ETA Insider Podcast

Search fund entrepreneur Shamus Hines of Silverfield Capital talks about his strategies for finding the right business, how he balances his time between searching, assessing companies, and performing due diligence, getting the most out of interns, intermediated versus proprietary deal flow, communicating with investors, and how to effectively engage with business owners.

Steve Groya, Managing Director of Aldine Capital Partners, discusses best practices when raising debt financing in conjunction with acquiring a company. The conversation covers what information lenders evaluate during their underwriting process, the various different forms of debt - senior debt, mezzanine, and seller paper, and how entrepreneurs can position themselves for success during the process.

Raam Jani, Partner at McDermott, Will & Emery, provides perspective on the legal aspects of the search fund through the full lifecycle, from raising the search capital to closing the acquisition. He covers what legal documents come into play and when, key terms that often receive attention, and when it's appropriate to use your attorney and when to DIY.

Matt Estep of Bosworth Capital shares insights gained from his own experiences as a search fund entrepreneur - deciding on the career path, raising search capital, acquiring a company, serving as the co-CEO, and ultimately selling the business. During the conversation he touches on a number of interesting topics - how his team positioned themselves to succeed versus other buyers on a basis other than price, the importance of their board of directors, what they did, both right and wrong, in improving the business, finessing the sale of the company to a private equity firm, and his ultimate transition to other endeavors.