Thread by @aebridgeman

Looking for a company to acquire? Don’t start a search fund, start a podcast.

You’ll get proprietary deals, build industry expertise and credibility, and pay for your search.

Here’s how (long thread!):

Nearly all searchers today start by building email lists and collecting names and phone numbers.

Nothing wrong with that, but it’s becoming a harder channel to make yourself stand out to a seller.

So why start a podcast? Build a new way to get in front of potential sellers.

Instead of you approaching them, make them come to you.

Step 1: Pick an industry, the more specific the better. This requires some preparation on your part to determine which industry looks most interesting to you.

For some guidance on picking an industry, read this excellent paper by AJ Wasserstein. yale.app.box.com/s/f4kptzk7otjn…

Step 2: Buy equipment. Starting a podcast is stupid cheap. All you need is a mic, recorder, cables, and a stand.

The whole kit should cost less than $500. Use Libsyn for hosting, put up a website, and you’re in business.

Step 3: Start lining up guests. Aim to do a weekly podcast, so you’ll need a minimum of 4 guests per month.

Interviews are best because it allows you to leverage the industry knowledge and credibility of owners in your target industry. (Since you have none yourself)

You’ll accomplish 2 things with an interview based podcast:

1) Build relationships with owners in the space.
2) Build industry knowledge and credibility with owners.

You’ll have owners kicking your door down to talk with you.

Eventually you can add a second weekly episode with your own thoughts and industry analysis.

More touchpoint the better, but whatever you do, be consistent.

Use your personal network and search email tactics to find guests, I’ll bet they’ll be much more receptive to an email asking them to be on your podcast than to sell you their business.

You’ll likely be doing outreach for the first 20-30 guests, but soon you’ll get referrals.

Step 4: Record your episodes. Ask them about their business. How it works, what they struggle with, challenges they’ve overcome, war stories.

Owners LOVE talking about their business, use it! Ask a good question, then step away and let them go.

You’ll likely handle the audio editing yourself for the first couple months, but eventually you can hand off that work to a professional who’s better at it anyway.

@MathewPassy handles audio editing for my podcast and can’t recommend him enough.

Step 5: Launch your website and begin releasing episodes. Pair it with a weekly newsletter to start collecting emails. Write about your observations, industry analysis, helpful tips, software reviews.

Let your audience build the email list for you.

Step 6: Once you have 30-40 published episodes, you should have enough of an audience to attract sponsors. Aim for service providers for your target industry as they’ll have higher customer lifetime values.

I know an owner who pays $4k a month to ServiceTitan, for example.

High value sponsors mean you can charge above market sponsorship rates, allowing to you potentially pay for all your living expenses via the podcast.

Now your search has an indefinite time horizon. You’re no longer in a hurry to buy a company, you can take your time.

Step 7: Begin making it known you want to acquire. Put it on your website, leave at note at the end of your weekly newsletter, and mention it in your podcast intro.

Use that targeted audience of business owners you’ve built to find a company you want to buy.

I think you’ll be surprised who reaches out to sell to you.

Perhaps an owner you’ve interviewed and built a relationship with is interested? Maybe they’ll be a long-time listener you’ve never heard from.

With this podcast you’ve built a unique audience of owners, relevant content, industry expertise and credibility, and paid for your search.

You’ve bypassed those searchers who just send emails to owners who get them daily.

The owners have chosen you.

Maybe this all takes longer than being direct about wanting to acquire, but you’ve build an engine that brings new relationships to you and compounds over time.

And who knows? Maybe the podcast takes off and becomes your business and you decide not to acquire.

Either way, you’ve built something unique along your entrepreneurial journey that will make you stand out to owners in your target industry.

And by the way, I love talking about podcasting and searching. If this strategy sounds interesting to you, please reach out - would love to chat further!