redactedShivani Patel will speak at the launch of Venture for Canada's ETA Bootcamp in Toronto on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026. She joins Mario Nigro, Zack Belzberg, Simon Leith, Pratik Mehta and Andrew Saikaley on the speaker lineup. The bootcamp prepares mid-career professionals to buy and run an existing Canadian business, a path known as entrepreneurship through acquisition (ETA). According to Venture for Canada, the speakers will cover what it takes to buy and grow a small business in Canada, "from structuring a deal to running the business after close." Shivani is Managing Director and host of the Selling Your Canadian Business buyer interview series on YouTube. Why this matters to Canadian business owners For owners who plan to sell, the people in that room are future buyers. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) reports that 76 per cent of small business owners plan to exit their business over the next decade, putting more than $2 trillion in business assets in play. The same research found that only one in 10 owners has a formal succession plan in place. The gap between those two numbers is where value is lost. When a large share of owners try to sell in the same window, the businesses that are prepared and the buyers who are trained tend to find each other first. Owners who wait often find fewer options and weaker terms. What is the Venture for Canada ETA Bootcamp? According to the program page, the ETA Bootcamp is a five-week hybrid program that runs from Oct. 24 to Nov. 28, 2026. It opens with an in-person launch day in Toronto, continues with live virtual sessions on Tuesday and Thursday evenings and closes with an in-person graduation. It is designed for mid-career professionals with five or more years of work experience who are comfortable with basic financial statements. No prior ETA or mergers and acquisitions experience is required. The curriculum is built around three pillars: • Targeted thesis and pipeline architecture: setting acquisition criteria and sourcing deals. • Financials and first filters: analyzing financial statements and reviewing confidential information memorandums. • Capital stacks and the path to LOI: deal financing structures and letters of intent. Venture for Canada says more than 100 aspiring owner-operators have already started their ETA journey with the organization. Enrolment for the fall 2026 cohort has closed. What is entrepreneurship through acquisition? Entrepreneurship through acquisition is a path to business ownership in which an individual buys an established, profitable company and runs it as the owner-operator, instead of building a new venture from nothing. The buyer inherits customers, employees, systems and cash flow. The seller gains a successor who intends to keep the business operating. Venture for Canada describes its goal as building a stronger ETA ecosystem in Canada, from financing and policy to seller readiness and developing the next generation of owners. The organization convened Canada's Succession Summit in Calgary on Oct. 17, 2026, bringing together owners, acquisition entrepreneurs, investors, lenders, advisors and policymakers. How acquisition entrepreneurs fit into the buyer landscape Most owners think of buyers in a few broad groups: strategic buyers such as competitors and suppliers, financial buyers such as private equity firms, internal successors such as family members or managers and individual entrepreneurs. Acquisition entrepreneurs belong to that last group, and they are often a strong fit for owner-managed businesses that are too small to attract private equity. The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) cites the CFIB research to show how owners expect to exit: • About 49 per cent plan to sell to a buyer with no personal connection to the company. • About 24 per cent plan to sell to a family member. • About 23 per cent plan to sell to their employees. In other words, about half of exiting owners expect to sell to someone they do not yet know. Trained acquisition entrepreneurs expand that pool of outside buyers. The obstacles owners face, and what buyers look for CFIB found that owners' biggest obstacles to an exit are finding a suitable buyer or successor (54 per cent), measuring the value of the business (43 per cent) and the business's dependence on the owner for day-to-day operations (39 per cent). Each of these maps directly to what the ETA Bootcamp teaches buyers to examine. Finding a buyer. Acquisition entrepreneurs build a written investment thesis and a deal pipeline. Owners whose businesses match a clear thesis, and who can be found, are more likely to be approached early. Measuring value. Buyers trained to read financial statements and confidential information memorandums will test every number an owner presents. Clean, consistent financials shorten that review and support the price. Owner dependence. An individual buyer is stepping into the owner's seat. If customers, suppliers and staff rely on the owner personally, the buyer carries more risk and will price it in. A capable second layer of management reduces that discount. BDC notes that exit planning should generally begin at least two years before a sale. That timeline gives owners room to address each of these issues before a buyer starts asking. What sellers can learn from buyer education Programs like the ETA Bootcamp are designed for buyers, but owners can use them as a window into how the other side of the table thinks. Three takeaways stand out: • Buyers arrive prepared. A trained acquisition entrepreneur will have a financing plan, a list of diligence questions and a view on valuation before the first meeting. • Financing shapes the deal. Individual buyers usually combine personal equity, bank debt and, often, seller financing. Owners should expect to discuss how much of the price they are willing to receive over time. • Continuity matters to both sides. CFIB found that 90 per cent of owners say protecting current employees is a priority in a sale. Owner-operators who intend to run the business themselves can be well suited to that goal. Event details • Event: Venture for Canada ETA Bootcamp, launch day • Date: Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026 • Location: Toronto • Speakers: Mario Nigro, Shivani Patel, Zack Belzberg, Simon Leith, Pratik Mehta and Andrew Saikaley • Program information: Venture for Canada ETA Bootcamp