Think Big, Buy Small

Building an HVAC Roll-Up in France

2026-11-02

Entrepreneurship through acquisition is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon, and in this episode Rick and Royce speak with Louis-Clair Francois-Poncet, an HBS alum who returned to his native France after business school to pursue ETA alongside a longtime friend. Since launching their roll-up in 2022, they have acquired fifteen HVAC businesses, combining them under a single company while still preserving the local brands and cultures that made each one successful. Louis-Clair shares how he identified HVAC as an attractive sector, raised capital from French investors, and built deal flow by establishing credibility with business owners. Along the way, they explore the differences between pursuing ETA in France and North America, the distinct motivations of business owners who sell without wanting to retire, the power of bringing professional management and information systems to small businesses, and how a roll-up can create value not simply through economies of scale, but by better management, technology, recruiting, and shared resources. The conversation also considers what it means to build an entrepreneurial career around a unified professional and personal life, and why businesses that depend on skilled tradespeople may prove particularly resilient in an age of rapid technological change. Ultimately, Louis-Clair’s experience offers a compelling look at how the ETA model can travel across borders and how entrepreneurs can adapt it to local markets while still preserving the fundamental principles that make the model work. 

No. of episodes

49

Latest episode

2026-11-02

Where can you listen?

Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own startup seem too risky? There's another compelling path open to you: acquiring a small business and running it as CEO. Co-hosted by Harvard Business School Professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, the show is an extension of their courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business, which has sold more than 65,000 copies. In this series, Rick and Royce guide listeners through the different milestones of the journey to acquiring an enduringly profitable small business, sharing insights on how to evaluate prospects, raise capital, and ultimately determine if this path is right for you.