Ep.#6 [THEME FIVE]

What is an acquisition entrepreneur and search fund, what are the different types, and where do they get their money?

In this episode, Walker Deibel is back on the show. Walker is a serial acquisition entrepreneur and author of Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game. He is here to share what an acquisition entrepreneur is, why the market is growing, where they get their money, how they structure their deals, and why they are on the hunt to buy companies.

Today we are going to talk about the rise of the acquisition entrepreneur and how this particular exit option impacts your role as a leader, the valuations, and the variety of different deal structures. You will learn that acquisition entrepreneurs typically consist of a blend of MBA students backed by investors or corporate refugees who are looking to own a business but don’t want to go through the start-up phase. You will also learn that since they are typically solo-preneurs, they tend to stay in the market with companies below five million dollars in EBITDA.

But what if your business is over five million dollars in EBITDA?

That’s where we talk about search funds. Search funds are typically “scout teams” for investors or a group of acquisition entrepreneurs that hire students or “rookies” in the M&A space to find, negotiate, and land deals. 

The summary? The rise of the acquisition entrepreneur and search funds is playing a unique role in the market by matching up capital with talent in order to help facilitate the transition of millions of baby boomer businesses to the next generation.

// WATCH THE INTERVIEW ON YOUTUBE: Intentional Growth™ Podcast 

What You Will Learn

• What an acquisition entrepreneur is and what their motives are.
• How acquisition entrepreneurs fund the purchase of a business and the role of an SBA loan.
• What a search fund is and the different flavors that are out there.
• The mindset of an acquisition entrepreneur and search fund.
• Why buying a business is much more logical than starting a business from scratch.
• How selling to an acquisition entrepreneur could impact your culture and legacy.
• The types and sizes of businesses that acquisition entrepreneurs typically target and why.
• How search funds started, how they work, and how they are different from an acquisition entrepreneur.
• Why a search fund is a “scout team” for investors.