Search Academy
One goal: an LOI on a real deal.
$1,797 a month or $17,000 a year / application only / 5 seats a month
Next window: September 27 to October 2, 5pm PT. Kickoff call: Tuesday October 6.
An ongoing program for searchers who are done browsing. Weekly live training, office hours, and deal reviews on your actual pipeline, inside a private room where every member is running a real search.
770+ searchers inside"...came out as a professional searcher." - Ryan P. Whitehead
$1,797 a month or $17,000 a year
application only, 5 seats a month
applications open the last week of each month
weekly live training and deal reviews
the goal: an LOI on a real deal
Who it is for
Not for tire kickers.
Ryan Whitehead went into one of our weeks as, in his words, the proverbial tire kicker. He came out a professional searcher. That is the transformation the Academy industrializes. It works if you have an active search, real capital access, and the hours to do the reps.
For
- Searchers with an active pipeline who want an LOI out the door.
- First-time buyers serious about closing inside 12 months.
- Independent sponsors and first-time fund managers building a thesis.
- Operators with P&L experience leaving corporate with capital ready.
- Veterans who want a system, not a seminar.
Not for
- People still deciding whether to search.
- Passive course collectors.
- Anyone who wants a guarantee. Nobody honest sells those.
The curriculum
Built backwards from the letter of intent.
Six core modules, taught live and applied to your pipeline.
MODULE 01
The Professional Search Framework
Run your search like a fund runs coverage: targets, cadence, conversion math.
MODULE 02
CIM Mastery and Deal Screening
Read a CIM in 20 minutes. Kill bad deals fast. The 12 Red Flags, applied.
MODULE 03
Financial Analysis Without an Analyst
Rebuild the numbers yourself: earnings quality, working capital, the adjustments brokers bury.
MODULE 04
The LOI and Negotiation
Structure, price, and terms. Write the letter. Defend it.
MODULE 05
Due Diligence and the Deal Memo
The diligence checklist that comes from crash reports, how to hire QoE and legal partners who work for you, and the memo that convinces capital.
MODULE 06
The Capital Stack and Close Execution
SBA, seller notes, investor equity. Sequencing the close without losing the deal.
770+ searchers inside"...came out as a professional searcher." - Ryan P. Whitehead
Format
How it runs
A private room on Skool. Weekly 90-minute live training. Weekly office hours. Deal reviews on your real pipeline, not case studies. Every member’s actual deals get reviewed, live. It stays small because that is the only way deal reviews stay real.
90 min
Weekly live training, every week
Weekly
Office hours with a principal
Live
Deal reviews on your real pipeline
The artifact
The goal is an LOI. Here is the LOI.
Academy exists to get you to a signed letter of intent on a real deal. The generator is the document itself, built on a working law firm's 2026 template, so the thing you are working toward is not abstract while you are working toward it.
“I went into the week as the proverbial tire kicker and came out as a professional searcher.”
“We closed yesterday.”
“Jed's off-market search process is AMAZING! The most valuable part was when we walked through the software that Jed uses to do his searches and how they integrate with one another.”
“Hearing how Jed trained a custom AI assistant using past deal data to analyze new opportunities was incredibly motivating. It inspired me to start building a similar AI-driven workflow for deal screening.”
770+ searchers inside"...came out as a professional searcher." - Ryan P. Whitehead
The application
Bring a real search.
Every application gets a real read. If the fit is wrong, you will hear it straight, usually with a pointer at the community instead. If the fit is right, we talk before any money moves.
Applications open the last week of every month and close at 5pm PT, or the moment the 5 seats fill. The next window runs September 27 to October 2. New members start together on a live kickoff call the first Tuesday of the month. The next one is Tuesday October 6. The full offer: The October Search Academy
Questions
Straight answers.
Why $1,797 a month?
Because it is priced against what a stalled search costs. Run the math on your own runway: most searchers spend far more than that per month just existing. The Academy exists to compress the timeline. A year paid up front is $17,000.
Is the LOI guaranteed?
No. It is the goal we build toward, and the whole program is structured against it. Nobody honest guarantees deal outcomes.
When can I start?
Applications open the last week of every month, capped at 5 accepted members. Accepted members start together on a kickoff call the first Tuesday of the next month. The next window runs September 27 to October 2, closing at 5pm PT.
Do I need a sourcing system already?
Sourcing fundamentals are assumed on day one. The crash course and the live trainings inside the community cover them, and membership is complimentary.
What if it is not working?
There is a 60-day love-it-or-leave-it period. If something is not right, or either of us is not feeling it, we tear up the agreement and walk away as friends.