Tindberg

"He loved to solve customers’ problems, and he loved to buy and sell. “To close a deal gives me great satisfaction,” he would say. 6 Tindberg was a master negotiator. A business owner who sold to Tindberg in 1995 remembers him fondly for his favorite phrase: “It’s never too late to negotiate.” He had personally experienced this when Tindberg, at the last minute, tried to further negotiate down the purchase price of his company. Tindberg always grasped that his growth plans would only be possible if he did not overpay for businesses. He would insist…"

"Acquisitions are essentially a “people game,” and Tindberg’s feel for personalities and relationships de-risked his acquisitions. He promised prospective sellers that he would help improve their businesses, and his background as an entrepreneur made him trustworthy. He stood apart from financially minded buyers in suits and ties. He was resolute in only buying businesses that met his stringent criteria: recurring-like revenue streams, high technical expertise, best-in-class products, and a potential of reaching a 10% margin. To him, these were signs of a high quality trading company. He explains to us that his belief was that “people and numbers are interconnected.” Great people tend to drive great financial performance. Gunnar’s “secret” was to find entrepreneurs sharing same core values, and to grant them freedom. This remains the north star of Indutrade’s philosophy. It is no coincidence that frugality"

"Tindberg saw recurring patterns across these businesses: consistent sales; long-standing customer relationships; and dominant market positions within their niches. While their local nature limited organic growth, they generated substantial cash flow. To drive growth, Tindberg skillfully used that capital to acquire more similar businesses."

"In our interactions with Tindberg, he always portrayed the people who worked with him as the heroes. In his view, they were the…"

"Tindberg had one key message to all his companies: don’t sell single products—sell solutions that solve customers’ problems."