Seeking personal finance advice for budgeting a self-funded search
March 05, 2023
by a searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in Miami, FL, USA
I'm planning on launching a self-funded search once I've saved enough to sustain my lifestyle for 24 months + deal expenses. I'm looking to learn from others who have done this type of financial planning. Mainly, what assumptions did you make during your planning process that turned out to not be true? What are some conservative assumptions I can make to ensure I don't run out of runway during my search (avg # of broken deals, cost of broken deals...)
from Northwestern University in Atlanta, GA, USA
Conservative assumptions would require you to look at typical budgets used in a traditional search -- if you're doing solo you're looking at $400K - $500K in expenses all in. I believe the Stanford primer and HBS guide both offer sample budgets for this.
That said, depending on your financial background saving that much might be infeasible, and to some might be overly conservative. I reviewed some benchmarks provided by the recently published self-funded search study from SIG. My takeaway from reading their stuff + listening to their podcast interviews on Acquiring Minds was to plan for 2 broken deals at $25K per pop.
That said, would love to follow the thread and see if anyone who has already walked the path chimes in!
from University of North Texas in San Antonio, TX, USA
Hopefully this starts conversations for others more experience to add to the suggestions