Acquiring Minds

The Upside & Downside of Search, from a 20-Year Veteran


Listen Later

A fireside chat with veteran searcher & investor Kent Weaver recorded at the Self-Funded Search Conference in Dallas. 

Topics in Kent's interview:

  • Kent's history: his search & how he evolved into an investor in searchers
  • How the first 2 or 3 years post-acquisition are different in a self-funded search vs. a traditional search fund
  • How traditional search feels different today vs. its early days
  • What is a "3am business"?
  • The power of choosing a quality industry to buy a business in
  • The power of high quality revenue
  • The power of strong unit economics
  • The power of you as CEO
  • Ingredients of a good search CEO
  • How to handle it if the business you buy fails?
  • 2 stories of search failures
  • Staying too long in a bad business
  • When buying a business, dream bigger. No artificial ceiling.
  • Thinking beyond your first deal: what doing a search does for your career

References and how to contact Kent:

  • The event where the fireside occurred: Self-Funded Search Conference (submit this contact form for next year's event)
  • Iron Mountain
  • LinkedIn
  • Kent’s investing vehicle, Granite Point Partners

Get a complementary pre-acquisition HR & PEO review for your target business:

 Get complimentary due diligence on your acquisition's insurance & benefits program:

  • Oberle Risk Strategies - Search Fund Team

Connect with Acquiring Minds:

  • See past + future interviews on the YouTube channel
  • Connect with host Will Smith on LinkedIn
  • Follow Will on Twitter
...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Acquiring MindsBy Will Smith

  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8
  • 4.8

4.8

265 ratings


More shows like Acquiring Minds

View all
The Knowledge Project by Shane Parrish

The Knowledge Project

2,705 Listeners

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Invest Like the Best with Patrick O'Shaughnessy

2,364 Listeners

Founders by David Senra

Founders

2,167 Listeners

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry by Ted Seides – Allocator and Asset Management Expert

Capital Allocators – Inside the Institutional Investment Industry

793 Listeners

POWERS by Chris Powers

POWERS

505 Listeners

My First Million by Hubspot Media

My First Million

2,646 Listeners

Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast by Hugh MacArthur, Bain & Company

Dry Powder: The Private Equity Podcast

143 Listeners

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg by All-In Podcast, LLC

All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg

10,018 Listeners

Minds Capital Podcast by Will Smith & Niklas James

Minds Capital Podcast

14 Listeners

Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating by Bill D'Alessandro, Mills Snell, Heather Endresen, and Michael Girdley

Acquisitions Anonymous - #1 for business buying, selling and operating

246 Listeners

Business Breakdowns by Colossus | Investing & Business Podcasts

Business Breakdowns

350 Listeners

The Startup Ideas Podcast by Greg Isenberg

The Startup Ideas Podcast

202 Listeners

Moneywise by Hampton

Moneywise

660 Listeners

The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Small Business Deep Dives with Entrepreneurs by Chris Koerner

The Koerner Office - Business Ideas and Small Business Deep Dives with Entrepreneurs

246 Listeners

Think Big, Buy Small by Harvard Business School

Think Big, Buy Small

39 Listeners