FAQ
Do SFA Entrepreneurs Compete with Each Other for Deals?
No. While there is a healthy amount of competitiveness around developing new search techniques at SFA, our entrepreneurs do not compete for acquisition opportunities. They collaborate. In fact, they often pass deals to other searchers who are more interested in the space.
What if SFA Doesn’t Agree to Do My Deal?
Investments are continuously evaluated by each searcher in conjunction with the SFA team. As long as things look good, we keep moving forward. But if we discover issues that warrant killing the deal, we do so jointly after careful consideration of the facts. Obviously, we have deep experience evaluating acquisitions of businesses. We also invest significant time and energy training each one of our searchers to think like an investor. That enables us to make better decisions and make them collaboratively.
How Does SFA’s Investment Committee Work?
There really is no investment committee per se at SFA! The investment process is a continuous collaboration between each searcher and the SFA team. Throughout due diligence, every additional piece of analysis contributes to our mutual assessment of the company and our mutual decision to proceed or not. No searcher at SFA will ever work in isolation on a deal for several months and then create a fancy presentation to an investment committee only to have it shot down, thus losing months of precious time working on a deal that never had legs. Our process is efficient and respectful.
Who Decides When to Sell a Business?
The CEO and company’s board of directors make that decision together. Neither SFA nor its investors want to “flip” businesses like private equity funds. In fact, we vastly prefer that a CEO continue to run a growing, prospering business, so that we all enjoy long-term, compounding returns.
Do SFA Entrepreneurs Have a Geographic Focus?
Yes - the United States. SFA’s searchers conduct nationwide searches across the United States. SFA does not support geography-specific or international searches.
Does SFA Work with International Searchers?
SFA only works with entrepreneurs who have permanent authorization to work in the United States, and who wish to acquire and run a business in the US. We cannot invest in businesses outside the US.
Does SFA Work with Partnered Searchers?
We work with entrepreneurs who are committed to be CEOs and who feel ready to take on the responsibilities of leading a company. Our searchers neither want nor need to split the economic rewards of a successful search with a partner. As one SFA investor said, “SFA is the ultimate partner.” Why? Because our searchers get far more support from SFA than any one partner could provide…and this is without having to give up 40% of their equity.*
* Single traditional searchers earn up to 25% equity, whereas partners split 30%. That’s 15% each in a partnered search vs. 25% as a single searcher. You give up 40% of your economics just to take on a parter who has likely never run a business either!
When Does the Next SFA Cohort Start?
Searchers will join Search Fund Accelerator in August or March of each year at either the New Orleans or Denver office. If you are interested in exploring search with SFA, please reach out to us!