Hi all, I'm a new self-funded searcher in Austin, TX (link to more context below). A month in, it's becoming clear that companies matching my personal criteria will require some outside investment. Businesses in my original price range ($1-2m) don't have the level of stability I'm looking for.

I'd love any guidance or resources the community here could provide on fundraising. I'm an experienced founder, but I bootstrapped my company and didn't go to a top-tier MBA program, so I don't have the experience or network needed to jump right in.

I understand that finding solid deals is a prerequisite for getting investors, but I'd like to have a more clear understanding of what fundraising looks like. Where do you find investors? What sort of deal structures are common? Etc.

For a bit more context on my search so far, I've been building in public here: www.im-buying-a-business.com. Any advice — even outside of fundraising — would be much appreciated!