Search Fund Garage

Catalog description

Search Fund Garage is an intensive, project-based course for students planning to pursue a search fund within a few years of graduation. Students will learn from the instructors, course peers, and class visitors, particularly top current search entrepreneurs, CEOs, and investors. This course is designed to assist students who are seriously studying or pursuing a search fund (including a long duration enterprise or LDE). Those who have taken Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA, S543) or researched search funds and engaged in meaningful conversation with both GSB ETA faculty and recent searchers will benefit the most from this advanced, experiential course. By the end of the course, students will be prepared to (or may already have) raised search capital and launched their search, if they choose to do so. Using self-developed work plans to advance learning about the parts of ETA most relevant to them at the time of the course, students will work towards launching their search fund. For instance, students may spend time evaluating and interacting with investors, choosing their search's legal entity, setting up their outreach process and materials, identifying attractive industry segments and developing a personal process to find new segments, contacting and talking to business owners, and/or developing insight about what makes a business model or deal attractive or unattractive, among other things. These work plans are due before the first class. Learning in the class will draw from the processes taught in Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (S543) and detailed in the Stanford Search Fund Primer (available on the CES website), in-class dialog and debate, student presentations, and most importantly the independent efforts and curiosity of the students. The course provides a supportive yet challenging environment that will help students step outside of their…