New Member Intro | Buy Side Strategist/Angel Investor | Exploring ETA via Investing and/or Self-Funded Search

Hi Searchfunder community, I’m Dennis and I’ve spent my career (8 years) as an investment strategist focusing on macro/tech and have done several angel deals on the side. I’m now leaning into ETA to get real, hands-on experience in investing or buying a durable cash-flowing business. I am based in NYC but flexible on location. I have committed personal capital and I’m exploring two paths in parallel: Investing in and supporting searchers (as an active diligence partner), and potentially pursuing a self-funded search to acquire and operate a business myself. My current thesis is still forming, but I’m generally drawn to businesses with: recurring or repeat revenue, defensible customer relationships, operational stability, and clear levers for improvement (pricing, process, sales motion, tech enablement). I’m open to both “boring but great” local services and more remote-capable B2B / software-enabled services, as long as fundamentals are strong. I’d love to learn from this community and connect with: Searchers who welcome an active investor (helping with diligence, modeling, KPI analysis, GTM, tech stack questions) Operators who have successfully navigated ETA and are willing to share lessons / pitfalls Recommendations for brokers, lenders, meetups, and communities that are particularly helpful for someone building reps in sourcing + diligence Looking forward to contributing and getting involved. Thanks in advance!