Insight
Fry: SMBs Should Use AI for Revenue Growth, Not Cost Cutting
“A lot of people think of AI and they think of cost cutting and they're like, oh, we can really optimize our P and L. We can use AI, automate all these jobs, cut costs. That's not the right lens to look at small businesses. And it's not right for really one rea…”
Insight
Fry: US Cannot Win AI Race Without Plumbers Building Data Centers
“We want to win this AI war against China. We have no shot of doing that. If we cannot build the data centers require the plumbers, the electricians, the general contractors, the HVAC technicians, so on and so forth.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Apr 2036
Fry: Small Businesses Will Create Over 80% of Jobs Next Decade
“I believe that in the next decade, they'll rise to four out of five, five out of six jobs.”
Disclosure
Fry: Main Street businesses American Operator sees generate millions in cash flow
“Take some of the businesses that we've worked with just in the past couple of weeks, they're spitting off millions of dollars in cashflow. Normally most of the family is drawing a W two from the business, even if they're not necessarily working. And then you h…”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fry: Tech Workers Are Leaving Silicon Valley to Start AI-Driven Local Businesses
“And we've seen a lot of folks leave Silicon Valley and start new small businesses. So start from scratch using AI and absolutely clean up shop in their towns.”
Disclosure
Fry: Operating Partners Can Buy Into SMB Acquisitions For Just $15,000
“So there's always a co-invest requirement. We make it material to them. It may not be material to the larger deal. It's on the smallest and normally it's around 15,000 dollars. It scales up based on the size of the business and kind of the background of the op…”
Disclosure
Fry: SMB Operators Can Earn 70% Equity in Five to Seven Years
“As they build up that ownership, it typically takes around five to seven years to become majority owner. Using that formula, it accelerates once we've repaid the debt on the business. So maybe you're just getting another two to five points of equity for the fi…”
Disclosure
Fry: American Operator backs internal successors in one-third of acquisitions
“Today at American operator, I'd say around a third of the time we're backing an internal successor. Maybe someone who's a VP, a general manager, a crew lead, help them become an owner. Two thirds of the time, they may not have that person internally. Maybe the…”
Assertion Supported
Fry: Baby boomers own roughly 2.1M of the 6M US employer businesses
“So if you kind of think broad picture, you have thirty three million businesses in the U S you shrink that into six million have employees. So those are the businesses that we focus on of those six million, roughly 2.1 are owned by baby boomers.”
Assertion Supported
Fry: Only around 48% of small business owners have a succession plan
“And the problem is if you go around and there's a lot of survey data on this around 48% actually have a plan for what they're going to do with the business.”
Assertion Partly supported
Fry: Former Vet Received $100K Salary and 10% Equity Running Painting SMB
“We've now parachuted him as the operator for Greenway Painting, which is based in Jackson, Wyoming. Our friends at Fox News recently did a piece on it, and the really cool part there is he's drawing around a hundred K base salary today, and he has 10% ownershi…”
Assertion Contradicted
Fry: Gallup ranks small business as America's most trusted institution
“Gallup runs a poll every year on the top institutions that Americans trust. Small business has been number one since the poll started. It is 44% higher than Congress, obviously. It's also 22% higher than the healthcare system and it is remain number one.”
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Fry: Acquired Painting Business Used Claude AI to Automate Outbound Sales
“We've been able to essentially reconfigure Claude Cowork to do an outbound sales motion to property managers in the area, increase the number of bids out on a weekly basis and win rate.”
Assertion Supported
Fry: Texas faces a shortage of 50,000 trade workers
“Like in Texas, we're short, 50,000 trades workers.”
Disclosure
Fry: American Operator Buys Small Businesses at 4x to 5x Multiples
“And so oftentimes we're buying these at, you know, anywhere from four to five times multiples.”
Assertion Supported
Fry: Small businesses created two of every three jobs in past 25 years
“The past 25 years, two out of every three jobs have been created from small businesses.”
