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Library/Business schools, books and industry reports

Section O

Chicago Booth and other business schools

Chicago Booth, Kellogg and other schools: cases, articles and a syllabus.

22 records · summaries only where the document was read

O1Data study

The Evolution of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

Dennis, J., and Laseca, E. (2016)

University of Chicago Booth School of Business report, dated November 7, 2016 (Sponsor: Dr. Steven N. Kaplan; Advisor: Prof. Brian O'Connor)

Raw text, full 23-page PDF read. Landing page: https://polsky.uchicago.edu/2016/11/07/the-evolution-of-entrepreneurship-through-acquisition (opened; carries the same introduction paragraph and the November 7, 2016 date). This is the only Booth document with original data that I could find. It is a student-authored report that combines a descriptive overview of ETA models (traditional, sponsored, incubated, self-funded, crowdfunded) with a set of structured investor interviews and a three-period history (1983 to 1999, 2000 to 2012, 2013 to present).

Source

O2Other

The Self Funded Search

Hodgkin, A. (2016)

Polsky Center @ UChicago (Medium), July 27, 2016

Raw text, full article read. A four-minute opinion piece by Alex Hodgkin, bylined "Senior Advisor on Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition and Polsky Center Entrepreneur in Residence". It sets out four reasons to self-fund (target flexibility and valuation, SBA 7(a) financing, control, better economics) and the main caveat (no committed investor base). No original data. It cites "a 2014 HBS study which polled 37 entrepreneurs who had engaged with intermediaries" and quotes a lender-services executive; neither is a Booth dataset.

Source

O3Other

Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Is Still Entrepreneurship

Schonthal, D. (2023)

Kellogg Insight, May 12, 2023

Raw text, full article read. Opinion article by David Schonthal (page lists him as Clinical Professor of Strategy and Faculty Director of the Zell Fellows Program); the page states "This article originally appeared in Inc." It argues ETA counts as entrepreneurship, names three models (self-funded search, search fund, accelerator) and gives three cautions (culture, unglamorous targets, time on the ground). No data and no sources; it contains one unsourced claim: "for not much more than $60,000 in cash, you could buy a business with $1.5M million in EBITDA, thanks to SBA programs and others" (typo is in the original). Do not cite that figure as evidence.

Source

O5Case study

Danville Capital

Bovard, T. (2016)

Columbia CaseWorks, Case ID 160411, May 31, 2016

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O7Case study

Bruin Point Partners

Bressman, W., and King, G.J. (2026)

Columbia CaseWorks, Case ID 270405, September 16, 2026

#### Dartmouth Tuck

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O8Case note

Note on Search Funds

Rozenrot, E., under the supervision of Wainwright, F. (2005)

Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship, Case # 5-0034, updated October 18, 2005

Raw text. The 10-page PDF was downloaded and read through the first six pages plus the exhibits. It is a primer for class discussion covering raising a fund, target screening criteria, the acquisition and financing, and managing the company. It contains no original data: every statistic is footnoted to Stanford material, for example "A 2003 study conducted at Stanford found that first-time search funds produced pre-tax annualized returns of 32%", and the exhibits (searcher profiles and aggregate metrics, pre-2001 versus post-2001; deal structures for deals closed 1997 to 2003) are sourced to "Search Funds - 2003: What Has Changed Since 2001?, Stanford website". Dated; useful only as evidence of how the model was taught in 2005.

Source

O9Case study

Kestrel Ventures, LLC: August 1999

Bruner, R.F. (2000)

Darden Business Publishing, F-1277, published January 11, 2000, 44 pages

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O15Case study

ProPay Ltd (A)

Willey, K. (2018)

London Business School, LBS Case Code CS-18-021, January 2018, 13 pages

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O16Case study

Nova Ventures: Searching for Gems in the UK

Alemany, L., and Vasvari, F. (2023)

London Business School, LBS Case Code CS-23-003, May 2023, 10 pages

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O17Case study

Insearch Ltd: Searching for a Company to Buy

Webster, S. (2023)

London Business School, LBS Case Code CS-22-019, October 2023, 16 pages

#### INSEAD

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O19Case study

Louis Robert (C): July 1995

Leleux, B., and Muzyka, D. (1995)

INSEAD, Reference 4450, published 31 Dec 1995, 22 pages

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)

O21Other

Search Funds: A Rising Asset Class Outperforming PE and VC

Naumovska, I., and Irarrázaval Zañartu, G. (2025)

INSEAD Knowledge, 12 June 2025

Fetch summary, opened twice (a second URL, https://knowledge.insead.edu/entrepreneurship/why-search-funds-are-outperforming-vc-and-pe, returned the same article). No original data: the only sourced statistic is from the IESE international study ("in 2023 alone, 59 new international search funds were created and 31 companies were acquired outside North America"). An INSEAD-specific claim appears without a source: "MBA graduates launched over 40 funds, many of them in new regions, in the past five years." The outperformance claim in the title rests on investor quotes and two chart images, not on figures in the text. Do not cite as evidence of returns.

Source

O22Case study

OPK Capital Corporation - An Introduction to Search Funds

Thornhill, S., and Rosenberg, T. (2009)

Ivey Publishing, Product Number 9B09M006, 2009-01-07, 6 pages

#### Schools checked with no ETA publications found

Existence verified against the publisher's catalogue; content not read.

SourceVERIFIED (existence only)