Building a $2.2B Aerospace Business From Scratch with Bryan Perkins (#415)

In this episode, Chris sits down with Bryan Perkins, Founder & CEO of Novaria Group, a Fort Worth-based aerospace manufacturer he started in 2011 and sold to Arcline last November for $2.2 billion. Bryan didn't set out to be in aerospace. He needed a job. But once he was in, he saw a niche nobody else wanted - high-mix, low-volume, esoteric parts that go under the radar - and spent 15 years rolling up 27 companies into one of the biggest businesses most people have never heard of. His North Star from the start was TransDigm, a company he'd been studying since his 20s. Chris and Bryan unpack the full operator's playbook behind that arc, how his thinking has evolved across a family office, KKR, and now Arcline, and where the entire aerospace ecosystem is headed by 2030. They discuss: Why you can't outmanage a bad capital structure - and what most lower middle market PE gets wrong about underwriting How Bryan built a roll-up that produces 80-90% proprietary deal flow, and the patience it takes to do that Why commoditization is an immediate no, and how the "layer cake" of process IP, material science, and unit economics creates moats most people can't see What an arranged marriage with private equity actually looks like, across three different capital partners Why he thinks the world still won't have enough airplanes by 2030, and how the new space economy is reshaping demand The decadal-thinking, "win the day" mindset behind a 15-year compounding machine Timestamps:00:00 Intro01:22 "You Can't Outmanage a Bad Capital Structure"05:00 Underwriting Deals12:17 Novaria's Strategy in Plain English15:04 IP Moats Over Commoditization17:04 Why Making an Aerospace Washer Is Harder Than You Think21:56 Business Model Business vs. Single-Product Business27:07 Patience and Decadal Thinking as a Proprietary Deal Flow Strategy30:49 How Unglamorous Early Jobs Build Real Credibility38:01 Centralized Controls, Decentralized Operations44:44 Leveling Up: Founders Who Start with the End in Mind55:11 What Is an Institutional Compounder?1:03:05 TransDigm as North Star - Carving a Differentiated Strategy1:08:41 Why Aerospace and Automotive Factory Playbooks Don't Transfer1:14:10 The Road to 2030: Demand Surge, Space Economy & New Aircraft Design ----- Presented by Airshare: Trusted across the country for fractional ownership, jet cards, charter, and aircraft management, Airshare gives you a smarter way to fly private - a days-based fractional model that delivers 20 days a year of unlimited flight time on the Phenom 300 or Challenger 3500. Go to flyairshare.com to learn more. ----- Sponsored by Collateral Partners: Collateral Partners builds institutional-grade investor materials for private credit, private equity, real estate, and family office firms - the kind of marketing collateral that helps you close capital. Learn more at collateral.com/fort. ----- Chris on Social Media: X: https://x.com/fortworthchris Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thepowerspodcast LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrispowersjr/ Visit our website: https://www.powerspod.com/Leave a review on Apple: https://bit.ly/45crFD0Leave a review on Spotify: https://bit.ly/3Krl9jO