EP13 - Class Act: The ETA Journey of Greg Geronemus

Greg Geronemus began his career at Goldman Sachs in their private equity division after graduating from college. However, he quickly realized that he had a strong desire to be more entrepreneurial and control his own destiny. With this mindset, he decided to return to school to explore his options. While at Harvard Business School, Greg discovered the concept of entrepreneurship through acquisition, particularly the search fund model. This idea resonated with him, as he saw it as a way to utilize his expertise in private equity and jumpstart his journey towards running his own business. Greg was drawn to the risk-reward profile of acquiring a mature business that already had a successful product and revenue stream, as opposed to starting a business from scratch. He recognized that the chances of success were higher in this route. This discovery sparked a love for the concept of entrepreneurship through acquisition, leading Greg on a path to becoming a successful entrepreneur.https://www.footbridgepartners.....com/Timestamps[00:0 Goldman Sachs job led to entrepreneurial path.[00:05:06] Unexpectedly stumbled upon and acquired tour operator.[00:08:44] Struggled with everything, but learned a lot.[00:10:29] Early entry into Cuba and Egypt, impactful business growth.[00:15:08] "Footbridge: Search fund turned investing partnership"[00:18:08] Key considerations for searchers during fundraising.[00:22:08] Hybrid model for business; flexible and supportive.[00:25:04] Gender diversity in search stubborn, needs change. Entrepreneurship through acquisition growing, but challenges. Uncertain future with increasing number of searchers.Key QuotesEvolution of a Business Model: “Being able to take what was strictly a B2C business…and build up more of, I guess, what we considered to be a B2B2C model that didn't exist before we bought the business. Selling into universities, selling into retirement communities, chambers of commerce, starting a new business line from scratch that became pretty sizable." 00:11:53-00:12:29Finding the Right Investor Group: "I would think about really interviewing your investors as much as they are interviewing you and really thinking about what you want and what you think you might need in an investor group and not being afraid to ask hard questions about how investors support searchers." 00:18:08-00:20:13Accelerator and Traditional Search Investor: "Our model is sort of a hybrid between accelerator and traditional search investor in the sense that I think we draw a lot of inspiration from accelerators in how closely that we work with searchers, the support that we provide, the engagement that we provide." 00:22:08-00:23:28