About
We buy, build, and operate great companies.
X Squared is a full vertical around real estate — property, construction, and the trades that serve homeowners — under one platform. We are operators, not spreadsheet buyers. We partner with owners who want to scale for value and exit — with the operator always in control, and their name still on the door.
From the founder
I have never not been an entrepreneur.
I left home at 16 and built from nothing — recycling on the side of the freeway, working every job I could get into college. I dropped out a semester short of my degree to go learn mortgage under my mom, a 20-year veteran in the business. Two years later we had one of the top-producing teams in the country, and we spun off our own brokerage that ranked nationally.
Since then I've built, bought, and sold multiple 7- and 8-figure businesses across different industries. Full cycle — build, acquire, scale, exit.
I started X Squared to build a full real estate vertical — property, construction, and the trades that serve homeowners — so owners don't have to figure the next chapter out alone. Your name stays on the door. The work stays in the field. And the transaction, when it's time, is done by people who have actually sat in your seat.
Cody Stevens — Managing Partner, CEO
Mission
Our mission
Build a full real estate vertical — property, construction, and the trades that serve homeowners — where craftsmanship, character, and operating discipline compound.
Buy with discipline
We underwrite real estate and trades companies the way operators do — cash flow, people, and process first. No theater. No chase.
Build in the field
Construction develops and rehabs. Systems installs operating discipline. Value is created on the job site and inside the company — not on a slide.
Partner for the long game
Handshake people. Word as contract. Standard over equal exchange. We want partners who stay because the work earns trust.
The platform
One vertical. One flywheel.
Each arm has a clear job. Together they let us acquire a company or asset, operate it with discipline, build what it needs, and hold the real estate behind it — without losing the operator in the seat.
The operators
Leadership
Operators, not spreadsheet buyers. Skin in the work. Track records you can diligence.
Cody Stevens
Managing Partner, CEO
Since 2009 · 7- & 8-figure exits
Leads acquisition strategy and partnerships. Deep expertise in cultural development and scaling high-performing teams — the foundation that creates real asset value in every business we touch.
Enterprise value is built in the field — with people and culture you can be proud of.
Lucas White
Managing Partner, COO
$1B+ delivered · Field operator
Construction and development across private and public sectors — over $1 billion in combined project value, with disciplined financial oversight and field execution. Helped scale a startup from inception to about $50 million in revenue in roughly three years through growth strategy, operational structure, and execution systems.
Execution beats intention. What happens in the business every week is what matters.
By the numbers
7 & 8-figure
Businesses built, bought, and sold
$1B+
In construction and development delivered (Lucas)
$300M+
Aggregate revenue track across our portfolio and partnerships
Since 2009
Entrepreneur, operator, and owner
Team track record
Built in the field — not on slides. Milestones from both partners that show how we think, scale, and show up alongside owners.
Cody
Entrepreneur since 16
Left home at 16 in 2009 and started building from nothing — recycling on the side of the freeway while still in high school, working every job he could get into college. That scrappy, first-principles resourcefulness is still how we show up for partners.
Cody
One of the top mortgage brokerages in the nation
Learned mortgage under a 20-year veteran, grew to a top-producing team, then co-founded a brokerage that ranked nationally. Unit economics, marketing, and service discipline that held up under scale.
Cody
Built, bought, and sold multiple 7- and 8-figure businesses
Across different industries, the full cycle — build, acquire, scale, exit. We have sat in the owner’s seat for the transaction you are thinking about, not just advised on it.
Lucas
$1B+ in construction and development delivered
Analysis, planning, and delivery across private and public sectors. Financial oversight, coordination, and field execution at a scale most owners will never need to manage themselves.
Lucas
Startup from inception to about $50M in roughly three years
Contributed to growth strategy, operational structure, and the systems that supported rapid expansion. Build discipline under real pressure, not theory.
Team
X Squared today
One real-estate vertical — Acquisitions, Systems, Construction, and Real Estate — working together to buy, build, and operate. On track for $300M+ in aggregate revenue across the portfolio and partnerships we support.
Why we build this
The thesis
The American dream was built by people willing to take the road less traveled — risk on, ground up, hardship endured — for freedom and for the next generation. We want to put that umph back into the businesses that still need hands in the field.
Skilled trades, scarcer talent
AI and automation make hands-on trades more valuable, not less. Infrastructure still needs people in the field. That demand is the fuel.
Ownership as a stake
Land and local businesses are not only financial assets — they are place, permanence, and freedom. Asset value starts in the ground and in the company.
Establish asset value
Real estate and company acquisitions set the foundation. Construction develops and rehabs. The vertical compounds under one platform.
Drive cash flow through ops
Process, consolidation, and talent — Systems installs operating discipline so companies throw off cash, not just slides.
Our approach in context
We are operators, not spreadsheet buyers. Strong culture and teams are how we build real asset value — whether you stay to scale or prepare for an exit.
Your brand
- Private equity
- Often rebranded or folded into a roll-up identity.
- Consultants
- Rarely involved in brand — advice-only.
- X Squared
- Kept intact. Local reputation matters.
Your team
- Private equity
- Cost-cutting pressure; team viewed as overhead.
- Consultants
- No accountability for execution in the field.
- X Squared
- Protected. People and culture are assets.
Timeline
- Private equity
- Typical hold of a few years before a flip.
- Consultants
- Hourly or project-based — no long-term stake.
- X Squared
- Built for the long game — buy, build, operate; exit when it’s right.
Your role
- Private equity
- Pushed toward exit or reduced control as fund priorities shift.
- Consultants
- You implement — they advise.
- X Squared
- You choose: stay, step back, or transition out.
Culture
- Private equity
- Often reshaped to fit fund playbook.
- Consultants
- Theoretical; culture left to you.
- X Squared
- Developed as a real asset — strong culture drives enterprise value.
Skin in the game
- Private equity
- Financial engineering first.
- Consultants
- No operating risk beside deliverables.
- X Squared
- Operators who build alongside you.
How We Work — GREAT
These principles guide every acquisition, integration, and decision we make.
Growth
If it doesn't move the company forward, we don't do it.
Relationships
Business is personal. We show up like we mean it.
Excellence
The work is in the details — in the field, not on paper.
Authenticity
Direct feedback over recycled corporate talk. Always.
Team
We win when you win. Credit belongs to the people doing the work.
What We Look For
Essential home services and construction businesses with strong local reputations, owner-operators who care about their teams, and clear opportunities to compound the vertical in business-friendly markets.
Next step
Ready to talk about a fit?
Whether you’re thinking about selling, partnering, succession, or a potential exit — we’d like to hear your story. Straight talk guaranteed.