Self-Funded Search vs. Traditional Search Funds

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Frequent asked questions:

What is Searchfunder.com?

Searchfunder.com is an online community of searchers, investors, lenders, brokers and other professionals. Over 80% of those involved in searchfunds maintain a Searchfunder account to help them network, hire, and mentor others.

What are the benefits of membership?

In addition to accessing the most active online network of business buyers, Searchfunder licenses research that is simply not cost effective for individuals. Access over 15,000 industry reports and 50,000 transaction financials. You also get monthly credits for contact information for your company sourcing campaign with the option to purchase more at drastically discounted rates. Searchfunder has pre-purchased access from these data providers in order to empower individual buyers and to help searchers level the playing field versus private equity.

Do you have deals?

While we are primarily a buy-side network, we do have hundreds of brokers that regularly post deals to the community.

Can I find an internship on Searchfunder?

Absolutely! We have the industry's largest intern job board. If you are considering a search, the first step is to help another business buyer so you can hit the ground running.

What does it cost?

Searchfunder is a subscription service. We offer flexible monthly, annual and lifetime memberships.

Monthly

$79 / month

Annual

$19 / month

Lifetime

$432 / once

Those who maintain an account with us for over 4 continuous years are permanently added to the community without the need for a membership.

Do I need an MBA to join?

While a large number of our members come from dedicated programs at Harvard Business School, Stanford GSB, Chicago Booth, and other top programs, searching is no longer reserved for the elite. With the current abundance of dry powder in private equity, and an increasing number of business owners reaching retirement age, good deals rarely go unfunded.

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by a searcher from Brown University
in Arlington, VA, USA

4yrs ago

Self-Funded Search vs. Traditional Search Funds

The searcher podcast redacted staged a debate last week about the merits of self-funded search vs. traditional search funds, with 2 passionate advocates for each model: redacted‌ & redacted‌.

A lot of ground was covered in what was a really substantive (and heated!) debate.

Enjoy:

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6 Likes

278 Views

reply by a searcher 4yrs ago
from Northwestern University in Chicago, IL, USA

Lots to unpack in this discussion, and some valid points made on each side of the argument. Definitely a good listen for anyone who is trying to decide which pathway to take. Something that wasn't explicitly discussed but is extremely important for any prospective searcher is network with and talk to 5-10 searchers from both sides (and in various stages of their search) to get their first-person perspectives. At the end of the day, this is a super personal pathway and everyone has different motivators/values.

reply by a searcher 4yrs ago
from University of Calgary in Calgary, AB, Canada

Great episode last week Will. As Evercreek, we are two mid career professionals with backgrounds in IB/PE/and opcos in Western Canada, Originally started out looking to raise a SME buyout fund with a custom structure underpinned by a deal we concurrently negotiated to LOI, couldn't get enough interest to see a first close happening for our deal, so pivoted to single deal self funded search after connecting with Mario Nigro at Stikeman. In our experience, finding investors through our internal "rolodex" that will meaningfully engage let alone consider terms starting at standard search was a challenge. The individuals we connected with through Mario that are active in the SF/ETA space were on a different level - no need to explain the terms as we were seeking 10/10/10, great Q&A and feedback. Unfortunately for us the target was office furniture distribution and manufacturing, which wasn't resonating given the uncertainty post pandemic despite the solid history, profitability and reasonable valuation. Tradeoffs well laid out in the podcast, in hindsight, having some income and additional viewpoints around the table would have been welcome.