At the beginning of your search, you will be tempted to look at every possible opportunity. As you start to figure out what your nonnegotiable "no's" are. Then get good at finding them and moving on to either the next opportunity or spending the extra time sourcing.

I would overweight: - Business quality - Aversion to customer, vendor, and platform (e.g. Google, Meta) concentration - Geographic market and industry tailwinds - Size of acquisition; I would buy bigger - A bit of a paradox with the above.. but avoiding taking on investors. I didn't and am incredibly glad about that decision. - Cash flow dynamics of the business; i.e. cash flow conversion cycle I would underweight: - Price paid - I saw someone say once that the price you pay is only really felt at the exit and, to a lesser extent, with each monthly payment. Whereas business quality is felt every hour of every day. Couldn't agree more. - Concern about managing a large team (the bar is low; show respect, be fair, and you'll be fine).