{"id":21246,"date":"2026-09-03T06:03:02","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:03:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=21246"},"modified":"2026-09-03T06:03:02","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T06:03:02","slug":"why-wait-business-grads-buying-firms-to-install-themselves-as-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/8657085.xyz\/?p=21246","title":{"rendered":"Why wait? Business grads buying firms to install themselves as CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 300px 160px; gap: 2px; width: 460px; background: #eee; padding: 2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u6574\u884c\u5bbd\u5e7f\u544a -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876674\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column: 1\/-1; width: 460px; height: 90px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876676\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u5de6\u4fa7\u7ad6\u6392 -->\r\n  <div style=\"height: 250px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876672\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  <div style=\"height: 500px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876680\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u53f3\u4fa7\u6469\u5929\u697c\uff08\u548c\u5de6\u4fa7\u5b8c\u5168\u5bf9\u9f50\uff09 -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-row: 3\/5; height: 750px; background: #ccc; display: grid; place-items: center;\">\r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e2\" data-zoneid=\"5876678\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n  <\/div>\r\n  \r\n  <script async type=\"application\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/a.magsrv.com\/ad-provider.js\"><\/script> \r\n <ins class=\"eas6a97888e6\" data-zoneid=\"5876682\"><\/ins> \r\n <script>(AdProvider = window.AdProvider || []).push({\"serve\": {}});<\/script>\r\n<\/div><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Aliev, who had worked in finance before doing her MBA, was wary of first impressions at the firm.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;If you judge a book by its cover, it&#8217;s very easy to be like &#8216;oh, young girl, Wall Street background, coming in here and telling me what to do&#8217;\u2026 I was really conscious about that,&#8221; she says. &#8220;And I really didn&#8217;t want to come off that way to my team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Aliev says her approach was initially to just observe and learn. &#8220;Not coming in and telling them &#8216;this is how things are going to be&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The practice of a young entrepreneur borrowing money to buy a company and become its boss is known as entrepreneurship by acquisition or &#8220;search-fund investing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The would-be business owner sets up a fund, called a search fund, and aims to attract money from both institutional investors and wealthy individuals.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">At the last count, in 2023, a record 94 search funds<span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">, <!-- -->external<\/span> were found to have been launched that year in the US, with $682m (\u00a3505m) said to have been invested in funds and the companies they bought across 2022 and 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In turn, there are now investment companies in the US that specialise in backing young entrepreneurs and their search funds, such as Search Fund Partners, Aspect Investors and Anacapa Partners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">They are attracted by reported high rates of return. For while some people may question the wisdom of putting a 20-something in charge of an established business, a report by Yale School of Management found that &#8220;juicy returns by any standard&#8221;<span class=\"visually-hidden ssrcss-i2z2ig-VisuallyHidden e16en2lz0\">, <!-- -->external<\/span> are available, and funds generally &#8220;remained relatively stable&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">For existing business owners, selling to a younger entrepreneur is a chance to move on and perhaps retire. For would-be company leaders the aim is to grow the business for perhaps five to 10 years, before selling at a profit.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Now more than two years since taking over at Life Support Systems, and 30-years-old, Aliev has led the takeover of a competitor, which she says has doubled the size of the business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">She says that this focus on growth has been welcomed by most employees. One, Meaghan Richardson, says: &#8220;It can be a little bit challenging sometimes for those of us who have been here a long time&#8230; but it&#8217;s been really great since she&#8217;s come in because she&#8217;s just turned a lot of stuff around, which is really exciting.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But not everyone has been happy with Aliev&#8217;s new approach. Some workers have left and she has made others redundant as &#8220;they just didn&#8217;t want to work in a growth company&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Elsewhere, entrepreneurship by acquisition can end in failure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Scott Duncan, who gained his MBA from Harvard Business School, was back in 2018 seeking an established business to acquire and run. He secured investment to buy F&amp;M Tool and Die, a company in Massachusetts that makes industrial parts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It looked great on paper, and seemed to be a strong fit given his previous work in engineering.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Aged 31 when he took over the company, he said his first day was &#8220;terrifying&#8221;. &#8220;All of the employees had been doing this for decades. I was this newcomer and I had really no idea what was going on. So, they were really perplexed by me as well.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Very quickly, things started to unravel in what would be a seven-year struggle to keep the business afloat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Skilled employees left the business, including one who started a low-cost competitor and took an important customer with him. Others proved resistant to change, and Duncan realised it would be impossible to fill the previous owner&#8217;s shoes.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;This whole organisation had built up around him, his personality,&#8221; he says. &#8220;I bought a business that was very difficult for anyone except for that guy to run.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">After this difficult start, the Covid pandemic, the rise of cheaper Chinese competition and even a flooded workshop were among challenges in a battle for survival that lasted until 2025. Duncan describes it as &#8220;death by a thousand cuts&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In February last year, he was left with little choice but to shut the business down. &#8220;I brought everybody into the conference room. I had to grab a chair and sit down in it because I was physically unable to stand. I thought I was going to pass out, but all the employees came in and I said, &#8216;we&#8217;re shutting the doors&#8217;.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Duncan, now a 39-year-old husband and father of two daughters, also had to file for personal bankruptcy. &#8220;I was a shell of a human being,&#8221; he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- \u603b\u5bb9\u5668\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u5bbd908px Grid\u7d27\u51d1\u5e03\u5c40 -->\r\n<div style=\"display: grid; grid-template-columns: 728px 160px; gap:2px; width:908px; background:#eee; padding:2px;\">\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u901a\u680f\u9876\u90e8\uff1a\u6700\u5927\u6a2a\u5e45 908x258 \u8de8\u6574\u884c -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; height:258px; background:#ff6b6b; display:grid; place-items:center;\">\r\n    <!-- JuicyAds v3.0 -->\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async src=\"https:\/\/poweredby.jads.co\/js\/jads.js\"><\/script>\r\n<ins id=\"1114307\" data-width=\"908\" data-height=\"258\"><\/ins>\r\n<script type=\"text\/javascript\" data-cfasync=\"false\" async>(adsbyjuicy = window.adsbyjuicy || []).push({'adzone':1114307});<\/script>\r\n<!--JuicyAds END-->\r\n  <\/div>\r\n\r\n  <!-- \u7b2c\u4e8c\u901a\u680f\uff1a728\u00d790 \u901a\u680f -->\r\n  <div style=\"grid-column:1\/-1; 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