Acquisition Foundations by Codie Sanchez

What This Course Delivers

Acquisition Foundations is a 10-unit, 205-lesson video program by Codie Sanchez, founder of Contrarian Thinking and a former institutional investor who built First Trust's $1 billion+ Latin America Investments business. Instead of teaching members to launch a startup, it lays out a complete, repeatable system for buying small, already-profitable “boring businesses” — laundromats, car washes, home-service companies — and operating them for cash flow. The curriculum tracks one deal from first contact to close, covering clarity, sourcing, outreach, valuation, offers, due diligence, and financing. The download contains 205 video lessons, 121 PDF resources, and 37h 16m 31s of training totaling 20.14 GB.

Course Contents at a Glance

🎬 205 Video Lessons — 37h 16m 31s across 10 units, from foundational mindset through closing the deal

📕 121 PDF Resources — Worksheets, scripts, calculators, checklists, and reference sheets tied to the lessons

💾 Total Download: 20.14 GB

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What You Will Master in Acquisition Foundations

✅ Build a precise “Deal Box” in Unit 2 — the acquisition criteria, target business size, industry, and income goals that filter every opportunity before it costs you time.

✅ Calculate a target's true Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) and apply market comparable multiples (Unit 5) to verify a listing is a real income stream, not a polished pitch.

✅ Source off-market deals through the Quiet Seller Method and Rolodex-to-ROI framework (Units 3 and 4) instead of bidding against everyone else on BizBuySell.

✅ Run cold outreach with the 8-Step C2C Framework (Unit 4) and open conversations with owners by email and phone without sounding like a corporate raider.

✅ Apply the FROG method to build genuine rapport with sellers and present yourself as a qualified, credible buyer.

✅ Structure offers with seller financing, sweat equity, and hybrid debt-equity terms (Unit 8) so the deal does not depend on a large cash payment.

✅ Conduct the Unit 7 Due Diligence process — assembling a Deal Team and reading red, orange, and green flags — to avoid acquiring hidden liabilities.

✅ Draft a Letter of Intent (LOI) and Asset Purchase Agreement and work the three key areas of negotiation toward a close, using the CT NDA Template and Deal Decision Tree.

Who Is Acquisition Foundations Designed For?

• The Burned-Out Corporate Executive — Earning well in a demanding 9-to-5 with no control over the calendar. The goal is to replace W-2 income by acquiring an established company, and this program supplies the step-by-step transition framework and the deal-flow tracking systems (the Contrarian CRM and Deal Navigator) to do it without quitting prematurely.
• The Aspiring Searcher — Has read about acquisition entrepreneurship but freezes on the technical mechanics: SDE calculations, LOIs, SBA loans. Units 4 through 6 provide the exact documentation, calculators, and outreach scripts needed to actually submit a first offer.
• The Current Business Owner Seeking Expansion — Already runs a profitable operation but organic growth has plateaued. Unit 2's targeting framework and Unit 6's offer structuring are aimed at acquiring competitors or complementary businesses to scale revenue and market share through buyouts.
• The “Sweat Equity” Operator — Strong on operations or marketing but short on capital. Unit 8's seller-financing and sweat-equity strategies are built for buyers whose expertise, not their bank balance, is the leverage in the deal.

Full Curriculum Breakdown

Unit 1: Foundation

Sets the mindset and baseline knowledge for acquiring a business, mapping the full deal lifecycle and what running a company actually requires.

• Intro / What to Expect with this Experience
• Why Acquisition Entrepreneurship
• What Is Contrarian Thinking / The Contrarian Acquisition Mindset
• Lifecycle of a Deal Journey
• What Does It Take to Run a Business
• BONUS VIDEO – Don't Continue Until You Watch This
• From Working 9-to-5 to Owning a 7-Figure Business in 12 Months
• 📕 Resources: Acquisition Journey Reference Sheet, Acquisition Self Reflection Worksheet, MSA Action Steps Checklist

Unit 2: Deal Clarity

Narrows personal acquisition criteria into a concrete Deal Box using the Contrarian Deal Clarity Framework — target industries, business size, and income goals.

