60+ Search Fund Investments: What Industries Excite Him The Most TODAY
Sep 16, 2025
Dive into the fascinating world of search funds with insights from Tim Ludwig, who shares his journey from investor to operator. Discover the secrets of acquiring and running small businesses, including why emotional intelligence can outshine raw IQ in leadership. Learn about the evolving landscape of search fund investments and how to identify promising industries. The discussion highlights the importance of aligning values and maintaining communication for business success. Plus, get practical tips for navigating the competitive market of acquisitions!
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question_answer ANECDOTE
How Tim Found Search Funds
Tim discovered search funds in business school after finding a Harvard case and pursued deep study and mentorship.
He spent a decade backing searchers and made 60+ operating company investments via inbound deal flow.
question_answer ANECDOTE
From Investor To Operator
After years as an investor Tim flipped to being a buyer/operator and acquired multiple companies in the $1–2M EBITDA range.
He described loving control, alignment, and installing management post-close.
insights INSIGHT
Three Search Fund Models Compared
Search funds come in three flavors: traditional, self-funded, and committed-capital (Majority Search) with different risk and ownership profiles.
Majority Search can buy with equity-only and ties CEO upside to five-year EBITDA performance.
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A deep-dive on the operator-first path to buying a small business. Told through the lessons of investor-turned-operator Tim Ludwig (60+ portfolio companies; now co-runs Majority Search).
Learn how search funds actually work, which industries to invest in, which searchers to back, why EQ beats IQ in a first-time CEO, and the exact playbook from LOI → close → the first 100 days.
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What you’ll learn: 00:00 Intro - buy, run, and compound 02:03 Why study Tim & the origins of search funds 03:40 Tim’s path: from MBA case study to investor 05:18 60+ investments, market gets crowded, lessons learned 06:54 Flipping to buyer/operator; control & alignment 07:59 Search fund 101: traditional vs. self-funded vs. committed capital 09:53 Sponsor: CapitalPad 10:54 Why search funds work: hungry operator × resilient business 12:08 First-time CEO profile: EQ is better than IQ, sales, coachability 14:28 What to buy (and avoid): the “easy to run, hard to break” box + weird niches 15:57 Sponsor: SpaceBar Studios 16:56 from LOI to close: diligence, QoE, papering the deal, seller roll/seller note 19:03 First 100 days: make payroll, listen, cadence & KPIs 20:05 Months 3-12: hire a sales leader, CRM, pipeline & talk tracks 21:56 Post-close priorities: top accounts, upgrade tools, data culture 23:03 Returns math: 4× equity without multiple expansion 24:15 Hold vs. sell; should the seller stay? 24:58 How big is the opportunity? supply/demand & off-market 26:08 Bezos vs. Musk test: singles % doubles are better than moonshots 26:53 Final advice & next steps 27:26 Outro
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