Searching in Michigan?

May 19, 2026

by Luke Tatone from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management in Portland, OR, USA

We're working hard to grow the Searchfunder community in Michigan. Please take a moment to introduce yourself below. Some questions to consider answering: Where are you based? What is your background? What's your buy box? Have you acquired yet? Where do you need the most help right now? Where can you provide help to others? Anything else on your mind? We'll be able to have much deeper discussions if you can provide as much detail as possible. A paragraph or two is perfect. Be sure to tag (@) when replying to comments to make sure your sub-comments are read.

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Reply by a searcher
from Miami University of Ohio in East Lansing, MI, USA

Hi all - Ryan here, based in East Lansing. Recently transitioned into the ETA search full-time. Background is enterprise sales at Stripe (payments infrastructure) and Drivetrain (AI-native FP&A software). Prior to that worked in tech consulting (software implementations, operational change management, financial analysis). Mixed into those day jobs, I launched a couple of home-grown startups. Buy box is still being honed, so primarily indexed on financials and business model at this stage: - $1M–$10M revenue / $500k–$2M+ SDE - B2B, non-discretionary, with majority recurring or contracted revenue (long-term agreements, compliance services, or essential repeat business) - Businesses that would benefit from a new owner’s strengths in sales, digital marketing & lead generation, and the implementation of AI or other systems optimization to increase revenue and operational efficiency. Like most searchers, I could use help with quality deal flow :) But in addition to that, advice on the general & tactical steps of the ETA process (ie, defining a buy box with only "outsider" information, deal sourcing activities, and advisors to involve at which stages) would be helpful. I'm comfortable figuring it out as I go (with the guidance from Buy then Build and HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business), but any advice from those more tenured in this space would be greatly appreciated. Happy to help talk through sales & prospecting for acquirers looking to grow top-line, and where tech & AI could help SMB's operate more efficiently. Other things on my mind are AI "vibe-coding", and internet side hustles (which both feel like a distraction to my mission of ETA), curious if others are dealing with the same intrusive thoughts while in the search :)

Reply by a searcher
from University of Michigan in Detroit, MI, USA

Hi Everyone! Canton is my home base. My background is in enterprise SaaS in Healthcare data and analytics and have served as a leader in Operations and Service Delivery. I am actively searching primarily focused on B2B service businesses in Michigan and surrounding areas. Industries include managed services, light industrial services, and specialty trades. Generally risk-averse! I wouldn't mind boring and durable over exciting and fragile :) Where I need the most help: Building out my local advisor network — always interested in connecting with others who've been through the process. Where I can help others: Operations, customer experience, change management and process improvement — post-acquisition side of making a business run better. Also happy to think through how AI tools can be practically applied in an SMB context without overcomplicating things. Good to know there's an active Michigan community here. Looking forward to connecting.

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