Built to Hold is a podcast about what it really takes to build—and preserve—durable businesses. In candid conversations with operators, investors, and business leaders, we explore strong fundamentals, disciplined growth, and customer-first decision-making that stands the test of time.
Hosted by Sylvain Perrier, Group Leader at Vertus, Built to Hold features real lessons from people who’ve built real, enduring companies—and the intention it takes to keep them great.
#7 - What Makes a Vertical Software Company Built to Last
In Episode 7 of Built to Hold, Sylvain Perrier sits down with Ryan Watt to explore what separates durable vertical software businesses from ones that are simply working right now, and why the clearest early signals show up in customers and culture long before they show up in the numbers.
Ryan Watt is the President of Jonas Club and a former Group Leader at Vertus Group, with decades of operating experience inside vertical software and pattern recognition across long-lived verticals.
Ryan's LinkedIn: Ryan Watt | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/a-ryan-watt/)
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7 Jul 2026
#6 - From Founder to Operator: The First 90 Days After a Close
In Episode 6 of Built to Hold, Sylvain Perrier shares what the first 90 days after selling your company actually feel like — not the deal mechanics, but the identity shift from founder to operator, and why patience, humility, and clarity matter more than just trying to prove your value.
Sylvain Perrier is a Group Leader at Vertus Group and host of the Built to Hold podcast. This episode draws on his lived experience selling Mercatus Technologies in December 2023 and staying on as Global Chief Operating Officer, navigating the transition from owner to steward inside a much larger organization.
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9 Jun 2026
Built to Hold #5 - AI Without the Hype Pt. 2
In Episode 5 of Built to Hold, Sylvain Perrier sits down with Jeremy List to explore what AI is actually changing inside product organizations — moving past the hype to operator-level execution across discovery, roadmap prioritization, engineering velocity, QA, and release management, and why that matters for VMS founders focused on margins, durability, and long-term value creation.
Jeremy List is the founder of Ervian, a product leader with deep experience building and modernizing software organizations. His expertise is rooted in a strong UX foundation, having started his career in user experience and design before moving into product management roles, including time at eBay. Over the past year he has rebuilt his own process around AI — validating product concepts in minutes instead of months and running an "army of agents" structured like a company. Having worked alongside engineering teams for years, Jeremy knows what good product, design, and code look like, which makes him uniquely positioned to talk about when to trust AI and when to do the work yourself. His grounded perspective on durable advantage — clear vision, deep domain expertise, customer relationships, and reach — makes him the right person for this conversation.
Jeremy's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremylist (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremylist)/
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14 May 2026
#4 - When Founders Begin to Think Long-Term
Episode 4 of Built to Hold with Sylvain Perrier features Nadia Hamilton, founder of one of our most recent acquisitions, Magnusmode.
A conversation about what happens when founders begin thinking beyond the next milestone and start asking what their business should look like five, ten, or even twenty years from now.
Nadia shares the story behind Magnusmode, which began with hand-drawn step-by-step guides she created as a child to help her autistic brother, Troy, navigate daily tasks with more independence. That idea eventually became MagnusCards, a digital platform supporting people with accessibility needs in building life skills and confidence.
In this episode, Nadia and Sylvain discuss founder purpose, long-term thinking, social impact, acquisition, and why choosing the right long-term home for a business matters.
Nadia Hamilton’s LinkedIn: Nadia Hamilton | LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadiahamilton/)
MagnusMode: https://www.magnusmode.com/ (https://www.magnusmode.com/)
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29 Apr 2026
Built to Hold - Meet the Host | Special Episode
In this special episode, the tables turn — Sylvain Perrier sits in the guest chair as producer Joe Albi takes over hosting duties. Together, they unpack the experiences that shaped Sylvain as a founder, operator, and now Group Leader at Vertus.
From summers working in a pulp mill, to building Mercatus over 21 years, to joining the Constellation family — Sylvain shares the lessons that stick: the AB team problem, the risk ratio framework, why curiosity is a leadership superpower, and what it really takes to earn the CEO seat.
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9 Apr 2026
#3 - AI Without the Hype
In Episode 3 of Built to Hold, Sylvain Perrier sits down with Mark Fairhurst for a grounded discussion on what AI is changing for marketing teams, and what that means for owners of vertical market software businesses.
Mark Fairhurst is the founder of Undercurrents.AI (https://undercurrents.ai/), a strategic advisory practice that helps business and technology leaders see and act on the structural forces reshaping their markets.
With over 20 years of B2B SaaS go-to-market experience across enterprise software, retail technology, insurtech, and compliance, Mark brings a transferable methodology honed by working across verticals where the competitive dynamics differ, but the strategic discipline doesn't. Most recently, as Chief Growth Marketing Officer at Mercatus, he led go-to-market for one of grocery retail's most established eCommerce platforms. Trained in AI business transformation and digital marketing strategy at Kellogg, and in AI-driven go-to-market through Pavilion, Mark now works with leaders who need more than an AI strategy deck — they need the operational clarity, context architecture, and commercial infrastructure to make AI a durable business advantage.
Mark’s LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/markfairhurst/)
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Adventures by A Himitsu
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT (http://bit.ly/2Pj0MtT)
Music released by Argofox https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/a-him (https://www.audiolibrary.com.co/a-him)...
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2 Mar 2026
#2 - The Quiet Moment Every Founder Reaches
In this episode of Built to Hold with Sylvain Perrier, Zach Plener of the Vertus Group joins the conversation to explore a moment many founders experience: when the business is strong, but the work starts to feel different.
A thoughtful discussion on founder perspective, long-term ownership, and the quiet shift that often comes before any big decisions.
Zach's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-plener-cpa-37360594/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/zach-plener-cpa-37360594/)
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23 Feb 2026
#1 - Introduction
Built to Hold is a podcast about building businesses meant to last, and what long-term stewardship entails.
This show is not about valuation, multiples, negotiations, or deal tactics.
It is about continuity and identity.
Throughout this series, Vertus Group leader and host Sylvain Perrier unpacks the decisions, tradeoffs, and habits that make a business last.
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