My First 5 Acquisitions and How I'm Building a $20m EBITDA SaaS HoldCo | Pascal levy-Garboua Interview

In this episode, I sit down with Pascal Levy-Garboua, a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and the founder of Noosa Labs. After making 140 venture capital investments, including seven unicorns, Pascal shifted his focus to acquiring and scaling small, profitable SaaS businesses under Noosa Labs. His next goal? Building a $50 million ARR portfolio with a 50% EBITDA margin. We dive into his journey—from bootstrapping and navigating trade-offs to executing four acquisitions in his first year. Pascal shares invaluable lessons on structuring deals, managing high-cost debt, and the realities of scaling through acquisitions. He also explains how his experience as a VC has shaped his unique approach to investing in and operating SaaS businesses. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, acquisitions, or building a portfolio of profitable SaaS companies, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss. Please enjoy this conversation with Pascal Levy-Garboua., founder of Noosa Labs. ---------------------------------------------- Timestamps: 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:18 - A career in technology 00:05:33 - Finding fulfillment: Enjoying work for the first time 00:10:13 - Bootstrapping a business and key trade-offs 00:13:34 - Completing four acquisitions in the first year 00:18:53 - Key lessons from the first four acquisitions 00:28:54 - What he would do differently if he could redo those acquisitions 00:32:17 - Underestimating the challenges of the journey 00:34:56 - Defining a North Star for capital allocation 00:42:25 - Managing high-cost debt 00:50:34 - Understanding what founders can’t or don’t want to do 00:52:07 - Personal growth as an acquirer and investor 00:54:02 - Typical deal structures and key considerations 01:01:20 - How making 140 VC investments, including seven in unicorn companies, shaped Pascal as a SaaS investor ---------------------------------------------- Follow Mikk/PrivatEquityGuy on Twitter: https://x.com/PrivatEquityGuy Pascal on Twitter: https://x.com/2pasc This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.