An accomplished business leader based in Chicago, Matthew Brunstrum is the founder and chief executive officer of Lakeside Acquisitions, an expert M&A advisory firm with a niche in the waste and recycling industry. Since establishing the advisory firm in 2023, Matthew (Matt) Brunstrum has personally managed all client interactions. With more than 100 closed transactions to his name, he has established a track record for transaction efficiency and optimized value. His work at Lakeside Acquisitions has been profiled by publications such as Waste Dive and Waste Today.
Matt Brunstrum previously spent more than five years at a boutique mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory firm as the senior M&A advisor. He gained waste management industry experience as the director of M&A at a publicly traded company with a $6 billion market cap.
Matthew Brunstrum received his business degree from Indiana University Bloomington. When he is not driving operations at Lakeside Acquisitions or attending industry events, such as the annual Waste Corporate Growth Conference, he enjoys staying active through cycling, fishing, and boating.
What is your typical day, and how do you make it productive?
I start my mornings with a walk outside to go get my coffee and clear my head. I use this time to strategize/prioritize my day and plan for what needs to get accomplished. Since so much of my job involves being on the phone with my employees, clients, and buyers throughout the day – I make sure to take the time to organize my own thoughts and goals before talking to anyone else. My employees usually get emails with “I’ve been thinking…” that come from my morning walks. I always try to take an afternoon walk too (usually on the way to get lunch) to get away from my desk and take 20 minutes to clear my head or catch up on the news.
How do you bring ideas to life?
With strategy and careful planning. I make sure to consider new ideas from every possible angle, planning at least two steps ahead before I’m ready to bring them to life. Doing so involves a lot of time considering risk assessment, strategic gameplay, and return on investment – which is usually what I’m thinking about on my morning and afternoon walks.
What’s one trend that excites you?
I tend to have a rather traditional “old school” mentality on business trends – I don’t think anything can replace the ability to read people and situations and effectively strategize and communicate in a nuanced way. While I see the value of AI and automation to increase efficiency and streamline repetitive tasks, I do not think it is the future of business the way it’s being touted.
What is one habit that helps you be productive?
Keeping a notepad next to me at all times. Jotting down a few words in order to recall a conversation later is invaluable to my productivity – especially in my line of work, where you’re having 20+ conversations on different topics with different people every day.
What advice would you give your younger self?
Trust your instincts but learn to assess risk before jumping off a cliff.
Tell us something you believe almost nobody agrees with you on?
The Bears are going to win a Superbowl in my lifetime. I don’t even know if I agree with me.
What is the one thing you repeatedly do and recommend everyone else do?
Learn how to employ Game Theory without being a “Monday Morning Quarterback.” When making a business decision, learn how to reason and think through not only the problem that’s in front of you, but what that means two steps down the line as well. But once you’ve made a decision, let it go. I’ve had to learn to stop analyzing the “would’ve, should’ve, could’ve,” or what we call “Monday Morning Quarterbacking,” once a decision has been made. Learning to solve the problems that are in front of you and moving on from those that aren’t in your control has been crucial to building my business.
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Take a break and clear my head. I no longer try to push through bouts of feeling unproductive and unfocused, instead allowing myself time to step away so that I can be more efficient when I come back to the table.
What is one strategy that has helped you grow your business or advance in your career?
Build a team that complements you instead of one that mirrors you and trust them to do what you hired them for.
What is one failure in your career, how did you overcome it, and what lessons did you take away from it?
Not understanding that successful businesses and business transactions are about more than JUST the numbers. Early in my M&A career, I was representing a business for sale that received two offers. One of the offers was about $1 million more than the other offer, and to me it was a no-brainer that the higher offer was the better one. What I wasn’t understanding was that our client was selling his legacy and was ultimately more comfortable with the buyer with a slightly lower offer – he trusted that company and the executives he had met to carry on everything he spent his entire life building far more than the buyer with a slightly better offer. It was a meaningful life lesson that my job goes far beyond selling a business – I’m also selling years of hard work and passion.
What is one business idea you’re willing to give away to our readers?
An all-in-one standing desk/walking pad/chair combo. I pace when I’m on the phone, but don’t want to have to set up a walking pad and take it down every time I get a phone call. If someone could invent a 3-in-1 that I can just press a button to have my chair move back, my desk raise, and my walking pad start – you can take my money.
What is one piece of software that helps you be productive? How do you use it?
We custom built our CRM system through Pipedrive to keep track of our sales funnel and all other business development. Having a tool that integrates with email, Docusign, and Excel and was easily tailored to exactly how I view business development has been crucial to starting and building a business from the ground up.
Do you have a favorite book or podcast you’ve gotten a ton of value from and why?
I’m not a podcast person at all and tend to read more articles than books. I always read The Wall Street Journal and subscribe to industry specific publications like Waste Dive and Waste Today to keep up on trends and news specific to my industry.
What’s a movie or series you recently enjoyed and why?
I think Landman and MobLand are two of the best shows on TV right now. My all-time favorite show is The Sopranos – if you couldn’t already sense a theme.
Key learnings
- Trust yourself and your vision and work hard.
- A long walk outside helps clear your head and organize your thoughts.
- Technology can help makes things more efficient – but it’s not a replacement for good business strategy and an understanding of human nature.