How Holdco Legend Michael Girdley is Playing Multi-Decade Games (and Winning)

This podcast episode features an interview with Michael Girdley, a "holdco legend," discussing his approach to business incubation versus acquisition, managing a diverse portfolio of companies (including fireworks and software), and his philosophy on long-term games and personal fulfillment over purely financial metrics. He shares insights on building a media company and a CEO peer network (Scale Path), and analyzes the success of Constellation Software. The conversation also touches on the challenges of taking VC money and the "multiple of fun" in entrepreneurship. The episode concludes with Girdley's multi-decade plan and his unique perspective on finding beauty in everyday places like Chili's.