Harvard Business School, ETA & Advice for Veterans with Juan Ruiz & Doug Walsh

Harvard Business School Students Juan Ruiz and Doug Walsh run communEtA -- an MBA student-run fund which invests in search entrepreneurs. The first of its kind; it is a community of LPs, students, and searchers.  The group looks to provide exposure and training on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and source high-quality investment opportunities for LPs and finally highlight ETA as a viable career option.

We discuss why communEtA was launched and Juan and Doug provide their insights on how best to source and close deals. As a West Point graduate, a platoon leader, and a team leader for the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade for the US Army, Doug also gives advice for veterans who are both looking at business school and ETA as a career choice.

This episode focuses heavily on ETA, the process of searching for a business to buy, closing on it and ultimately running it.  Even if ETA has never crossed your mind, I think there’s value for you in in this episode … particularly if you are like me and want to constantly find ways to increase your personal net worth. For the search fund entrepreneurs listening, we try to add value, particularly on ways to better source deals and increase the odds of going from LOI to close … something that I have struggled a fair amount personally.

Discussion Topics:

(1:29) Icebreakers.

(7:14) communEtA’s origin story & screening criteria for investments.

(14:34) The economics of search. Is it worth it?

(19:02) The deal sourcing process.

(25:55) Advice for self-funded searchers.

(29:33) Advice for Veteran searchers.

(35:28) communEtA’s portfolio.

(38:56) Increasing the odds of getting from LOI to close.

(48:24) Rapid fire questions.