We buy and build businesses that feel like family.
Not to flip. Not to strip. But to create something enduring; built around your people, rooted in your culture, defined by your legacy and with a soft spot for forestry, sawmills, timber, and the world of wood products.
Why we exist.
We’re building a family of family businesses.
Not just in name, but in spirit, values, and the way we support the people within them.
Beyond our amazing teams on the ground and in our businesses, it’s just the three of us; Ryan, Adrian, and Jon. W'e’re investing our own capital into exceptional businesses.
We’re committed for the long term, backed by a growing team that believes in a simple principle: good companies deserve thoughtful, enduring ownership.
We’re not private equity. We’re not here to strip assets or dress a business up for a quick sale. And we’re certainly not in a rush.
Our approach is generational. We focus exclusively on the wood industry. Think sawmills, lumber, millwork, and wood products companies across the U.S. These are fields where craftsmanship and care run deep, right down to the grain.
This isn’t a fund. It’s a forever company.
This is us…
We’re Ryan, Adrian, and Jon.
Ryan and Adrian first met when Adrian bought a business from Ryan, and somehow became friends after the deal closed. If that doesn’t say something about how we do business, we’re not sure what does. Today, our kids are growing up together, and so are we.
From the very beginning, we knew Vast Ventures needed a third leg to the stool: someone with deep operational, manufacturing, and leadership experience who shared our vision of building something enduring. That’s Jon. He’s been our boots on the ground since day one, someone that understood our vision and was willing to buy into it.
We each bring different strengths. Ryan’s background is in marketing, sales, and technology. Adrian’s all about systems, management, and growth. Jon leads and scales businesses, that’s why he wears the CEO title. But we think the same way: we move fast, we follow through, and we care deeply about doing what we said we’d do. Our style is simple: whoever’s best for the job, takes it.
Outside of work, it’s mostly chaos in the best way. Adrian and Ryan have young kids, busy homes, and the occasional shared weekend with both families. Jon, when he’s not back home in Stillwater, MN, is usually on the road visiting one of our businesses. And if we’re not with our families, you’ll probably find us on the ground with our teams, that’s where we have the most fun.
We’ve always said: if it stops being fun, we’ll stop. But honestly, we don’t see that happening any time soon. We’re building something to be proud of. Something responsible, human, and if we’re lucky, meaningful enough that our kids might want to be part of it one day..
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Led the growth of multiple consumer brands from startup to scale, including a made-to-measure ecommerce business sold at an 8-figure run rate. Background in sales, marketing and M&A, with a career spent almost entirely inside founder-led and family-run businesses. Passionate about building momentum and long-term value.
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Built and led a franchise food business with over 280 employees and hundreds of locations. A lifelong operator in family-run businesses, with deep experience in management, business development and creating teams where every name on the shop floor matters.
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Married with five grown kids and based in Minnesota, Jon has led over 10+ family business transitions—all still owned and thriving. He brings steady leadership, deep operational experience, and a strong track record across the manufacturing industry.
Our family of companies
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Root River Hardwoods
A vertically integrated Logging, Sawmill and Millwork company based in Minnesota, USA. Originally founded in 1980.
www.rootriverhardwoods.com
READ THE ACQUISITION STORY -
Bennett Hardwoods
A premium kiln-dried hardwood processor based in Wisconsin, USA. Founded in 1988 and known for its quality, reliability, and long-standing industry relationships.
www.bennetthardwoods.com -
Sylvaris Software
A proprietary, AI-driven platform for the Vast Ventures ecosystem that unifies forest, mill, kiln, market, and finished-product data into action with real-time inventory, predictive logistics, and streamlined operations.
www.sylvaris.app
What most sellers think their options are.
When a business owner is ready to step away, the options can feel… limited.
The types of businesses we love are often too large for local buyers. That usually leaves two paths: sell to private equity, or sell to a larger company already in the industry.
Private equity tends to lead with spreadsheets. Trade buyers tend to fold your business into something bigger. And neither is always focused on what founders really care about. Things like the future of their team, the reputation they've built, and the legacy they've worked decades to create.
That’s where we come in. We’re just large enough to acquire strong, profitable businesses. But we operate with a founder’s mindset and a long-term view. No fund. No institutional investors. Just us.
Why we’re not like private equity.
Private equity is great if you're chasing the biggest theoretical number on paper.
But those big numbers often come with asterisks: earnouts, unrealistic growth projections, and exit strategies designed to please investors, not people. Most decisions are top down, time limited, and driven by what looks good in a board report.
The most profitable answer in a spreadsheet is rarely the best answer in real life. Especially when you're dealing with real people, real customers, and real communities.
We don't cut quality to cut costs. We don't chase short-term wins. And we don’t sell after 3, 5 or 7 years. We're building something built to last, and making decisions that make sense 20, 30 or 50 years from now.
What “generational” really means to us.
To us, generational isn’t just a buzzword. It’s a mindset.
It means thinking in decades, not quarters. Considering not just our children, but their children too. It’s why we care about reputation. Why we invest in training. Why we replace machinery instead of patching it. Why we treat forests like the long-term resource they are, not just a means to an end.
We want our kids, if they decide to join one day, to hear stories from employees, customers and partners about what it was like to work with us. Stories they’ll be proud to carry forward.
That’s what generational means.
What success looks like to us.
Yes, we care about financial outcomes. But we define success more broadly.
We want to look back and see that we helped businesses thrive without losing what made them special. That we protected legacies, nurtured identities, and made a positive contribution to the communities we serve.
We believe that if we look after our customers and look after our teams, the returns for shareholders will look after themselves.
Companies we’re looking to welcome next.
We’re focused on the wood products industry in the US. That means sawmills, lumber yards, millwork manufacturers, timber processors, and by-product operations. We're not looking for perfect. We're looking for well-run, profitable businesses that have been built with care and craftsmanship. If you're in the wood world, here's what we’re usually drawn to:
A dedicated and high quality team
We know this industry runs on skill, experience and pride in the work. We look for businesses where the team knows their craft and cares about what they do.
A simple, understandable business model
We like straightforward operations—think sawmills producing dimensional lumber, or millwork teams turning raw materials into beautiful, usable products. If it’s clear, proven and effective, that’s our kind of business.
A positive and ethical approach
We’re drawn to business owners who value sustainability, treat their people well and take pride in doing things right. This matters even more in an industry built on a natural resource.
Unique and loved in your niche
Maybe it’s your specialty millwork, your hardwood quality, or the generations of customers who keep coming back. If people talk about you with respect, we’re all ears.
An established trading history
We’re looking for experience and resilience. If you’ve been through market cycles, recessions, or a few tough winters and you’re still standing strong, we want to hear your story.
Revenue of $5m to $30m
Big enough to be established, small enough to still feel like a family. We’re not chasing volume for the sake of it—we care more about quality and character.
See if we’re a fit.
If selling to private equity doesn’t sit quite right, or you don’t love the idea of your business being folded into a big corporate machine, we might be the kind of buyer you’ve been hoping for.
Just send Adrian an email at
adrian.johnson@vast.ventures
We’ll take it from there.
