Where Private Equity Is Taking HVAC Next | Tommy Q, JB Warranties

Private equity is still buying HVAC companies, and not just the big ones. Seth, CRO and co-founder of SetSale, sits down with Tommy Q of JB Warranties, a 40-year HVAC industry veteran who started in distribution, to talk about where PE is headed, what it's changed for contractors, and what makes a business more valuable when it's time to sell. In this episode: → Why Tommy says PE isn't slowing down, and why he and Seth don't think it's a repeat of Green Dot → How successful owners and smaller PE groups are buying up small shops → How PE has pushed contractors to offer options, financing, and better proposals → PE moving into distribution → Why warranties and maintenance agreements add value when you sell Chapters 00:00 Cold open 00:22 Meet Tommy Q 01:35 How PE got serious about HVAC 02:42 Is PE slowing down? 04:19 Is this a repeat of Green Dot? 05:46 The layers of PE buyers 07:42 Centralize or let operators run it? 10:25 How fragmented HVAC still is 11:24 Is PE good or bad for HVAC? 13:06 Stop blaming PE and make the changes 15:05 PE moves into distribution 16:39 Keeping the pricebook up to date 17:40 Where HVAC equipment is headed 19:10 Efficiency mix and mini splits 21:23 Energy costs and the case for high efficiency 23:56 How JB backs contractors 27:01 Adding JB warranties through SetSale 28:38 Owning the customer relationship 31:13 Where to learn more Learn more SetSale: https://go.setsale.ai/book — book a demo JB Warranties: https://jbwarranties.com — register to connect with your local rep