David Carr
Operator, researcher, and investor focused on buy-and-build strategy.
My experience includes leading multi-site businesses and stewarding companies through ownership transitions, and my doctoral work examines buy-and-build strategy, target selection, and how integration creates—or destroys—value.
What I Do
Operating & Leadership
Operating & Leadership
Operating & Leadership
I have more than 25 years of operating experience in industrial and multi-site environments. My leadership work centers on integration, sequencing, system design, and scaling organizations under complexity.
Research & Writing
Operating & Leadership
Operating & Leadership
I am completing a Doctor of Business Administration at the University of Calgary, where I study buy-and-build strategy, target selection, and post-merger integration. I write The Industrialist, a publication translating academic research into practical operator frameworks.
Investing
Operating & Leadership
Investing
Green Shoot Investments is my private investment office, focused on the long-term ownership of operating companies where buy-and-build strategy, integration, and system design can create durable value.
About David Carr
I am an operator by background and a researcher by discipline. My career spans leadership roles across industrial companies, multi-site networks, and platform environments where integration, culture, capability building, and operating rhythm determine outcomes more than strategy slides.
These experiences shaped my academic work. My doctoral research examines how sponsors select platforms and add-ons, how they sequence acquisitions, and why some integrations succeed operationally while others stall.
Today, my work combines research, selective advisory engagements, writing, and private investing through Green Shoot Investments.
Connect
For advisory work, research collaboration, or board opportunities, please use the contact form below. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.