Search Fund raise didn't attract a lead investor - looking for options

November 25, 2024

by a searcher from University of California, Los Angeles - UCLA Anderson School of Management in Pacifica, CA 94044, USA

Hello Awesome people!.
Our partnered search didn't anchor a lead investor - various reasons sighted ranging from: Over committed, Lack of gray capital, We aren't backing non-collocated searchers, we aren't sponsoring California focused search (we were explicit about whole of US in our discussions)
Decided to put a pause on partnered search till we accumulate more skills & create a compelling profile.
a. Has anyone here successfully changed an Investor's initial No --> Yes? (& willing to share tips?)
b. Is anyone looking to bring on Interns/consultant (pro-bono is fine) to do the due-diligence and financial analyses et al?

Happy to chat other strategies (including self-funded, buying small and re-connecting with a deal with investors) and compare notes incase anyone else has similar experiences! Looking fwd. to connecting! - hitesh

Reply by a searcher
from Tufts University in San Francisco, CA, USA

Were the concerns with California specifically or with having a geographic focus/limit in general?

Reply by a searcher
from University of California, Los Angeles in Pacifica, CA 94044, USA

:) Thank for that perspective ^redacted‌ we did dig as much as it was politely possible, last year was overwhelming in terms of the # of searchers out there; agree that it's a numbers game, but when you truly look at the institutional investors that the individuals ones lean on to give a thumbs up, it's in the low double digits - and we hit 'em all virtually as well as irl. And all of them had a specific personna of searcher in mind that we weren't really fitting into. So decided to switch things up and go at it solo self-funded route. My empire will be built albeit with a smaller start :) Let's chat if you are up for it! DM'ed you!

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