Over 1,000 Attend Booth–Kellogg ETA Conference as Search Funds Go Mainstream

More than 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors, MBA students and faculty gathered at the 13th Annual Booth–Kellogg Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) Conference last week, the University of Chicago's Polsky Center announced. The event, co-hosted by the Polsky Center, the ETA Group at Chicago Booth and the Kellogg Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative, focused on how to find, acquire and grow a business — a path that keeps drawing MBAs.

What did the keynote say about building for the long term?

Will Thorndike, managing partner of The Cromwell Harbor Partnership and author of The Outsiders, delivered the keynote in conversation with Brian O'Connor, founder and managing partner of NextGen Growth Partners and adjunct professor at Chicago Booth. Thorndike pointed to the long tenures of the CEOs behind the original seven search fund acquisitions: five ran their companies for at least a decade, and three stayed for 25 years or more.

"I think the search CEOs viewed their search company as their life's work," Thorndike said. He urged aspiring searchers to weigh whether they truly want to run and build a company over time — buying a business, changing its culture, developing a team. "You need to derive energy and joy from the search and the building," he said.

The conversation covered capital allocation, too. O'Connor cited Asurion, originally acquired as Road Rescue in 1995: held through 2021, the investment returned more than 5,275 times the original capital. Thorndike attributed that to organic growth, acquisitions and share repurchases — the last still an underused tool for search-backed companies, he said. On business quality, he flagged three attributes tied to strong outcomes: organic revenue growth, recurring revenue and capital efficiency.

Despite rising competition, Thorndike stays optimistic. Market inefficiencies and a wave of retiring owners should sustain the supply of acquisition targets for the next 10 to 20 years, he said. In evaluating searchers, he looks for humility, curiosity and crispness; once they become CEOs, focus matters most. The best ones he has worked with are a "laser beam" about where their time goes.

"AI will transform all ETA businesses," Thorndike added.

How can AI create value in acquired businesses?

A panel moderated by Brad Morehead of Shore Capital Partners explored AI's role, with Toby Chang of CXP Capital, Danielle Matarasso of Numeriq Advisors and Alex Nay, COO of Pharmacy Data Solutions. The most effective projects start with a specific business problem, panelists said, not a broad goal of "using AI."

Chang pushed small-scale experiments. "The cost of development is low, so you can quickly build a proof of concept, make it real, and decide whether to invest further," he said.

Matarasso stressed adoption over engineering. "Change management is first," she said. "We can build things that don't get executed, and that's a waste." She also advised buyers to examine a target's proprietary data, which can become a competitive edge if structured and protected properly.

Nay warned against plug-and-play expectations. "If you buy a business and think you'll plug in Claude and grow it 10x, that won't happen," he said. "The build is the exciting part; it's putting the down payment on a house. Maintenance of the tool and your data, that is the mortgage."

Morehead said adoption needs both leadership and frontline support, with incentives tied to outcomes. "You can't just say from the top down, 'use AI,'" he said. "And if it's only bottom-up, that doesn't work either."

What about the wealth behind small businesses?

Eric Zwick, professor of economics and finance at Chicago Booth, presented his book The Everywhere Millionaire. Drawing on tax data linking businesses to owners and workers, he profiled owners of beverage distributors, car dealerships and HVAC companies — wealth that attracts little attention individually but is substantial in aggregate. He cited Dick Portillo, whose restaurant empire began as a hot dog stand without running water.

Zwick's research finds a strong link between test scores and later earnings, but a much weaker link to becoming a successful founder. "Successful entrepreneurs come from many academic backgrounds," he said. "So if you don't go to a top school, the dream isn't dead." Family resources still matter — "The fastest way to be rich is still to be born into it," he joked. Time spent inside a business builds knowledge and seller trust, and retiring owners whose children don't want the business keep expanding ETA's pipeline.

"A lot of our success stories come from the second or third part of a story," Zwick said. "The true risk is looking back on your life and wondering what you did with it."

What matters in the first 100 days?

A panel moderated by Mark Agnew featured Justin Adendorff of Miramar Equity Partners, Mike Hamoy of Hardy Pro-Air Systems & Service, Tarra Sharp of 80Twenty and Jason Will of Guidant Power. Sharp built a 13-week cash flow forecast, studied payroll cycles and negotiated the sellers' ongoing involvement. Adendorff rose at 3:30 a.m. to ride along with drivers: "You can be told how the business works, but you need to do the job to understand it," he said.

Will recommended three to five major improvements in the first 100 days. "Prioritize ruthlessly," he said. "It's not ruthless until you say no to things you really want to do." Adendorff framed the stakes plainly: "You cannot win the race in the first 100 days, but you can lose it. Don't break it."

With retiring owners supplying targets for the next two decades and AI reshaping operations, the conference's message was direct: the ETA window is open, and the buyers who plan for maintenance — not just the deal — are the ones who compound returns.