G'day, I'm Pete Seligman. There are a growing number of people thinking about buying a business in this region, but it can be hard to see what that actually looks like. So to help bring one part of that process to life, I've teamed up with my mates Jason Andrew and James Frank to throw some businesses on the table and share our raw thoughts on each. This is Eta down under. We hope you enjoy it.   In the latest segment of "ETA Down Under," we embark on an exploration of a thriving...

G'day, I'm Pete Seligman. There are a growing number of people thinking about buying a business in this region, but it can be hard to see what that actually looks like. So to help bring one part of that process to life, I've teamed up with my mates Jason Andrew and James Frank to throw some businesses on the table and share our raw thoughts on each. This is Eta down under. We hope you enjoy it. In the latest "Eta Down Under" segment, we delved into the potential acquisition of a high-end...

G'day, I'm Pete Seligman. There are a growing number of people thinking about buying a business in this region, but it can be hard to see what that actually looks like. So to help bring one part of that process to life, I've teamed up with my mates Jason Andrew and James Frank to throw some businesses on the table and share our raw thoughts on each. This is 'Eta Down Under'. We hope you enjoy it!   In our inaugural episode, Jason introduces a diverse range of businesses, from a vertically...

This episode of The Next Step – the final episode for the season – is a short bookend to wrap up the series, and we’ve included it in the interest of completeness. These are closing remarks after a wonderful and insightful EtA Forum.  As I mentioned, for the first effort at something of this scale for the EtA community, the turnout was truly incredible. Many more people came than was expected, and consequently, thanks to that support, not only was the atmosphere at the event as dynamic as it...

The final session of the inaugural EtA Forum was a hugely entertaining and insightful story about the searcher’s journey. Richard Hernan decided, at the age of 40, that it was “now or never” to follow his dream to become an entrepreneur and business owner. At the time he had 12 months’ worth of financial reserves, which he assumed would be ample to find and acquire a business.  Three years later he found himself in Centrelink for benefits, and still trying to finalise a deal. It was at that...

  In this session of the inaugural EtA Forum, people from all ends of the search spectrum came together to discuss a vital, if sometimes prickly topic: how to structure the perfect deal, especially when the seller isn’t as experienced. Often in search, the business owner is not an experienced business seller, and this can have implications in many ways. For example, they might be unaware of the critical information that the searcher will want to see in a due diligence process. Or, they may...

Andrew Locke’s Ambit Partners is one of the big global names in search. Based in South Africa, the company has invested in searches across the world, and in some interesting markets. From the mature and established markets of Western Europe and the US to fascinating emerging opportunities in places like Brazil and Cote d’Ivoire, Andrew and his people have deep insight into the true opportunity and value of search.  In the presentation that he made at the inaugural EtA Forum last year, Andrew...

Getting to the core of what makes a deal backable is at the forefront of anyone who is involved in search. That was the subject of this panel at last year’s inaugural EtA Forum, which brought together four people involved in search in different ways to share their experiences. The key theme driving the conversation is, as the moderator, Paige Kohalmi says, “the searcher plus a good opportunity, and the right funding structure, is what makes a deal backable.” These three elements are equally...

Sometimes a search goes wrong. It’ll start with a sense of unease, and only really become apparent after the acquisition, but it can be a stressful, morale-crushing experience when it happens. That’s the experience that Nick Bamford had at one point during his own search journey. That case study forms the basis of this important session of the inaugural EtA Forum. Nick – who is now happily running SRO Technology, found himself in a situation with an (eventually) hostile seller and management...

This panel, as part of the inaugural EtA Forum, takes a close look at how a searcher should approach their first hundred days after closing with a business. The panelists – Johnson Wang, Alex Simmons and Nikita Gossain – have all had successful searches and are now busy managing their businesses. They share some excellent insights about what they learned, what surprised them, and the mistakes they made along the way. One key theme comes through the panel, and you’ll hear it clearly as you...

Anyone that is interested in search and acquisitions needs to tune into this panel. It ran at last year’s inaugural EtA Forum, and brought together four experienced veterans at this fledgling space to talk about how they got started, and what options are available to searchers.  The panel kicks off with a breakdown of the different approaches to search, as well as the benefits of each and what might inspire someone to self-fund a search, or alternatively opt to work with an accelerator or...

