Skip to content
SearchSphereSource
Sign inSign up

In The Trenches (Steve Divitkos) vs Think Like an Owner

Side by Side

In The Trenches (Steve Divitkos) and Think Like an Owner, attribute by attribute
AttributeIn The TrenchesThink Like an Owner
What It IsA podcast about the part after the wire: Steve Divitkos, a former searcher CEO who bought, ran, and exited the software company he acquired, interviews SMB CEOs and operators on hiring, boards, systems, decision-making, and the psychological load of ownership.. Hosted by Steve Divitkos and running roughly twice a month, its listing now shows 148 episodes, the newest dated September 2026. It sits under Mineola Search Partners, which invests in search funds and the entrepreneurs who run them.Alex Bridgeman's interview podcast on how ambitious CEOs grow great companies, with heavy coverage of search, small-company acquisition, and the operators and investors around them; roughly two episodes a week and nearly 300 episodes since 2018. It runs weekly on a Monday, hosted by Alex Bridgeman, and its own index reports 285 episode entries with the newest numbered 287. Its sponsor page publishes 20,000 downloads a month and 500,000 all time, with a listener mix it puts at 42% chief executives, 20% active searchers and 22% prospective ones.
CategoryPodcasts & YouTubePodcasts & YouTube
Pricing ModelFreeFree
What It CostsFree, 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.Free, with a free weekly newsletter beside it. Sponsorship is the only commercial offer and publishes no rate.
Best ForSearchers under LOI and owners in their first years post-close; it fills the operator-content gap that the deal-focused shows leave openSearchers and new owners who want operator and investor perspectives beyond deal mechanics, including hiring, systems, and growth after the acquisition
Where It FitsLearn & Choose Your Path, Operate & Grow the BusinessLearn & Choose Your Path, Operate & Grow the Business
Our VerdictQueue it the week you sign an LOI; it is the best free preparation for the job you are actually buying.Add it to the rotation for the operating half of the journey; it pairs naturally with In The Trenches once a deal is in sight.
Pros
  • Rare, sustained focus on operating after the acquisition rather than deal hunting
  • Host credibility: he searched, bought, ran, and exited before becoming an investor in searchers
  • Long-form depth (episodes run about an hour) with a consistent cadence since 2021
  • Deep archive of operator and investor conversations relevant before and after an acquisition
  • Active cadence (about two episodes weekly) with recent 2026 episodes confirmed
  • The host invests in the space, which keeps guest quality high
Cons
  • Deal sourcing and screening are not the point; listen elsewhere for the buy side
  • Roughly twice-monthly cadence is a slower drip than the deal-a-week shows
  • Public rating volume is small, so platform ratings are a thin signal
  • Coverage is broader than searcher-specific mechanics; deal-process detail is lighter than the deal-teardown shows
  • The host's investing activity means guests often come from his own network, so perspectives can cluster
  • It went quiet for seventeen weeks between March and July 2026 and has run weekly since; a reader planning around a cadence should check the newest date rather than the episode list

Both rows were read at source: In The Trenches ↗ and Think Like an Owner ↗.

Our take

Choose In The Trenches for depth on the owner's chair itself: a former searcher CEO on decisions, boards, and the psychological load, at a deliberate twice-monthly pace.

Choose Think Like an Owner when the trades are your thesis. Its podcast listing now names a focus on garage door and home services companies, which is what its recent episodes cover, and it names its host as co-owner of Durable Trades Collective. Expect less of the investor and search range it once had.