ETA Insider Podcast

Chicago Booth alum Phil Colaco, global leader for the corporate finance advisory practice at Deloitte, draws parallels between Deloitte’s investment banking arm and the ETA search. Phil elaborates on strategies to maximize chances of success in a search, the importance of partners, and trends in lower-middle market acquisitions.

Ivan Zinn, founder and managing partner of Atalaya Capital Management, elaborates on the evolutionary changes in the credit industry as it relates to the launch and growth of Atalaya Capital, trends in the corporate credit landscape, and considers the intentional use of human capital as a means to drive impact and outcomes.

In this episode, David Rhodes, a technology consultant and active ETA investor, discusses how he advises search entrepreneurs when they have interest in a software-driven company. David emphasizes the importance of evaluating the product, process and team, and highlights some of the challenges and opportunities presented by SaaS.

In this episode, Chicago Booth alum Darrin Shillair, president of Specialty Sales LLC, discusses his ETA journey and explains the benefits of pursuing a self-funded search and how he was able to acquire Specialty Sales a little over a year after beginning his search. Darrin explains how his search model provided him with a unique advantage in identifying smaller cap companies and being able to narrow his search to a specific geography.

In this episode, our host Brian O'Connor is joined by Dan Kessler, partner at Cyprium Partners, and Ken Sander, former chairman and CEO of Kellermeyer Building Services. The pair work through the mechanics of a management buyout (MBO) and discuss how Cyprium Partners worked with Ken's team to facilitate the MBO of Kellermeyer Building Services.

Mark Agnew, president and CEO of Lou Malnati’s and adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Chicago Booth, speaks about his journey with Lou Malnati’s and the lessons he’s learned as president and CEO of the company. Mark stresses the importance of making every experience a learning opportunity and developing a strong company culture. He attributes the success of Lou’s to the commitment of the people working at the company and their ability to innovate and lead from within.

Successful entrepreneur Rob Swanson, former founder and CEO of RAS & Associates, shares his experience founding a company, driving growth through sales and employee development, and ultimately exiting the business. As an operator, Rob’s insights into his sales and growth strategy for RAS & Associates serves those in the ETA community that have, or are looking to operate a business.

In this episode, Mary Josephs, founder and CEO of Verit Advisors, discusses employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and their role in ETA. She provides listeners with an overview of ESOPs, how they work, and their role as a corporate finance alternative to acquiring a business.

Co-founders and Principals of Calyx Capital Partners, Trista Engel and Jessica Markowitz discuss their ETA journey and how they came together to form a search fund following their time at Chicago Booth School of Business. The pair reflect on their partnership and share insights into how they've been able to maintain both a professional and personal relationship throughout their search. Trista and Jessica speak about the ups and downs of their search and provide valuable advice for those looking to pursue the search fund model.

On this episode, Mike Wallach with Levy Family Partners discusses special purpose acquisition companies, or SPACs, and provides listeners with an in-depth look into how the investment vehicles are structured and can be used to carry out a transaction. Mike speaks about his experience with the Levy Acquisition Corp. and their ultimate acquisition of Del Taco in 2015.