You’re about to hear why elite MBAs from Stanford and Harvard are quietly ditching tech startups and heading straight for plumbing companies, dental clinics, and pool cleaning businesses.Sounds insane? It’s not. These “unsexy” small businesses are part of a little-known investment model—Search Funds—that's delivered higher returns than venture capital, private equity, and public markets for decades.In this episode, veteran investor Jon Staenberg tells us the hidden engine behind the next trillion-dollar wealth transfer.
Discover
🟣 Why the best-performing asset class is flying under Wall Street’s radar
🟣 How the “Silver Tsunami” is unlocking generational wealth
🟣 The mental toughness required to succeed in ETA and why most people fail
🟣 How Search Funds beat VC at its own game (with fewer risks and more alignment)
Connect with Jon
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonstaenberg/
https://staenberg.com/https://www.agatehound.fund/
The Searchlight is a weekly briefing on leadership, venture, and building in the age of AI. Every Friday.https://thesearchlight.com/subscribe
Timestamps
00:00 - Intro
01:04 - The Origins of Search Funds
11:41 - Transitioning from Venture Capital to Search Funds
15:22 - Understanding the Agate Hound Fund
16:42 - Global Opportunities in ETA
18:42 - Search Funds vs. Micro Private Equity
20:15 - Communicating Risk and Returns
22:50 - Lessons from Venture Capital
26:02 - The Importance of Team Dynamics
26:20 - Eastern Philosophies in Business
28:00 - The Future of Search Funds
31:49 - Democratization of Search Funds
33:08 - Support Systems for Searchers
34:17 - Developing Leadership Skills
36:25 - Creating Community in Entrepreneurship
