Searching Anonymously while Employed
January 26, 2021
by a searcher from Stanford University - Graduate School of Business in West Hollywood, CA 90069, USA
I am currently employed in an industry where it would be frowned upon if I am doing a search on the side (most likely only reputational damage but potentially could be worse). With that said, I'm considering creative ways to search safely, for example - using an alias (send emails as 'John Smith,' keeping my public persona anonymous (i.e. no 'Team' page on my website) or having interns do some of the initial outreach while I oversee the process.
Does anyone have experience, advice, or knowledge on doing this or a legal perspective? I assume I'll need to get professional legal advice, but I thought others may have real experience on this situation and some are likely wondering the same thing here.
from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Colorado Springs, CO, USA
Pros:
* Start building momentum, especially on deal flow.
* Get a feel for whether you'll like the search process or not.
* Have a paycheck.
Cons:
* Have a paycheck (no outside motivation to get working - need to rely on intrinsic motivation)
* Less flexibility to have calls with brokers - more important once you start digging into a certain deal. This also depends on how much flexibility you have in your job. Can you take an hour break for a call? Can you take vacation on short notice to go visit a company?
As for keeping it quiet, I didn't put any special effort on this, but my job and my search never crossed paths and I didn't let the search interfere with the job.
from IESE Business School in Jersey City, NJ, USA