At just 30 years old, entrepreneur and private equity investor CJ McMahon has already experienced the kind of business successes and failures that many professionals spend decades navigating. Now, the founder and CEO of ATMInvestors.comis putting those lessons into his debut book, The Art of Acquisitions, an insightful guide to buying established businesses, building long-term wealth, and avoiding the costly mistakes that can derail even the most promising investments.
With a foreword by Shark Tank investor Kevin Harrington, the upcoming holiday release carries a bold subtitle: How to Find, Vet, Negotiate & Buy a Business Without Screwing It Up.
It’s a provocative promise, but one that reflects McMahon’s refreshingly straightforward approach to entrepreneurship. Rather than presenting another formula for overnight financial success, the book explores what actually happens behind the scenes of business acquisitions, from identifying opportunities and evaluating financial statements to negotiating deals, securing financing, and navigating the transition into ownership.
For readers interested in entrepreneurship, alternative investments, or escaping the traditional nine-to-five career path, The Art of Acquisitions offers a compelling premise: Why build a business from scratch when you could purchase one that’s already generating revenue?
A Business Book Built on Real-World Experience
What distinguishes McMahon’s approach from many conventional business guides is his willingness to discuss failure just as openly as success.
“I’ve built six businesses, and four of them failed. I’ve made bad decisions, trusted the wrong numbers, underestimated problems, and learned some very expensive lessons along the way,” McMahon admits.
Those experiences became the foundation for a book that prioritizes practical decision-making over motivational clichés.
“I think there’s a tendency in business books to write from the perspective of, ‘Here’s everything I did right.’ I wanted to do the opposite,” he explains.
That philosophy gives the book its central appeal. Instead of simply encouraging readers to pursue acquisitions, McMahon emphasizes the importance of understanding potential risks before committing capital.
The material addresses the often-overlooked stages between discovering an attractive business opportunity and successfully operating it. Due diligence, deal structures, financial analysis, and post-acquisition transitions all receive attention as essential components of responsible investing.
McMahon’s message is particularly relevant in an entrepreneurial culture where buying existing businesses has become an increasingly attractive alternative to launching startups.
From College Dropout to Managing Millions
McMahon’s professional journey is far from conventional.
Raised in a financially disadvantaged family in a small town in Maine, he eventually dropped out of college and pursued entrepreneurship through hands-on experience rather than traditional academic credentials.
Today, his company, ATMInvestors.com, has deployed tens of millions of dollars into acquisitions, building a platform that manages thousands of ATMs and involves hundreds of investors. His investment experience also extends into laundromats and other established, income-producing businesses.
Yet despite those accomplishments, McMahon considers the systems behind the transactions more significant than any individual deal.
“Individual acquisitions can be worth millions of dollars, but what means more to me is building the infrastructure and team capable of evaluating, acquiring, transitioning, and operating businesses repeatedly,” he says.
One particularly revealing detail is that his company rejects approximately 90% of the acquisition opportunities it evaluates.
That selectivity underscores one of the book’s most valuable principles: successful investing requires knowing when not to make a deal.
“The biggest lesson is that making money in acquisitions isn’t only about finding good businesses — it’s also about having the discipline to walk away from bad ones,” McMahon explains.
It’s a perspective that challenges the notion that ambitious entrepreneurs must constantly pursue the next opportunity, regardless of the potential consequences.
Making Business Ownership More Accessible
Although McMahon operates in the world of private equity, The Art of Acquisitions is designed to appeal to readers without extensive financial backgrounds.
Its intended audience includes aspiring first-time business owners, established entrepreneurs seeking expansion opportunities, and investors curious about how private business transactions work.
“I wrote it so someone doesn’t need an MBA or a Wall Street background to understand it,” McMahon says.
The book’s accessible positioning is one of its strongest selling points. Rather than treating acquisitions as a mysterious financial discipline reserved for wealthy investors, it presents business ownership as a process that can be studied, evaluated, and approached systematically.
McMahon also emphasizes the responsibility that accompanies purchasing an existing company.
“Buying a business can be an incredible way to create wealth, but you’re buying something that took another person years — sometimes decades — to build. That deserves respect, and it deserves real diligence.”
That sentiment adds a welcome human dimension to a subject frequently discussed only through valuations, profit margins, and returns.
More Than an Entrepreneur
Outside the boardroom, McMahon’s life reflects interests and experiences that extend beyond financial transactions.
An accomplished champion bowhunter, he has also faced significant personal adversity, including surviving Lyme disease.
Alongside Sydney McMahon, he established Joy in the Fight, a charitable initiative dedicated to helping individuals and families facing medical expenses and financial hardship associated with health challenges.
His personal history provides additional context for the motivation behind his writing. Having grown up without financial privilege, McMahon hopes his journey can encourage others to recognize opportunities that might otherwise seem beyond their reach.
He is equally quick to acknowledge the people who helped make his accomplishments possible, crediting his team with developing the operational systems that have allowed his company to grow.
A Different Kind of Roadmap to Wealth
Ultimately, The Art of Acquisitions appears positioned to occupy an interesting space on the business bookshelf: part practical acquisition handbook, part cautionary account of entrepreneurial trial and error.
Its greatest strength may be the underlying philosophy that building wealth is not simply about identifying profitable opportunities. It’s about developing the judgment, discipline, and operational knowledge necessary to pursue the right ones.
For aspiring entrepreneurs considering their first purchase, that distinction could prove invaluable.
McMahon summarizes his motivation with a simple goal: “If someone can read it and avoid even one major mistake that I had to learn the expensive way, then the book did what I wanted it to do.”
With its practical subject matter, candid perspective, and emphasis on lessons learned through experience, The Art of Acquisitions promises to be a worthwhile addition to the reading lists of aspiring business owners and seasoned investors alike.
And perhaps its most important takeaway is also its simplest: You don’t necessarily have to invent the next great business to build wealth. Sometimes, the opportunity is learning how to recognize, purchase, and successfully operate one that already exists.
