The Found & Funded Podcast

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Welcome back to a brand new season of The Found & Funded Podcast.

In this first episode of season 3, we welcome Linh Van Deibel, Director of Infrastructure Design Solutions, a B2B telecom services provider. 

From her roots in Vietnam to the high-stakes worlds of JP Morgan and private equity, Linh eventually moved into business operations, where she led five major acquisitions for a fintech scale-up - taking them from 50 to 1,500 employees.

Now, as the co-founder of Acacia Partners, she shares the raw reality of the self-funded search fund model, the mechanics of acquiring a B2B telecom services provider in 2025, and the challenges of being a female searcher in a male-dominated industry.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Moving from investing to operations and why an MBA changed Linh’s trajectory.
• Being advised to bring an "older, strong male figure" to meetings.
• Using interns to build a deal pipeline.
• The heartbreak of a deal falling through.

🕒 Key Chapters

• 00:00 Introduction
• 00:25 Linh’s Background: From Vietnam to the US and the UK
• 03:41 Hearing About Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition
• 08:39 Getting Buy-In From Your Spouse
• 13:01 Why Self-Funded Search Over Other Models?
• 18:04 The Challenge Of Being Female In A Male-Dominated Industry
• 23:45 Using Interns For Proprietary Outreach
• 26:52 The Role Of AI In Outreach
• 27:32 Proprietary Sourced & Brokered Pipeline
• 30:47 Running Two Acquisition Deals In Parallel
• 36:15 Raising Equity
• 41:02 Advice For Other Female Searchers
• 46:30 What Is Linh’s Dream?

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“Search is a binary process — you either make it, or you don’t."

In our upcoming episode with Linh Van Deibel of Acacia Partners Ltd, we dive into the raw, unfiltered reality of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition:

- No salary.

- No safety net.

- A year (or more) of uncertainty.

- Deals falling apart — even at the 11th hour.

And still… making the decision to keep going.

From discovering ETA as a career path, to navigating bias and testing resilience, this is a story about betting on yourself when nothing is guaranteed.

Tune in on 23 April for season three episode one, 'From JP Morgan to business owner with Linh Van Deibel', available to stream on Apple, Spotify and YouTube. 

https://lnkd.in/eGY_nhP9

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From finance to founder; trading career certainty for autonomy and long-term impact.

In our season finale, Carl Lundberg is joined by Darnell Irozuru, CEO of Birch Faraday Capital and 2024 ETA Award winner, to unpack his ETA journey.

Darnell’s instinct for entrepreneurship has been central to this story, starting with his own tutoring business straight out of university. Initially chasing FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early), he’s now focused on building a long-term hold-co and growing his care business sustainably.

Listen along to find out how he tackled his first acquisition and overcame the challenges of deal sourcing and financing as a first time-buyer.

Episode six, ‘Self-funded, self-doubt, and self-belief: Darnell Irozuru’s acquisition story’ is out now. 

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"I would not want to put my worst enemy through what I went through in that year, in terms of the highs and lows of getting that deal over the line."

Faced with setbacks and challenges, Darnell Irozuru's first acquisition was anything but smooth. As someone who likes to hit the ground running, Darnell found himself doubting his decision to trade a sturdy 9-5 for entrepreneurship. 

Find out what drove Darnell to leave a stable finance career in pursuit of ownership and impact, how he fought through self-doubt to close the deal and how he plans to grow his business in a responsible and sustainable way.

Episode six, 'Self-funded, self-doubt and self-belief: Darnell Irozuru's acquisition story' will be live this Friday! 

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In our penultimate episode of the season, Carl Lundberg is joined by Toby Henry, CEO of Accelerator Solutions, to unpack the personal and professional driving force behind his ETA journey.

After starting out in financial services and spending seven years in management consulting, Toby realised he wanted more from his career.

Inspired by his entrepreneur parents, Toby shares what drew him to the search fund model, how he's balancing legacy and leadership, and why flexibility, autonomy, and purpose continue to shape every decision he makes.

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A sneak preview of what's to come in this week's episode.

After starting out in financial services and spending seven years in management consulting, Toby realised he wanted more from his career.

Inspired by his entrepreneur parents, Toby shares what drew him to the search fund model, how he's balancing legacy and leadership, and why flexibility, autonomy, and purpose continue to shape every decision he makes.

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Sergey Sushentsev, Co-Founder of Astra Holdings, shares how a failed succession plan sparked his journey into ETA. He unpacks his deal sourcing tactics, Astra’s 3-step value creation playbook - professionalise, incentivise, digitise - and why the HoldCo model is a game-changer for long-term growth.

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New episode coming soon! 

Hear from Sergey Sushentsev, Co-Founder of Astra Holdings, as he shares the personal story behind his passion for succession planning, his approach to sourcing deals, and how Astra creates value through its three-part playbook: professionalise, incentivise, and digitise.

Make sure you're subscribed for when episode four drops on 13 June.

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Episode three has landed. 

Traditional searcher, Allison Stuckless, sits down with Carl Lundberg to share her journey from investment banker at JP Morgan, to stand-up comedian in the UK and then into the world of search. 

Plus Allison puts Carl in the hot-seat with some of her questions on the economic trajectory of the UK, managing seller expectations as a searcher, and what it takes to get a deal over the line. 

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Our next guest to join Carl in the hot seat is traditional searcher, Allison Stuckless, Founder and Managing Partner of Vericor Capital. 

Allison shares her journey from investment banker at JP Morgan, to stand-up comedian in the UK and then into the world of search. 

Stay tuned for the full episode, coming on 30 May. 

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