Search Funded: The ETA podcast

#Entrepreneur #Business #Nick

26:18

How do you know when it’s time to make your next big career move? With International Women’s Day around the corner, we are excited to feature Avni Patel Thompson, Founder and CEO of Milo. Avni is building technology that directly supports the often overlooked emotional and logistical labor that falls on parents—especially women. Milo is an AI assistant designed to help families manage that invisible load more efficiently. In this episode, Avni shares her journey from studying chemistry to holding leadership roles at global brands like Adidas and Starbucks, to launching her own ventures. She discusses how she approaches career transitions, the importance of unpleasant experiences, and why she’s focused on making everyday life easier for parents. [01:26] Avni's University Days and Early Career [04:36] Non-Linear Career Paths [05:16] Pursuing Steep Learning Curves [11:51] Entrepreneurship and Safety Nets [15:22] Lived Experiences and Milo [19:55] Avni’s In Her Ellement Moment [20:03] Reflections Links: Avni Patel Thompson on LinkedIn Suchi Srinivasan on LinkedIn Kamila Rakhimova on LinkedIn Ipsos report on the future of parenting About In Her Ellement: In Her Ellement highlights the women and allies leading the charge in digital, business, and technology innovation. Through engaging conversations, the podcast explores their journeys—celebrating successes and acknowledging the balance between work and family. Most importantly, it asks: when was the moment you realized you hadn’t just arrived—you were truly in your element? About The Hosts: Suchi Srinivasan is an expert in AI and digital transformation. Originally from India, her career includes roles at trailblazing organizations like Bell Labs and Microsoft. In 2011, she co-founded the Cleanweb Hackathon, a global initiative driving IT-powered climate solutions with over 10,000 members across 25+ countries. She also advises Women in Cloud, aiming to create $1B in economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs by 2030. Kamila Rakhimova is a fintech leader whose journey took her from Tajikistan to the U.S., where she built a career on her own terms. Leveraging her English proficiency and international relations expertise, she discovered the power of microfinance and moved to the U.S., eventually leading Amazon's Alexa Fund to support underrepresented founders. Subscribe to In Her Ellement on your podcast app of choice to hear meaningful conversations with women in digital, business, and technology.…

Search Funded: The ETA Podcast

Series home•Feed

Interviews with acquisition entrepreneurs and investors to distill the best practices for acquiring and operating established businesses.

19 episodes

Search Funded: The ETA Podcast

updated about a year ago

Series home•Feed

Interviews with acquisition entrepreneurs and investors to distill the best practices for acquiring and operating established businesses.

19 episodes

#Entrepreneur #Business #Nick

All episodes

1
Episode 18 - LaSean Smith, CAGR Investments 1:15:38

22 weeks ago1:15:38

1:15:38

Lasean Smith is founder of CAGR Investments, a micro-PE firm that is part family office and part product studio.. Lasean holds a bachelor's in media and computer science from Southern Illinois University, a master's from Arizona State University, an MBA from Georgetown, and a professional screenwriting degree from UCLA. LaSean is also a veteran of the US Navy and has worked at Deloitte, Microsoft, Amazon, and Google, and while doing so deployed over $450 million deployed across corporate R&D, Lasean also holds several patents and has invested in over 12 companies himself at CAGR. In this episode, we discuss Lasean’s philosophy on what startups and SMEs can learn from corporate practices (and vice versa), how AI can help search fund acquisitions, and why he's focusing on Malaysia for his non-US investments. Lasean also shares valuable insights on attaining financial independence, diligencing culture, and building scalable processes for long-term success. Lasean is the author of Values-Based Business Design, a book on product development for modern high growth companies: https://www.amazon.com/Values-Based-Business-Design-Development-High-Growth/dp/1623010012…

1
Episode 20 - Kevin Bibelhausen, Fruition Capital (and Heritage Fabrics) 44:20

31 weeks ago44:20

44:20

Kevin Bibelhausen is an investor and business owner based in High Point, North Carolina. He frequently consults on digital strategy & operations, is a sought after conference speaker, frequent podcast guest and author. Kevin is passionate about professionalizing the "wild west" that was once SMB acquisitions. He has helped dozens of entrepreneurs find, finance and acquire small businesses and escape corporate America. Kevin received his MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. Link to his substack: https://bibelhausen.substack.com/ Interview starts at 9:08.…

1
Episode 17 - Gabriel Chick, Service-Tech Corporation 32:55

50 weeks ago32:55

32:55

Gabriel Chick is the President and CEO of Cleveland, Ohio-based HVAC and industrial cleaning services company Service Tech Corporation (STC). Prior to STC, Gabriel served over 4 years as a Field Artillery Officer in the US Army where he led and oversaw a 40+ personnel team. Gabriel is a co-founder of GT Entrepreneurs, which he helped create while enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper Business School's full-time MBA program.…

1
Episode 16 - Tom Gilroy, GKG Risk 17:31

51 weeks ago17:31

17:31

In this episode, Tom Gilroy, representing the fourth generation at GKG Risk, shares invaluable insights into the critical role of insurance due diligence in the process of acquiring a business and often-overlooked aspects of insurance in ensuring the long-term success and stability of an acquisition.…

1
Episode 15 - Saumil Jariwala, Feta Fund 39:14

51 weeks ago39:14

39:14

Saumil Jariwala, of Feta Fund, (Founder-focused Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition) joins us on this episode to talk about his mission to help one thousand entrepreneurs acquire businesses in his lifetime. We dive deep into the philosophy behind Feta Fund, highlighting its unique approach to specializing in providing support during the search phase of the EtA journey, as well as stories of EtA entrepreneurs Saumil has helped in their journey to make exceptional financial returns and change employee and customer lives.…

1
Episode 14 - Javier Puig, Arada Capital Partners 27:39

1 year ago27:39

27:39

Arada Capital Partners is a multidisciplinary team that invests in search funds across Europe. Javier Puig, Partner at Arada Capital Partners, joined me to discuss Arada's value add and his journey launching a search fund investor after his MBA.

