Searching with a thesis with search fund investor Steve Ressler - Acquisitions Anonymous Episode 94

Michael Girdley (@Girdley) & Bill D’Alessandro (@BillDA), are joined by Steve Ressler (@steveressler) to talk about best practices when running a search, his search fund The Brydon Group, buying opportunities in the SMB space, what do the best search funders do, top CEO’s skills,  and more.-----Thanks to our sponsors:* https://Cloudbookkeeping.com - Cloudbookkeeping specializes in bookkeeping solutions for everyone from start-ups to mature businesses. Check them out & mention our podcast.-----* Do you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.* Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!* Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.-----Show Notes:(01:09) - Cloudbookkeeping.com(2:20) - What do the more intelligent search funders do to pitch you?(4:14) - What are good reasons to do a search fund?(6:24) - How would you segment the search fund prototype?(8:29) - How can you tell if a senior executive will be an operative one?(11:22) - What do you look for in a searcher?(14:14) - Tell us about the Brydon Group and what you’re doing (19:40) - What’s the profile you look for? What type of deals do you look for?(21:40) - How do you structure deals? What about the financing?(25:08) - How do you think about debt for this kind of search? How does the equity side work?(28:34) - What do you look for in a searcher?(33:52) - Why do you go for $2 to $5 MM EBITDA range deals?(36:47) - Where are the winds blowing in the private markets?(38:45) - Do you think that Covid put pressure on the sellers, burnout syndrome, that kind of stuff?(42:04) - What are the craziest things you’ve seen from searchers?-----Links:* https://www.linkedin.com/in/ressler/ * https://www.brydon.com/for-searchers * [email protected] -----Additional episodes you might enjoy:#87 Yelp is not evil! Building a business using digital CAC - Featuring Johnny Robinson from Orange Window Cleaning#86 Rocketship your business with... Twitter?! - JK Molina gives a Twitter Masterclass#79 What do Investors want? - Dig into an investor’s mind with Bradford Hardin#75 SBA Loan Secrets with Heather Endresen, expertise from a Billion-Dollar LoanerSubscribe to  weekly our Newsletter and get curated deals in your inboxAdvertise with us by clicking hereDo you love Acquanon and want to see our smiling faces? Subscribe to our Youtube channel.Do you enjoy our content? Rate our show!Follow us on Twitter @acquanon Learnings about small business acquisitions and operations.For inquiries or suggestions, email us at [email protected]