Tracy Britt Cool, who worked for Warren Buffett for 10 years, is making her name in midsized firms

[mwai_chat context=”Let’s have a discussion about this article:nnTracy Britt Cool has been busy acquiring midsized companies — ones too small for her old boss Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway — and now she wants to build a close-knit community for these smaller businesses. The 39-year-old investor struck out on her own in 2020 after working for Buffett for a decade. Her Charlotte and Nashville-based private equity firm Kanbrick — a nod to her Kansas background and fostering businesses “brick by brick” — focuses on companies with $5 million to $50 million in earnings before interest and taxes, in industries ranging from consumer to industrial to business services. Cool is a co-founder, along with partner Brian Humphrey. Kanbrick won’t say how much money it manages, although earlier this month it announced raising $220 million in new capital . Cool’s investment criteria sound a lot like Buffett’s, except on a much smaller scale — family- or founder-owned, having a competitive advantage and with long time horizon. Unlike the Berkshire CEO’s laissez-faire approach to managing his companies, however, Cool is more hands-on, guiding company leaders through hiring and developing strategies. “We want to be the trusted home for midsized companies,” Cool said in an interview. “There’s accelerators for startups. But there really isn’t much for midsize companies. CEOs and owners who really want to take their company to the next level struggle oft …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]