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Navigating Leadership Dynamics: Profiles, Co-CEOs, and Decision-Making
This chapter examines the intricacies of leadership styles, focusing on the contrast between likable and unlikable CEOs and their impact on business performance. It also discusses the roles of builder and visionary leaders, the trend of co-CEOs, and best practices for effective collaboration amidst differing opinions.
Highlights: What Is a Search Fund? How search funds enable entrepreneurs to acquire and grow established businesses with investor backing.
Impressive Returns: Search funds have historically generated 35% net IRRs and 4.5x ROI, making them a compelling investment strategy.
Barriers to Institutional Adoption: Despite high returns, institutional investors struggle to deploy capital effectively in this micro-cap space.
Search Fund Lifecycle: A breakdown of how searchers raise capital, find businesses, and structure acquisitions.
Portfolio Strategy: How Robert constructs a diversified portfolio of search fund investments to maximize returns.
TAM & Growth of Search Funds: How the space has evolved from niche to mainstream, with billions invested in recent years.
Traits of a Successful Searcher: The skills and qualities investors look for in entrepreneurs, from financial acumen to leadership ability.
Lessons from a $150M Exit: Robert’s journey from acquiring a $5M security business to scaling it into an industry leader with 2,000 employees.
The Asurion Story: A legendary search fund deal that delivered 100x–1,000x returns to early investors.
Search Funds vs. Startups: Why search funds offer a lower-risk path to entrepreneurship compared to venture-backed startups.
Co-CEO Model: Best practices for managing leadership dynamics and decision-making between business partners.
Governance & Investor Relations: How search fund investors maintain oversight while giving CEOs operational control.
Biggest Misconceptions About Search Funds: Why experience isn’t everything and how young entrepreneurs can successfully run businesses.
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Guest Bio: Robert Cherun is a leading investor in search funds and small-cap businesses. As the co-founder of a successful security company, he scaled the business from $5M to $150M in revenue before exiting to a strategic buyer. Now, through his firm Legate Partners, Robert invests in and mentors the next generation of search fund entrepreneurs. Passionate about small business transformation, Robert specializes in identifying high-potential searchers and helping them build industry-leading companies.
Our Podcast now receives more than 300,000 downloads a month. Are you interested in sponsoring an episode? Please email me at dweisburd@gmail.com.
#VentureCapital #VC #Startups #OpenLP #AssetManagement
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Stay Connected: X / Twitter: David Weisburd: @dweisburd
LinkedIn: David Weisburd: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dweisburd/ Robert Cherun: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robcherun/
Links: Legate Partners: https://www.legatelp.com/
Questions or topics you want us to discuss on How I Invest? Email us at dweisburd@gmail.com.
(0:00) Episode preview (0:51) Overview of search funds and historical returns (2:16) Capitalization and portfolio construction in search funds (3:26) Growth of search funds and searcher profiles (5:05) Comparing search funds with traditional startup models (7:37) UCIT Online Security acquisition journey and deal economics (10:22) Famous search fund deals and Legate Partners introduction (11:33) Legate Partners' strategy and CEO selection criteria (13:24) CEO profiles and co-CEO best practices (15:55) Governance and decision-making in search funds (17:44) Insights on search fund dynamics and governance (19:11) Transitioning from finance to search funds and key lessons (20:11) Final thoughts on team dynamics and search fund misconceptions (20:58) Closing remarksListen to all your favourite podcasts with AI-powered features
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