One Man's Trash: 5x MOIC on a 14-Deal Waste Roll-Up

Chandos Mahon dreamed of driving garbage trucks at age 3. In 2024, he exited a tire recycling waste management platform to a strategic buyer for a 5x net MOIC. Starting as a searcher in 2015, he acquired the business in 2017 and scaled it through 14 add-ons before exit.

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Waste management is about as recession-proof as it gets, and Chandos decided to focus on the ~270m tires discarded annually in the US. Capex from fleet and yards plus regulatory friction keep competition in check, and a wave of aging owners create opportunities for business buyers. The revenue model is two-sided: get paid to collect, then monetize the materials downstream.

Chandos drove a 5x outcome through 3 levers. He bought the platform at just under $2m of EBITDA in 2017 and immediately leaned into add-ons, completing 14 deals. The inorganic growth was paired with customer service ("do what you say"), pricing power (customers are inelastic), and a relentless focus on KPIs (especially tires-collected-per-hour). By 2024, EBITDA had more than quadrupled. Entry was ~4.5x, exit north of 8x.

Operationally, everything came down to one metric: tires per hour. KPIs were simplified so drivers could track performance themselves, and comp was tied directly to output. Top performers routinely earned up to $130k on an $80k base. The challenge wasn't defining the metric, it was ensuring clean & trustworthy data. Behavior followed, with drivers even suggesting ways to stay on the road longer.

In 2025, Chandos acquired his first business as an independent sponsor, with more deals to come. He has the experience of being a serial acquirer, and his value-add has graduated from being the day-to-day operator. Chandos teaches about operational excellence and the importance of KPIs at HBS and Stanford.