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Join me, Nik (https://x.com/CoFoundersNik), on Nikonomics as I interview Jesse Tinsley (https://x.com/JesseTinsley), the acquisition entrepreneur and CEO of Main Street, a company now valued at $750 million and on track for $500M ARR.
In this episode, we break down how Jesse built a billion-dollar business through acquisitions, not venture capital, and why buying companies can be a faster, smarter path to wealth than building from scratch.
What You’ll Learn:
How Jesse acquired distressed company Bench Accounting (with $40M ARR and 11,000 customers) over a single Christmas weekend, and turned it around with a $50M swing to positive cash flow
The exact acquisition-led growth strategy that’s scaling Main Street into a $2B enterprise
Why Search Funds and SMB acquisitions are exploding as a path for founders to build generational wealth
How a radical sense of urgency, Elon-Musk-style operations, and high-velocity decision-making can drive massive performance
The MrBeast x TikTok acquisition story, and what it reveals about bold entrepreneurial thinking
How improving customer satisfaction and NPS post-acquisition creates compounding growth
The flywheel effect behind Main Street’s success and proprietary tech that detects employment fraud and optimizes payroll efficiency
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This week we covered:
00:00 – Intro: From $20M startup to $750M valuation in one year
00:26 – The crazy story: Buying Bench Accounting over a weekend
02:45 – How Jesse pulled off the Bench acquisition with no prior talks
05:15 – Turning a $40M ARR distressed asset into profit
09:55 – Customer-first mindset: Fixing 10,000 tickets in 26 hours
14:35 – Financing creative deals & integrating big acquisitions
18:20 – Valuation jump to $750M & lessons from deal-making
20:40 – Inside the TikTok bid with MrBeast & global investors
25:25 – Advice for entrepreneurs: Buy vs. build and the search-fund model
34:50 – Building Main Street into a $5B company & final lessons on speed and urgency