Think Big, Buy Small
Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own startup seem too risky? There's another compelling path open to you: acquiring a small business and running it as CEO. Co-hosted by Harvard Business School Professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, the show is an extension of their courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business, which has sold more than 65,000 copies. In this series, Rick and Royce guide listeners through the...
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Turning Corporate Experience Into Acquisition Entrepreneurship
<p>Kyle Poll had built a successful career at LinkedIn and Gympass, but he found himself looking for something more entrepreneurial. With five children, a mortgage, and a comfortable career, leaving his corporate life to search full-time for a company to buy was not an obvious choice. Yet Kyle and his wife had built enough financial flexibility to make the leap, and after nearly a year of searching, he acquired GetOutPass, a subscription-based family entertainment business, and merged it with its primary competitor, PogoPass. In this episode, Kyle shares how his experience in enterprise sales shaped his approach to finding...
Building an HVAC Roll-Up in France
<p>Entrepreneurship through acquisition is increasingly becoming a global phenomenon, and in this episode Rick and Royce speak with Louis-Clair Francois-Poncet, an HBS alum who returned to his native France after business school to pursue ETA alongside a longtime friend. Since launching their roll-up in 2022, they have acquired fifteen HVAC businesses, combining them under a single company while still preserving the local brands and cultures that made each one successful. Louis-Clair shares how he identified HVAC as an attractive sector, raised capital from French investors, and built deal flow by establishing credibility with business owners. Along the way, they explore...
Navigating the Legal Process of Buying a Small Business
<p>Buying a small business involves much more than simply agreeing on a price. To explore the legal process of getting a deal across the finish line, Rick and Royce are joined in the studio by Jared Shwartz, a mergers and acquisitions attorney who specializes in smaller firms. Jared shares many lessons from his extensive experience representing both buyers and sellers, including how to choose an advisor with the right small business M&A background, what information belongs in a letter of intent, and why working capital can become one of the biggest sources of deal friction. They also discuss...
When Search Doesn’t End in an Acquisition
<p>What happens when a searcher doesn’t find a company to buy? In this episode, Rick and Royce talk with Kristin Wihera, a Navy veteran and HBS graduate who spent nearly two years searching for a business to acquire before ultimately ending her search without a deal. Kristin reflects on the emotional highs and lows of searching, the challenges of cold outreach, and the tradeoffs of pursuing a funded search with investors who had particular expectations around company size, growth, and returns. </p> <p>She also discusses how her military background helped – and sometimes hindered – her efforts to establish credib...
From Entrepreneur to Acquisition Entrepreneur
<p>Entrepreneurship through acquisition doesn't always begin with a formal search. In this episode, Rick and Royce talk with Aaron Wyatt, an entrepreneur who built his business organically after leaving a sales job to become an independent manufacturer's representative. Aaron shares how he grew his business by deepening relationships with customers and family-owned manufacturers, while deliberately adding complementary product lines. He also reflects on the risks of leaving W2 employment and why, for him, those risks felt manageable when viewed as simply taking the next step. Aaron has since taken another step in his journey, purchasing a garage door service...
From Searcher to Seller: The Long Road to a Successful Exit
<p>Bruce Isaacson spent two years searching for a company to buy before acquiring a decades-old marketing research firm in 2005. Since that time, he has transformed the business, shifting its focus to litigation research and building a thriving professional services firm. In 2025, after years of growth, Bruce made the difficult decision to sell. In this episode, Bruce is joined by Rudy Scarito, the investment banker who advised him on the sale. Together with Rick and Royce, they discuss the patience and persistence required to turn around a business, the importance of finding a company that fits the entrepreneur, and why...
Reflections On the Evolution of ETA
<p>Jeff Stevens, one of the earliest searchers and a longtime investor in the ETA ecosystem, joins Rick and Royce to discuss how search has evolved over the past thirty-five years. In this episode, he reflects on the early days of search, when the model was largely uncharted territory, and contrasts that experience with searching in today’s more developed – but still challenging – landscape. Jeff discusses why searchers should focus on building relationships and credibility with business owners, how technology has transformed the sourcing process, and the trade-offs between industry-focused, geographically focused, funded, and self-funded searches. He also shares his perspe...
Should Searchers Look More Seriously at Franchises?
<p>Michael Horowitz is a former searcher who acquired, scaled, and ultimately sold a portfolio of Wingstop franchise restaurants before becoming an investor in the ETA ecosystem. In this episode, he shares his unconventional journey to business ownership and offers an insider's perspective on what makes franchising a compelling but often misunderstood path for acquisition entrepreneurs. Together, they discuss the advantages of established brands, proven operating systems, benchmarking, and more predictable cash flows, as well as the tradeoffs associated with royalties, choosing the right franchisor, and managing multi-unit businesses. They also explore why franchise opportunities are often overlooked by searchers...
The Role of Culture in Scaling an ETA Business
<p>After a self-funded search led to the acquisition of Ally Waste in 2020, James Crawley grew the company more than thirty-five-fold. What did it take to scale the business from a handful of employees to a nationwide operation, with hundreds of team members working independently across dozens of states? Many entrepreneurs focus on systems and processes when growing a business. James, however, argues that culture deserves equal attention. In this episode, he explains how a clearly defined mission and a set of core values – including an unusual "no jerks" policy – became the foundation for scaling Ally Waste. James also discusses why...
The Rise of Long-Term Holding Companies in ETA
<p>In Season Two, Kent Weaver, one of the most experienced operators and investors in the search ecosystem, joined Rick and Royce for a wide ranging conversation about entrepreneurship through acquisition. In this episode, they focus on the rise of long-term holding companies, vehicles designed to acquire and build multiple businesses over an extended time horizon. The conversation explores why some entrepreneurs are choosing to build companies over decades rather than pursue a single acquisition and exit, what makes a successful HoldCo CEO, and how disciplined acquisition strategies and operational playbooks can create long-term value. They also examine how long-term...