• What Do You Want from This Deal / Acquisition Targets for Current Business Owners
• Business Size / Profit Buying an Income Stream
• Which Industries to Target / Industries Database Selector
• Your Deal Box
• Lloyd Intro By Codie
• How Brandon Bought a $650K Income Stream for $60K
• 📕 Resources: Deal Clarity Worksheets, Zone of Genius Worksheet

Unit 3: Origination

Practical methods for finding deals that fit the criteria, on-market and off-market, plus the systems for tracking a pipeline.

• Deal Sourcing: How to Find Businesses to Buy
• Searching for On-Market Deals / Searching On Biz Buy Sell
• Buy-Side Broker Relationships for On-Market Deals
• Off-Market Deals / Rolodex to ROI
• Venmo Challenge / Personal PNL Review / The 9 to 5er Strategy
• Social Media / Library Database / Industry-specific sources
• Networking (I hate this word) / Creating the right habits for deal sourcing
• Weekly Goals Notion database walkthrough / Keeping track of your Deal Flow
• The Contrarian CRM Demo / Vertical IQ Training / Introducing the New Deal Navigator

Unit 4: Outreach

Positioning as a qualified buyer, running cold outreach, and using the FROG method to turn first contact into a relationship with the owner.

• Selling Yourself – Positioning Yourself as a Qualified Buyer
• Seller Engagement Process Overview
• Cold Email / How to Edit and Create Your Buyer Profile PDF
• Cold Calling Outreach / The 8 Step C2C Framework
• The Discovery Call / FROG Method for Connecting with Potential Sellers
• On-Market Outreach / Buyer Profile PDF Canva Walk-through / Quiet Seller Method
• 📕 Resources: Cold Outreach Scripts, List Of Questions For A Seller

Unit 5: Evaluation

The objective financial markers for judging a deal — signing the NDA, determining valuation, and deciding whether the business clears a personal confidence threshold.

• First Principles Seller Outreach / The Preliminary Evaluation
• Determining Valuation / Market Comparables Multiple
• SDE Calculation
• The 10 Contrarian Business Value Markers / Your Confidence Threshold
• BONUS: Specific Tips for Email Outreach
• 📕 Resources: CT NDA Template, Deal Decision Tree

Unit 6: Offer + Negotiation

The mechanics of a formal offer: structuring creative deals, the Letter of Intent (LOI) and Asset Purchase Agreements, handling at-risk money, and working through the three key areas of negotiation.

Unit 7: Due Diligence

A disciplined inspection of the business before closing — building a competent Deal Team, evaluating the key information, and surfacing hidden liabilities through a red / orange / green flag system.

Unit 8: Financing

Twenty-one financing strategies for funding a purchase, weighted toward SBA loans and Seller Financing and extended with sweat equity and hybrid debt-equity structures, so an acquisition is possible without large personal cash reserves.

Note: The program spans 10 units and 205 video lessons in total; the complete lesson list for the later units is available inside the members' area.

About Codie Sanchez

Codie Sanchez spent roughly 15 years on Wall Street before leaving it for “Main Street.” She began her career as an investigative journalist reporting on human trafficking and border conflict in Latin America, then moved into institutional investing, where she built First Trust's billion-dollar Latin America business. She is the founder of Contrarian Thinking and now invests in and teaches the acquisition of unglamorous, cash-flowing small businesses rather than chasing high-risk startups.

Verified Credentials:

• ✅ Built First Trust's $1 billion+ AUM Latin America Investments business from the ground up.
• ✅ Held leadership and investing roles across Goldman Sachs, State Street (SSGA), and Vanguard during roughly 15 years in finance.
• ✅ Founder of Contrarian Thinking, a finance and media company with a large following and a weekly newsletter.
• ✅ Active Board Member at Entourage Effect Capital.
• ✅ Author of Main Street Millionaire: How to Make Extraordinary Wealth Buying Ordinary Businesses, an instant New York Times bestseller.
• ✅ Won the Robert F. Kennedy Award for print journalism and received a Howard G. Buffett Foundation grant for her border-conflict reporting.
• ✅ Owner of Main Street Holding Company and Contrarian Thinking Capital, holding a portfolio of cash-flowing small businesses.

What Problems Does Acquisition Foundations Solve?

“Most startups fail, so building from scratch feels too risky.” — The program removes the build phase entirely. The focus is acquiring companies that already produce cash flow, so the buyer starts with revenue rather than an idea, beginning with the Deal Box in Unit 2.

“I don't have the capital to buy an existing company.” — Unit 8 answers the capital question with 21 financing strategies, heavy on SBA loans and Seller Financing, designed so an acquisition does not require liquidating savings.

