I get asked a lot about what success looks like in self-funded search. The honest answer is that it varies, but every once in a while, a deal comes along that reminds you why this path is worth taking. I invested personally in Rob Brooks' HVAC acquisition before we launched Entrepreneurial Capital's fund. At close, the business was doing $1.9M in revenue with $335K in SDE. What Rob has done with it in the 12 months since is genuinely incredible. In his first year of ownership: • Revenue doubled to $3.7M • Gross margins expanded from the mid-30s to nearly 50% • EBITDA hit $1M. And he did it spending just 2.2% on marketing - no massive ad spend, no burning cash to buy growth. Just disciplined operations, investment in people, and relentless focus on execution. He’s crossed $2M in revenue for 2026 from Jan through May. May alone put $280K of cash in the bank, nearly as much as the entire SDE from the 12 months pre-close. He has eight months of cash reserves and isn’t fully into hit peak season yet. What strikes me most isn't just the shift in numbers, but also the shift in mindset. Rob came in worried about making payroll and covering debt service. Now he's trying to figure out what his ceiling actually is. This is what ETA can look like when the right operator buys the right business and executes. It doesn't always go this way, but when it does, it's something special. Partner Perspective: Caleb Basile, QoE Prep: The J-Curve: Why Income Dips Before It Rises When my wife and I bought a house last summer, I did everything right in avoiding a crisis - inspections, due diligence, etc. Even so, the basement flooded a few weeks after closing. Nobody's fault. It just happened, the way things tend to happen whenever there's a lot on the line. Buying a business works the same way. No matter how clean the financials look or how thorough your diligence was, there is almost always a period right after closing where things get ugly. We call it the J-curve, and it isn't necessarily a sign you made a bad deal. It's a natural side effect of a massive transition. It shows up in four places: 1) sales, where your opportunity volume and close rate both drop before you find your footing, 2) processes, which slow down before they speed up as you learn what to change and how, 3) team, where some employees will use the transition as a moment to reconsider their options, and 4) clients, who were often loyal to the previous owner personally, not to the business. The buyers who navigate the J-curve most efficiently are the ones who see it coming. That means learning how to sell in this specific business before day one, understanding the team you're inheriting, knowing which clients are at risk, and - most importantly - making sure you have enough cash in the bank to absorb the transition. A thorough QoE analysis is one of the best tools for preparing yourself before close. If you're in diligence and want a clear-eyed picture of what you're actually buying, reach out at redacted And for the full breakdown of the J-curve and how to shorten it, subscribe to my Substack here. I post relevant ETA news and insights to help you save millions in your business acquisition. Plus: • I'll be joining a panel at the Search Fund Coalition NYC Deal Team Day on June 24. If you're in the New York area and want to connect in person, I'd love to see you there. Register here. • Yale University and Chicago Booth are collaborating on an ETA Search Sentiment Study, tracking the emotional well-being, resilience, and progress of searchers before and during their search - and they're looking for participants who have started or plan to start their search inredactedIf that's you, sign up here - and if you're an investor, please pass this along to searchers in your network. • I sat down with Gregory Elfrink on the Empire Flippers podcast to talk about buying businesses, investing in searchers, and what actually separates the deals that work from the ones that don't. If you're thinking about buying vs. building, how AI is affecting marketing agencies, or how we evaluate searchers at Entrepreneurial Capital, please give it a listen & share your thoughts.redacted