The Journey of Entrepreneurship

Bakari Akil is a visiting lecturer at Cornell Johnson Graduate School of Management teaching students how to buy a business. Bakari is also a successful search fund entrepreneur and independent sponsor. 

Bakari recently sourced the acquisition of a burlap bag manufacturer, secured equity financing, closed the deal, then recruited and hired the CEO to operate the business. Bakari shares his inspirational story about growing up extremely poor and discovering Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition to provide generational wealth. We talk about how ETA is a great path for anyone, particularly if you don’t have an MBA or went to business school.

Bakari is currently traveling around the world as a digital nomad managing his numerous ventures remotely. He provides great advice for anyone looking to use entrepreneurship and a distributed support staff to live a dream lifestyle.

This podcast is for anyone looking at Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition as a career choice or for anyone who loves a great entrepreneur story.

Discussion Topics:

(2:10) World travel and advice for remote entrepreneurs.

(9:40) Not financial advice … the best financial advice.

(18:32) Going into ETA or Private Equity.

(26:05) The New York Times & Bakari’s entrepreneurship journey.

(32:29) Learning ETA without going to business school.

(40:22) Advice for searchers.

(50:00) Bakari’s NYP search deal and investment thesis.

(1:00:45) Rapid Fire.