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Mark Sinatra has lived the full search fund journey: discovering ETA at Wharton, acquiring Staff One HR, surviving the 2008 crisis, scaling the business, selling to Oasis Outsourcing, and later helping build ETA Equity.

In this episode, Mark shares what he learned from nearly a decade as a search CEO, why talent unlocked the business, how he survived the hardest years, and what he now looks for after backing 80+ searchers and 35+ acquisitions.

Timestamps:
0:00 Mark Sinatra’s journey from searcher to ETA investor
1:21 Discovering search funds at Wharton
7:53 Raising a search fund and finding Staff One HR
13:17 How underwriting search deals has changed
18:34 Buying a business right before the financial crisis
21:14 When Mark finally felt like a real CEO
24:19 Hiring the right people and upgrading the team
31:38 Surviving the emotionally hardest years as CEO
37:30 Rebuilding Staff One and selling to Oasis
42:14 Starting ETA Equity
45:20 What Mark looks for in searchers today
51:20 Lessons from deals that did not go well
58:30 Jockey, horse, and barn: what really matters in ETA
1:01:50 How the search fund market has changed

This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a basis for investment decisions.