do you think this sells for?
Half marathon + Fly fishing + Amazing food = successful guys weekend in Aspen 🤠🏔️🐟🏃
Is there a better show on the topic of family business? I don’t think so.
The private equity board before firing the CFO for missing EBITDA expectation by 0.2%
Big Cedar… hidden gem at Table Rock Lake in Missouri. Views from the patio 👌🇺🇸💯
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how we measure success--not just in numbers, but in moments. Because at the end of the day, our company’s results are nothing more than the sum of our individual efforts. Every job completed, every phone call answered, every question asked,…