1
Episode 13 - Bakari Akil, Graves Hall Capital 27:48

1 year ago27:48

27:48

In this episode, host Nick Lall interviews Bakari Akil, Managing Director of Graves Hall Capital. They discuss Bakari's unique path to becoming a successful acquisition entrepreneur, including his most recent acquisition of a $30 million burlap bag manufacturing company. Bakari also shares his experiences as a lecturer at Cornell and Columbia Business Schools, his founding of New York's largest private equity hedge fund group on meetup.com, and what led him to launch Nomad Noir, a community for black digital nomads. Bakari offers extremely valuable insights on leveraging unconventional routes in entrepreneurship and business acquisitions, forging strong relationships with prominent figures like Dr. Cornel West and Tim Bovard without prior connections, how to approach deal analysis, and his daily habits that have led to his success.…

1
Episode 12 - Jose Moreno, AIJ Holdings 28:52

2 years ago28:52

28:52

AIJ Global (also known as AIJ Holdings, and formerly known as AI Global) is an international investment group with interests in multiple asset classes, including search funds, private equity, and startup ventures led by highly motivated and talented entrepreneurs. They bring value by: (1) Providing ongoing guidance to entrepreneurs, (2) Working closely with their operating and managing partners through each phase of the project, (3) Leveraging their global network of experts and collaborators.…

1
Episode 11 - Rafael Dufour, Relais du Dirigeant 29:32

2 years ago29:32

29:32

Rafael is a solo traditional searcher looking to acquire an SME in France. He has 11 years of purchasing, sales, business development, strategy, and general management experience in Manufacturing (Steel, Textile) and FMCG (Personal care, Hygiene) industries, and France, Spain, Morocco, China and Australia. Over the past 8 years, Rafael has built a track record in managing crisis situations as well as organic growth strategies in privately held medium size companies (€20m to €90m of revenues) both as General Manager and Strategy & Business Development Director. Rafael is a CFA® Charterholder, he holds an MBA from IESE Business School as well as a Master of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from INSA Lyon and a Project Management Professional PMP ® certification.…

1
Episode 10 - Round 2 with Ibrahim and Khaled of Moonbase Capital 32:28

2 years ago32:28

32:28

Moonbase just raised $5M and Ibrahim and Khaled returned to discuss what they're seeing in the search fund ecosystem.

1
Episode 9 - Andrew Locke, co-founder of Ambit Partners 30:00

2 years ago30:00

30:00

Ambit Partners is a dedicated Search Fund investor, enabling entrepreneurship through acquisition in traditional and developing markets. They combine a global investment mandate with deep SME transacting and operating experience - supporting a portfolio of exceptional entrepreneurs to find, buy, & build enduring businesses around the world. Subscribe to Search Funded: the ETA Podcast on Spotify or Apple . This episode originally appeared on the INSEAD Emerging Market Podcast .…

1
Episode 8 - Pete Seligman, Australian search investor 45:23

2 years ago45:23

45:23

Pete is a former acquisition entrepreneur himself who now backs aspiring private business owners by co-investing in their businesses and coaching them to make real progress by: distilling the mission; articulating the strategy; building great teams; and then, designing pragmatic plans to put rubber on the road. In this episode we discuss the Australian market for search funds and dive deep into how successful searchers navigate acquiring and operating businesses. Subscribe to Search Funded: the ETA Podcast on Spotify or Apple .…

1
Episode 7 - Dr. Newton Campos, Managing Partner of Newton Equity Partners 32:41

2 years ago32:41

32:41

Dr. Campos is the Country Director of IE University in Brazil, Professor of Entrepreneurship at FGV EAESP, Visiting Professor at IE Business School (Spain) and ITA (Brazil) and Founder and Managing Partner of Newton Equity Partners, a company that invests in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) via Search Funds worldwide. Professionally, Newton's life is driven by reshaping Capitalism through entrepreneurship and technology, preparing leaders to thrive relentlessly in their quest to solve local and global business, environmental and social challenges. Subscribe to Search Funded: the ETA Podcast on Spotify or Apple .…

1
Episode 6 - Mitsuya Shimura, Founder and Managing Partner of M Capital 14:55

2 years ago14:55

14:55

M Capital is the second traditional search fund ever in Japan, where Mitsuya is currently searching for a business to acquire. Prior to launching his search fund, Mitsuya had an MBA from IE Business school and a Master's in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Waseda University and worked in sales in the construction industry in Japan. Subscribe to Search Funded: the ETA Podcast on Spotify or Apple .…

1
Episode 5 - Bruce Vann, CEO LuXout Products Incorporated 24:49

2 years ago24:49