Wisdom.MBA - Harvard Business School, ETA & Advice for Veterans with Juan Ruiz & Doug Walsh

Harvard Business School, ETA & Advice for Veterans with Juan Ruiz & Doug Walsh

12/17/22 • 56 min

Harvard Business School Students Juan Ruiz and Doug Walsh run communEtA -- an MBA student-run fund which invests in search entrepreneurs. The first of its kind; it is a community of LPs, students, and searchers. The group looks to provide exposure and training on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and source high-quality investment opportunities for LPs and finally highlight ETA as a viable career option.

We discuss why communEtA was launched and Juan and Doug provide their insights on how best to source and close deals. As a West Point graduate, a platoon leader, and a team leader for the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade for the US Army, Doug also gives advice for veterans who are both looking at business school and ETA as a career choice.

This episode focuses heavily on ETA, the process of searching for a business to buy, closing on it and ultimately running it. Even if ETA has never crossed your mind, I think there’s value for you in in this episode ... particularly if you are like me and want to constantly find ways to increase your personal net worth. For the search fund entrepreneurs listening, we try to add value, particularly on ways to better source deals and increase the odds of going from LOI to close ... something that I have struggled a fair amount personally.

Discussion Topics:

(1:29) Icebreakers.

(7:14) communEtA’s origin story & screening criteria for investments.

(14:34) The economics of search. Is it worth it?

(19:02) The deal sourcing process.

(25:55) Advice for self-funded searchers.

(29:33) Advice for Veteran searchers.

(35:28) communEtA’s portfolio.

(38:56) Increasing the odds of getting from LOI to close.

(48:24) Rapid fire questions.

Discussion Topics:

(1:29) Icebreakers.

(7:14) communEtA’s origin story & screening criteria for investments.

(14:34) The economics of search. Is it worth it?

(19:02) The deal sourcing process.

(25:55) Advice for self-funded searchers.

(29:33) Advice for Veteran searchers.

(35:28) communEtA’s portfolio.

(38:56) Increasing the odds of getting from LOI to close.

(48:24) Rapid fire questions.

Previous Episode

eCommerce, Shopify, Building a Tea Brand, Dragon’s Den & More with Sheena Brady

Sheena Brady is the founder of Teasewellness.com, a wellness brand that creates all natural, tea and botanical based products that support you to live and lead consciously. As a B-Corp and through its’ Founder Fund, Tease also helps support under-represented women entrepreneurs with mentorship, strategic resources and funding.
Sheena is a tea Sommelier with a wealth of knowledge. As an owner and co-founder of a tea company myself (mositea.com), we geek out on the different ways teas can support you throughout your day. Sheena also blows my mind with some genius tea and booze infused cocktail ideas. She really knows her stuff.
Having worked at Shopify for almost 8 years on the merchant success team, Sheena shares her insights into eCommerce, changes in omni-channel marketing and how to succeed as a D2C brand in the post-Facebook era. As two eCommerce vets, we also share our secrets on how to prepare for this holiday shopping season.
Finally, Sheena tells her story of appearing on TV’s Dragons’ Den (Canada’s version of Shark Tank) and how she managed to out-smart one of the Dragon with the ultimate chess move which you will not want to miss.

Discussion Topics:
(1:30) Ice breaker ... wine pairings.
(5:07) Becoming a Sommelier and discussing tea culture.
(12:55) Tease Wellness origin story.
(24:03) Working at Shopify while running a side-hustle.
(30:34) Influencers and TikTok marketing.
(35:35) Q4 2022 Holiday Shopping predictions & secret sauce.
(40:30) Was appearing on Dragons’ Den worth it?
(48:36) Rapid fire questions.

Next Episode

Making $$ as a YouTuber, ChatGPT, the TikTok Algo & Celebrity Cap Tables with Finn McKenty

Finn McKenty is one of my favorite YouTube content creators who is also a brand strategist and marketing director. Between his Punk Rock MBA and personal channel, Finn has over 500k subscribers on YouTube. The Punk Rock MBA looks to promote career, business and life advice for the DIY community. Finn skillfully analyzes the cultural significance of punk and metal like a tenured English lit professor. With deep research and an incredible wealth of knowledge, you can easily find yourself going down a YouTube rabbit hole for hours on topics like how “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater changed music forever” or “what actually killed grunge?” We talk about his process and what it takes to make a living as a YouTuber.

Finn also has a successful career as a marketing strategist and brand coach. We discuss what impact OpenAI’s ChatGPT will have on marketing, how to create content for viral lift on TikTok, whether being an entrepreneur is truly punk rock and why he thinks celebrity cap tables are a dumb idea.

I am a big fan of Finn’s and his brutal honesty when it comes to mentoring founders, entrepreneurs, and band members. His advice is very direct and to the point. We geek out on a lot of topics and try not to hold back any punches. If you are interested in popular culture, music, brand marketing, data analysis and what it takes to make a living as a YouTuber, then I think you’ll enjoy this episode.

Discussion Topics:

(1:37) Icebreaker – Artists that capture the zeitgeist of the 2020s.

(9:16) Reverse engineering the TikTok effect.

(18:29) ChatGPT for marketers.

(24:07) Is being an entrepreneur punk rock?

(35:27) Digital marketing business case: GetGood Drums.

(42:45) Succeeding as a YouTuber.

(1:05:32) Celebrity cap tables are dumb.

(1:16:31) Rapid fire questions.