ETA Insider Podcast Building Trust and Curiosity as an Operator
Feb 27, 2026
Matt Littell, Cofounder of Legacy 41 and adjunct lecturer at Kellogg, draws on years running small acquired businesses. He talks about hands-on leadership, balancing technical and people skills, and using assessments and experiential learning. He highlights building trust through transparency, mapping processes and cash early, and cultivating curiosity and listening as core operator habits.
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Why Manufacturing Drew Matt To Search
- Early operational experience shaped Matt Littell's search preferences toward manufacturing and hands-on businesses.
- His GE leadership rotation, Lean Six Sigma training, and managing union night shifts made 'dirty jobs' comfortable and attractive.
Seven Years Running Gave Full Stack Experience
- Matt ran his acquired company for seven years and wore every hat in the business.
- That long tenure gave him hands-on experience across functions and informed his later roles as investor and educator.
Assess Your Operator Strengths And Gaps
- Use behavioral assessments and real exposure to uncover gaps in your operator skillset.
- Matt recommends tools like Predictive Index or the Hogan assessment and experiential work alongside operators or searchers.