Jon Staenberg

So lots of people, it's actually becoming kind of a hot sector. There's a lot of people on social media talking about buying businesses and lots of people talking about doing a search. We are very, very specifically focused on what I call the traditional Stanford Harvard Search Fund model, which has a lot of elements that make it successful.

So lots of people, it's actually becoming kind of a hot sector. There's a lot of people on social media talking about buying businesses and lots of people talking about doing a search. We are very, very specifically focused on what I call the traditional Stanford Harvard Search Fund model, which has a lot of elements that make it successful.

I think the thing that is the headline grabber here is that the Stanford study, which comes out every two years, and I encourage your listeners to read two documents if they're interested in this, the Stanford Primer, which describes in detail

I think the thing that is the headline grabber here is that the Stanford study, which comes out every two years, and I encourage your listeners to read two documents if they're interested in this, the Stanford Primer, which describes in detail

the search fund process, and then the Stanford study, which is updated every two years with the latest numbers on all search funds, all traditional search funds, and the results. And the headline grabber here is that over the last 40 years, if you had done and participated, invested in every search fund, those that succeeded, those that didn't, you would have gotten a net 35 plus percent return.

the search fund process, and then the Stanford study, which is updated every two years with the latest numbers on all search funds, all traditional search funds, and the results. And the headline grabber here is that over the last 40 years, if you had done and participated, invested in every search fund, those that succeeded, those that didn't, you would have gotten a net 35 plus percent return.

And that's kind of remarkable. And I sometimes say to people, I don't know any other asset class that has that kind of performance. And so it's pretty intriguing. In fact, yesterday I had someone say, that's impossible. And so I would encourage people to read the study and take the time to understand why this playbook works so well. But at the end of the day,

And that's kind of remarkable. And I sometimes say to people, I don't know any other asset class that has that kind of performance. And so it's pretty intriguing. In fact, yesterday I had someone say, that's impossible. And so I would encourage people to read the study and take the time to understand why this playbook works so well. But at the end of the day,

We're living in a remarkable time of baby boomers needing to transition into retirement. There are kids not necessarily wanting to take over the family business. And we also are looking at implementation of AI and tech tools that is changing how small businesses compete. So it's a really, really interesting time for this small asset class. So that's what it is.

We're living in a remarkable time of baby boomers needing to transition into retirement. There are kids not necessarily wanting to take over the family business. And we also are looking at implementation of AI and tech tools that is changing how small businesses compete. So it's a really, really interesting time for this small asset class. So that's what it is.

Yeah, great question. Sure, of course. It's very broad, but within that breadth, there is a lot of discipline of the companies being bought. So what do I mean by that? So in general, what we're looking for are businesses that are about $2 to $5 million in EBITDA, have some reoccurring revenue, have been growing for at least three years, have hopefully 20 plus percent EBITDA margins,

Yeah, great question. Sure, of course. It's very broad, but within that breadth, there is a lot of discipline of the companies being bought. So what do I mean by that? So in general, what we're looking for are businesses that are about $2 to $5 million in EBITDA, have some reoccurring revenue, have been growing for at least three years, have hopefully 20 plus percent EBITDA margins,

are not facing too much customer concentration risk, generally not in regulated industries and so on. So I'm giving you kind of a profile of what after hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acquisitions, we know works. And so one of the beauties of this is that, The searchers looking, and by the way, searching is a really hard thing to do. Most people don't fully understand it.

are not facing too much customer concentration risk, generally not in regulated industries and so on. So I'm giving you kind of a profile of what after hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of acquisitions, we know works. And so one of the beauties of this is that, The searchers looking, and by the way, searching is a really hard thing to do. Most people don't fully understand it.

And searchers who come out and decide to take this entrepreneurial path often don't even acquire And so they went to a major business school. They came out. They raised this money. Instead of taking a job, they tried to find a small company that I've described. And over a third of the time, they can't get it done. for a number of reasons. So it's really hard.

And searchers who come out and decide to take this entrepreneurial path often don't even acquire And so they went to a major business school. They came out. They raised this money. Instead of taking a job, they tried to find a small company that I've described. And over a third of the time, they can't get it done. for a number of reasons. So it's really hard.

And part of that is why it works so well is because there's a lot of discipline on the companies that they're buying and making sure they're appropriate companies. But to be very specific in answering your question, It's everything from mostly non-sexy mom and pop businesses like pool cleaning, med spas, dental clinics, street cleaners, meter readers, airplane parts, et cetera, et cetera.

And part of that is why it works so well is because there's a lot of discipline on the companies that they're buying and making sure they're appropriate companies. But to be very specific in answering your question, It's everything from mostly non-sexy mom and pop businesses like pool cleaning, med spas, dental clinics, street cleaners, meter readers, airplane parts, et cetera, et cetera.

In our fund that we closed in June, we're going to have something like 200 of these acquisitions in over 125 different industries across the United States. And one of the great things is if this Harvard or Stanford or Booth or MIT or Wharton MBA goes in and buys an HVAC company in Topeka, well, here they're coming with their energy and smarts and training.

In our fund that we closed in June, we're going to have something like 200 of these acquisitions in over 125 different industries across the United States. And one of the great things is if this Harvard or Stanford or Booth or MIT or Wharton MBA goes in and buys an HVAC company in Topeka, well, here they're coming with their energy and smarts and training.