“How do I find owners who would actually sell?” — Units 3 and 4 cover off-market sourcing through the Quiet Seller Method and Rolodex-to-ROI framework, plus tracking tools like the Contrarian CRM, so the buyer is not limited to crowded listing sites such as BizBuySell.

“I'm afraid of buying a failing business with hidden problems.” — Unit 7's Due Diligence process and Unit 5's SDE calculation and 10 Contrarian Business Value Markers are built to verify the numbers and expose liabilities before an offer goes out.

“I don't know how to protect myself legally during a purchase.” — Unit 6 breaks down the Letter of Intent (LOI) and Asset Purchase Agreement, including structuring at-risk money and addressing unknown liabilities, supported by the CT NDA Template.

What Makes Acquisition Foundations Different from Other Business Courses

Acquisition over startup — The entire framework is about buying cash-flowing companies instead of launching new ones, which removes the highest-failure stage of entrepreneurship.

Financing-first design — A full unit dedicated to 21 funding methods — SBA loans, seller financing, sweat equity, hybrid structures — makes the system usable by buyers who do not have a large lump sum.

An end-to-end deal map, backed by templates — Every unit corresponds to a real step from the Deal Box to the close, and 121 downloadable worksheets, scripts, and calculators (SDE tools, Cold Outreach Scripts, Deal Decision Tree) turn each step into something the buyer can execute.

Frequently Asked Questions About Acquisition Foundations

What is Acquisition Foundations about?

Acquisition Foundations is a Codie Sanchez program on buying profitable, existing small businesses rather than building a startup. Across 10 units it covers the full deal lifecycle — clarity, sourcing, outreach, evaluation, offers, due diligence, and financing — so the member can find, vet, and close a first acquisition.

Who created Acquisition Foundations?

It was created by Codie Sanchez, founder of Contrarian Thinking and a former institutional investor who built First Trust's $1 billion+ Latin America Investments business and wrote the New York Times bestseller Main Street Millionaire.

What is included in Acquisition Foundations?

The program contains 205 video lessons and 121 downloadable PDFs, totaling 37h 16m 31s of content and 20.14 GB across 10 units. The PDFs include the Buyer Profile PDF, Cold Outreach Scripts, Deal Clarity Worksheets, SDE calculation tools, the CT NDA Template, and the Deal Decision Tree.

Who is Acquisition Foundations best suited for?

It fits burned-out executives wanting to replace W-2 income, aspiring searchers stuck on SDE math and SBA loans, existing owners looking to grow through acquisition, and skilled-but-undercapitalized operators planning to use sweat equity or seller financing.

What will I learn in Acquisition Foundations?

The member learns to define a Deal Box, source on-market and off-market deals, calculate SDE and valuations, run the 8-Step C2C outreach framework, structure creative offers, complete due diligence, draft a Letter of Intent, and finance the purchase through SBA loans, seller financing, and other strategies.

Do I need a lot of money to use this program?

No. Unit 8 is built around 21 financing strategies — SBA loans, seller financing, sweat equity, and hybrid debt-equity structures — so the buyer can acquire income streams without depending on personal cash alone.

What format is Acquisition Foundations delivered in?

It is delivered as downloadable video lessons backed by PDF worksheets, scripts, and calculators: 205 video lessons and 121 PDFs, totaling 37h 16m 31s and 20.14 GB across 10 units.

Does Acquisition Foundations include any bonus materials?

Yes. Alongside the core lessons it includes 121 supporting PDF resources — reference sheets, checklists, calculators, and templates such as the Buyer Profile PDF, Cold Outreach Scripts, the CT NDA Template, and the Deal Decision Tree — plus deal-sourcing tools like the Contrarian CRM and Deal Navigator.

What is Codie Sanchez known for?

Codie Sanchez founded Contrarian Thinking, wrote the New York Times bestseller Main Street Millionaire, built a billion-dollar Latin America investment business at First Trust, and is widely associated with the idea of acquiring cash-flowing “boring businesses.” The original program price was $997.

How is Acquisition Foundations different from other business courses?

It teaches acquiring established companies rather than launching startups, dedicates a full unit to 21 financing methods so a deal does not require large cash, and maps every unit to a concrete step of a real acquisition supported by 121 downloadable templates and worksheets.