# Best Podcasts & YouTube for Searchers

Shows on buying and running a mom-and-pop.

Source: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/category/podcast
Last checked: 2026-09-07

## Every Entry in This Category

### Acquiring Minds

Interviews with people who bought a business.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: Podcast free; platform also runs webinars and a community (pricing for extras not separately verified).
- Best for: Calibrating what buying and running a small business actually feels like, through hundreds of first-person accounts
- Website: https://acquiringminds.co
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/acquiring-minds

### David C. Barnett (YouTube)

Hundreds of videos on buying and valuing SMBs.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: Channel and podcast free; Barnett sells separate online programs (multi-hour courses for a few hundred dollars) and advisory.
- Best for: Absorbing deal mechanics and seller-side psychology before and during screening, especially seller-financing and 'why is this listing priced insane' questions
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/@DavidCBarnett
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/david-c-barnett

### Acquisitions Anonymous

Four investors tear apart real listings.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: Free, and ad-supported. The companion newsletter is free too. Note that the show's own episodes page runs months behind its feed, so read the feed rather than the page before calling it quiet.
- Best for: Aspiring and early-stage self-funded searchers who want to build deal-screening pattern recognition passively, learning to read listings, spot sketchy add-backs, and gauge SBA financeability by osmosis. Not for someone who needs a structured curriculum or hands-on help with a specific live deal.
- Website: https://www.acquanon.com/
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/acquisitions-anonymous

### In The Trenches (Steve Divitkos)

A podcast about the part after the wire.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: Free, with no paid tier, no course and no community. Note the address: a substack of the same name belongs to a different publication entirely, so link the podcast's own host rather than the obvious guess.
- Best for: Searchers under LOI and owners in their first years post-close; it fills the operator-content gap that the deal-focused shows leave open
- Website: https://mineolasearchpartners.com/podcast/
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/in-the-trenches

### Owned and Operated

Running and growing home-service companies.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: The podcast and the weekly newsletter are free. A paid community publishes its price now: $2,500 to join and $500 a month after, vetted by a short survey, and described as still launching.
- Best for: Searchers targeting the trades who want operator-level detail on pricing, hiring, marketing, and service economics from someone currently running the playbook at scale
- Website: https://www.ownedandoperated.com
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/owned-and-operated

### Think Like an Owner

Interviews on growing the company after the buy.

- Pricing model: Free
- What it costs: Free, with a free weekly newsletter beside it. Sponsorship is the only commercial offer and publishes no rate.
- Best for: Searchers and new owners who want operator and investor perspectives beyond deal mechanics, including hiring, systems, and growth after the acquisition
- Website: https://tlaopodcast.com
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/think-like-an-owner

### UpFlip

Interviews with owners on how the business works.

- Pricing model: Freemium
- What it costs: The channel is free. UpFlip Academy membership is offered at $97 per month with periodic lifetime-access promotions (upflip.com, July 2026).
- Best for: Calibrating an industry thesis by watching owners in that industry walk through revenue, margins, and daily operations before you ever read a CIM
- Website: https://www.youtube.com/upflip
- Full review: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/upflip

Site index for machines: https://searchspheresource.com/llms.txt