Book Recommendations & Resources

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by an member from IESE Business School
in México

1yr ago

Book Recommendations & Resources

Hello! I'm about to start the MBA @IESE in September with a strong intention of launching a Search Fund upon graduation (2026) and I've been looking at different books, podcasts, lectures, and resources that can help me get a better grip on the methodology and its intricacies

I'm halfway through Jan Simon's book "Search Funds & Entrepreneurial Acquisitions" and I was wondering if there's another book that's strongly recommended within the community for any of the stages of the fund such as this one

For context... since 2020 I've been an entrepreneur (bootstrapped DTC supplement stores in México) and have been reading a lot of books on business & entrepreneurship

Any book, blog or advice will be greatly appreciated

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reply by a searcher 1yr ago
from INSEAD in Warsaw, Poland

There is so much (and a lot has been mentioned in previous posts). Here is my personal list of resources which I recommend to interns who start in my fund. Hope it helps.

𝐏𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬 (*) 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐫 Stanford University Graduate School of Business has created a practical guide to answer the most frequently asked questions. 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 – 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤?: Rob Johnson from IESE Business School highlights the success factors of search funds from the past decades.

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐇𝐁𝐑 𝐆𝐮𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐮𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬: This book, written several years ago, endures. It is specific, process-oriented, and simple. It gives practical advice but is heavily focused on ETA in the US. 𝐒𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐬 & 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Jan keeps it interesting with real-world examples of searchers facing different scenarios across the journey, written well with great insights into financials, structure deal flow, etc. 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝: Mainly aimed at first-time ETA professionals. Information-rich and insightful. 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐜𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬: Interviews with people who acquired a business as their path to entrepreneurship. 𝐄𝐓𝐀 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭: The series features all things related to ETA. 𝐁𝐮𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝: is a podcast that explores buying and building small businesses, focusing on the UK and Europe. They have a regional mini-series that I would highly recommend.

𝐎𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 (*) Jim Sharpe's blog: James started his search in 1987 and has been with HBS sinceredactedHe writes about searching, searchers, and running SMEs. Very insightful! YouTube video: Crash Course on Entrepreneurship through Acquisition YouTube video: The Four Paths of Acquisition Entrepreneurship by Walker Deibel