Last year if you asked me what I search fund was, I might have said it had something to do with Google. I had the good fortune of meeting Adam Barker of New Forest Capital in Boston last fall and he introduced me to the search fund model. I have been an entrepreneur my entire life and have become very accustom to the ups and downs that come with working for yourself. Like many entrepreneurs, I am drawn to new opportunities and challenges and found myself drawn to buying an existing business. Until I learned about the search fund model, I didn't realize there were alternative methods to financing the purchase of a business short of buying it yourself. I find the search process very interested and few people I have spoken to in the search community have been very supportive and kind.


My question is this. At 41 years old with a wife and four kids and no formal education, I am obviously at a different point in life than most of the search bios I read. Can a person with the drive, determination and life experience still expect to be successful in a search? Are there investors and lenders who will support an acquisition by someone without an MBA but instead has two decades of small business experience, leadership and humility? I realize I will have blind spots but I believe that I don't need to know everything, just where to find the answers.


I want to believe that every searcher has a unique background and has experiences that they can leverage to lead them to success. I want to believe that great leaders like Bill Gates and Steve Jobs, while they didn't start out in a CEO role, still had a support network of mentors and advisors to keep them from peril.


As a new member to this group, I welcome your advice and wisdom and the opportunity to network with those willing to do so.