I’m just starting my search—reading the usual books, exploring listings, and connecting with people in the space. Coming from a high-frequency trading/crypto/startup background rather than IB/PE/MBA, I find it challenging to answer, “What kind of company are you looking for?” I plan to run whichever business I buy for the long term(decades), but my current short list still feels too broad and incomplete.
A few questions I’m wrestling with:
Is it worth spending a year or two as a GM first? Would getting hands-on experience help me learn the ropes, build connections, and better define what I want? Or should I just jump straight into the search and acquisition process (as most people and books seem to recommend)?
Do people actually use GM job boards like Smithlist(Acquiring Minds podcast)? Are there other similar platforms worth checking out?
Has anyone here made the leap from GM to acquisition? What did you learn, and would you recommend that path?
Am I overthinking this? Is it reasonable to expect that I’ll figure all this out “on the fly” as I go through the process—from search to LOI to running the business?
I’d love to hear thoughts from anyone who’s grappled with these questions or taken a similar path.
My first venture was a network marketing business that I started at 18 and made $10K/month with no mentorship or training. If you have the ability to learn, "rise over run", you will learn fairly quickly enough.
Most skills in most businesses, sales. marketing, finance, etc can be learned in a few days some times a few hours. Its the ability to integrate all your responsibilities and delegate to the right person/team that will allow you to succeed when you are running the show.
Thus, I would skip the GM part and just jump right into entrepreneurship and call the shots. The difference is akin to playing the sport vs watching it