Listen to This Blog Post Over the past few months, I’ve been presented with five separate opportunities that contemplated the acquisition of a company with $7M or more of EBITDA (this compares to the Search Fund average of $2.2M for the 2022-2023 cohort of Searchers). While I acknowledge that five data points don’t constitute aContinue reading “Are Search Funds Moving Up Market?”
Tag Archives: deal terms
Hard to Kill: A Four-Part Framework for Evaluating Small Business Acquisitions
Listen to This Blog Post I would make the world’s worst Venture Capitalist. If you don’t believe me, keep reading. As I’ve transitioned from operator to investor over the past 5 years or so, I’ve attempted to develop (and have attempted to articulate below) a general philosophy to guide my decision making, given that almostContinue reading “Hard to Kill: A Four-Part Framework for Evaluating Small Business Acquisitions”
Facing the Worst-Case Scenario: How Jed Morris Lost His Business and Rebuilt His Life
My Guest Jed Morris is the Founder and Managing Partner of Sunset Coast Capital, where he leads investments in U.S.-based aerospace and defence businesses. He specializes in helping acquisition entrepreneurs and independent sponsors navigate the complexities of small business ownership, diligence, and operator readiness. Jed’s career began in the U.S. Air Force, where he heldContinue reading “Facing the Worst-Case Scenario: How Jed Morris Lost His Business and Rebuilt His Life”
Rethinking Asset Intensity in Search Fund Acquisitions
Listen to this Blog Post The vast majority of Search Funds seek to acquire businesses that are both “asset-light” and “capital-light”. That is, companies that don’t have a large base of tangible assets that need to be added to, refurbished, or replaced to either maintain operations or pursue growth. All else being equal, this makesContinue reading “Rethinking Asset Intensity in Search Fund Acquisitions”
How to Price, Structure, and Diligence Around Customer Concentration
Listen to this Blog Post When evaluating a small business to acquire, to suggest that some form of concentration is common is likely an understatement. Indeed, in most cases, concentration of some variety is a borderline inevitability. Though this often takes the form of customer concentration (the focus of this blog post), it can takeContinue reading “How to Price, Structure, and Diligence Around Customer Concentration”
Is the Search Fund Acquisition Rate Falling? With Jim Edmunds, Badge Stone & Kent Weaver
My Guests This week, I’m joined by three of the most experienced and respected investors within the search fund ecosystem to discuss a topic that is understandably of interest to the entire ETA community: That subject is why the acquisition rate among search funds has fallen over the past 10 years, and whether the rateContinue reading “Is the Search Fund Acquisition Rate Falling? With Jim Edmunds, Badge Stone & Kent Weaver”
How to Avoid Common Stumbling Blocks in an M&A Process: with Raam Jani
My Guest This week I was thrilled to welcome Raam Jani to the podcast, who is one of the most experienced lawyers in the Search Fund ecosystem, and within the small business M&A ecosystem more broadly. Raam is currently a partner at Baker Hostetler, where he works on a variety of mandates, advising private equityContinue reading “How to Avoid Common Stumbling Blocks in an M&A Process: with Raam Jani”
How to Get Your Exit Proceeds (Mostly) Tax Free
My Guests This week, we explore two separate mechanisms that may allow acquisition entrepreneurs and their investors to receive their exit proceeds largely free of tax. Relative to how powerful these programs can be, both are not fully understood within the Search Fund community, especially among new and prospective searchers. In the first half ofContinue reading “How to Get Your Exit Proceeds (Mostly) Tax Free”
In Conversation with 3 Founders Who Sold Their Companies to Search Funds
My Guests Properly managing the relationship with the outgoing seller is likely to be among your most important tasks within your first 6 months as the new CEO. I say this because a non-functional (or worse, a toxic) relationship between the incoming and outgoing owners has the potential to damage a company more than customersContinue reading “In Conversation with 3 Founders Who Sold Their Companies to Search Funds”
From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos
My Guests After graduating from business school in 2008, Jay Davis & Jason Pananos acquired Vector Disease Control, a company that they grew from ~$7M to ~$50M in revenue in 7 years through successfully executing on 14 bolt-on acquisitions. They were able to grow the business by a 43% compounded annual growth rate before sellingContinue reading “From $7M to $50M via 14 Acquisitions: A Consolidation Success Story With Jay Davis & Jason Pananos”