Searching in Missouri?

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 Missouri. 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 Georgia Institute of Technology in Kansas City, MO, USA

@redacted‌, happy to comment, any way we can combine this with Kansas though? Many searchers in the Kansas City area live in Kansas not Missouri (though I am of course on the Missouri side). Regardless, my firm is Four Pillars Investors. We launched ca###-###-#### and have purchased all or part of 10 businesses, 5 of those using the SBA 7(a) program (and 2 of those for which I was/am the PG). Perhaps my biggest learning is that it is really hard to buy a business. I thought after the first one or two, people would, I don't know, believe in us maybe(?), and that would make it easier to get deals done. That has not been my experience. We are pretty opportunistic on our deals. What I really love doing is working with folks that want to buy a business but need some help getting the deal closed and thus partner with my firm on the deal. We have closed three deals using this model and are close to a fourth. I value this community in many ways and always appreciate an opportunity to help others in this group.

Reply by a searcher
from Washington University in St. Louis in St. Louis, MO, USA

Thanks Luke! I'm based in St. Louis, and my background is in manufacturing and engineering operations. I'll be targeting critical B2B service businesses in the range of $2-7M EBITDA that support the booming AI/datacenter economy. I love meeting sharp, incisive, thoughtful folks in this space, especially those who are cognizant of the impact (good and bad) investors and operators have on their communities. I'm happy to help in any way I can, but in particular, may be most useful to those early in their ETA journey - especially folks coming from a non-traditional (PE/Banking/Consulting) background.

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