HoldCo War Stories: "I’ve got personal guarantees everywhere."

Hi everybody.

HoldCo War Stories #5 here for you. Hope you enjoyed yesterday's issue.

Today: Bryan Rand of Rand & Co Holdings has a very different approach to debt than most operators. 

Let's do it.

How One Operator's Aggressive Leverage Strategy Actually Works

From Bryan Rand's presentation at HoldCo Conference 2025

Most holdco operators treat debt like it's radioactive. Bryan Rand treats it like rocket fuel.

Rand's approach—maximum leverage, personal guarantees on everything, and zero outside equity—flies in the face of conventional wisdom.

But the numbers don't lie: Rand wrote a $1 million check on a $15 million deal, loaded it with $10 million of debt, and owns the business outright. No investors, no promote structures, just maximum leverage and maximum ownership.

Bryan's aggressive leverage approach was definitely a conversation starter at the conference.

Many holdco operators prefer raising capital and partnering with family office-style capital. Rand runs in the opposite direction. His reasoning cuts through the typical fundraising fantasy:

"I find it wildly, intensely, and dramatically overrated. The idea of having a partner who, if they walk away from your deal a day before close, they're still rich."

Instead, Rand partners exclusively with institutional lenders who are "built to do transactions rather than viewing them as an option." His first call is always to the SBA because "they're just built to do funky stuff. Their money's expensive, but they get it."

This philosophy extends to his operational partnership model. Rather than diluting ownership with investors, Rand puts up 100% of the equity and gives operators a 60/40 split. The operator gets majority ownership without writing a check, and Rand maintains complete control over timing and structure.

Where other operators see risk, Rand sees opportunity. His willingness to sign personal guarantees opens doors that stay closed for more conservative buyers.

"I got personal guarantees everywhere," Rand explained matter-of-factly. "I wrote $1 million check on a $15 million deal with the sale leaseback. We did three and a half times cash flow."

This approach enabled him to acquire a struggling manufacturing company that private equity had walked away from. The seller wanted out quickly, PE was spooked by market conditions, and Rand stepped in with maximum leverage and personal risk.

The result: complete ownership of a cash-flowing business that he's since expanded through additional acquisitions.

Rand's financing strategy goes beyond traditional SBA loans. He actively hunts for specialty lending programs and regional advantages:

"I've been able to find interesting pockets of money and take advantage of. Whether it's some of these regional funds where there's places that kind of have advantage for lending into certain zip codes, certain states."

He's also leveraged government programs when available, noting that while some diversity lending programs have disappeared, he "used it when it was there."

This constant search for financing edges requires treating debt sourcing like business development—maintaining relationships with dozens of lenders and staying current on program changes.

Rand's high-leverage approach comes with a cost beyond interest rates: the need for institutional-quality reporting and controls.

"Having the ability to provide institutional scale reporting is its own muscle that we're building," he acknowledged. This requirement keeps him from taking outside capital, since he's "not comfortable taking somebody's $20 million check today and giving them the tax, the protections, the insurance, the reporting that that would take."

But for Rand, this trade-off makes sense. He's "on a different place on the risk spectrum right now" and can accept the operational complexity in exchange for maintaining complete ownership control.

Rand's approach is calculated. He targets businesses with predictable cash flows, strong market positions, and motivated sellers. The manufacturing acquisition worked because:

These capital conversations happen all weekend at HoldCo—operators sharing real numbers and strategies.

For holdco operators considering aggressive leverage, Rand's model offers a template: maximize debt capacity, maintain ownership control, and accept the operational complexity that comes with institutional lending requirements.

His philosophy boils down to a simple trade: "I can accept that risk because I own 100% of the upside."

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That's it for today.

If you haven’t been to the conference yet: it’s different when you’re face to face. You find unknown unknowns, and come away inspired. 

Hope you're enjoying the War Stories. 

Tomorrow: How one family business navigated three generations of growth while building a legacy that lasts.

Thanks for reading,

The HoldCo Conference Team

P.S. Get your ticket here!  Want to bring a few people to HoldCo Conference? Reply to this email and ask about group pricing. 

Editor’s note: Any factual errors or misunderstandings in the article are ours, not the presenter’s.