Akram Sabbagh, the co-founder of Wayfinder Capital and Second Squared, used his presentation at the inaugural EtA Forum to discuss a subject that is often overlooked by searchers and business owners alike: the emotional investment, and how that affects perspective. There’s an excellent example that Ak gives in his presentation about the different ways a owner might handle a broken printer. When times are good, the company is growing, and the money is rolling in, it’s easy to be blasé about a...

The first panel at the inaugural EtA Forum provided a lively and hugely interesting discussion, as success stories in both investment and search across Australia and New Zealand came together to share their thoughts on a wide range of topics. From the appeal of search to investors, through to the relationship that investors and searchers have, this panel is an essential guide to a truly unique relationship in investment. As the panelists agree, one of the most appealing features of being an...

The opening keynote at the inaugural EtA Forum last year was Tim Moore, the Director of Dorado Property and Dorado Capital. This was a fascinating and far-reaching opening keynote that really set the tone for an excellent day, and I thought the insights that came out of the presentation would be particularly interesting for anyone looking to make acquisitions via search fund. Tim not only has had experience in undertaking his own search, but has some exceptional insights into the operation...

Search funds are still in their early stages in Australia. For that reason, one of the big questions that those of us that are early movers in the space have, is around what the opportunity really looks like. That can be difficult to define with limited data, and this is why Jake Nicholson’s presentation at our inaugural EtA Forum is so essential. Jake has done an incredible job to collect data on the local market, build comparisons between what Australia and the (more mature) US market, and...

Last year we brought you the inaugural EtA Forum, and were thrilled with the response. The idea was that we would give our growing and dynamic part of the Australian investment and acquisitions space a chance to come together and share some great insights, and the response was overwhelming. To help further spread the insights that came from that event, the content from the presentations will form the core of this season of the Next Step Podcast. As you’ll see, this introductory episode is...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In today's episode of the next step, I speak to Scott Middleton, who is the founder and CEO of Terem. Terem is a technology based business that provides tech product development support for big to small businesses across Australia and New Zealand, all the way from strategy to...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. On this episode of The Next Step podcast, I speak to Grant and Ben from Judo bank. Judo has kindly offered to sponsor the ETA Forum, which is coming up next month in Manly. And it's exciting to have an opportunity to chat to them because I get their perspective on what they're...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode of the next step, I speak to Tim Moore, who is the Director of Dorado capital. Tim originally was a self funded searcher back in the early 2000s. And then after exiting the business that he originally bought, has then moved on to invest in a range of activities,...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode, I speak to Ak Sabbagh. Ak is Director and Coach at Beckon Business, Co-Founder of Second Squared and Managing Director and Co-Founder of WayFinder Capital Managers. Ak works extensively with entrepreneurs and business owners in the Mid-Market Enterprise (MME)...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode, I speak to Tom McGhie from Fulcra Financial, an advisory firm focusing on providing Debt Solutions for Australian businesses and their owners. I've had the pleasure of working with Tom on a couple of deals over the last couple of years. And one of the things that...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode I speak with Rob Gaunt, CEO of ACE Training. Rob started his career selling photocopiers and worked his way up to COO. He then obtained an MBA at Macquarie Graduate School of Management before launching his search for a company to acquire in partnership with...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode I speak with John Liston, Managing Director and William Bracewell, Head of Advisory at Liston Newton Advisory (LNA), who have kindly offered to support the EtA Forum with sponsorship. It is great to have them on board, given they are such dedicated supporters of...

This year, the Australian EtA and Search Fund community is looking forward to its first big event for the region. The EtA Forum (www.etaforum.com.au) will be held in Manly Beach in Sydney, on Friday 16th September. In this episode I speak with Andrew Locke, Co-Founder & Partner at Ambit Partners. Andrew is an experienced investor, advisor, and board member. Before founding Ambit Partners, he worked as a Private Equity investor and management consultant, focusing on high-growth and...