Private equity buying up all these companies is actually a huge part of the problem! IMHO. For the older folks who are selling their company, it's of course a h

Private equity buying up all these companies is actually a huge part of the problem! IMHO. For the older folks who are selling their company, it's of course a huge boon, but for people entering the trade, it's a huge negative. In the past, when you started a trade, you could apprentice with a small, locally-owned and operated company. If you worked at it long and hard, you'd have a good chance at being able to buy the company or a stake of it from the owners as they enter retirement. I've heard that in many areas, like veterinary clinics, this was a very common path forward for people entering the career. But nowadays, all these small local companies are increasingly owned by private equity groups from afar that have their eyes on profit. You'll have no chance of working up to an ownership stake. And once the private equity group takes over, you can be sure that your work will be increasingly optimized to maximize profit, which could be good, but it can also mean cutting out the parts of your job that are less profitable but more enjoyable. The path forward is harder. To be a real business owner, your only real option will be starting a new firm from scratch. So anyway, I don't mean to be overly critical, and it's great to see someone in private equity posting here. If you have any thoughts on my comments above I'd love to hear them. Cheers.