Top-10 Advices from Searchers and Investors to Aspiring searchers

This weekend I had the opportunity to attend the INSEAD ETA Conference at Fontainebleau. The event covered a rich variety of topics that ranged from the evolution of search fund models and building trust with sellers, to leveraging your board, creating value through add-on acquisitions, and crafting exit strategies. To close each panel, the speakers were asked for a final advice for aspiring searchers, here is a summary of the Top10 advices that were told: 1. Stay resilient and adaptive. Learn quickly, identify patterns, and keep moving. 2. Be humble and authentic. Genuine connections matter most in ETA. 3. Build personal relationships with sellers. Learn about the person, not just the company. 4. Use your community and network. Many opportunities and insights lie within it. 5. Define your purpose. Clarity on what you want will shape your journey and interactions. 6. Ask smart questions and take action decisively. 7. Surround yourself with people who challenge you. Growth often comes from discomfort. 8. Focus on value creation. Whether through add-ons, operations, or strategic decisions. 9. Manage your balance sheet and resource allocation wisely. 10. Align early and often with your investors and board on goals and values.