The Capital Stack, Decoded: Search Funds, Self-Funded Deals & Independent Sponsors with Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa
About this episode
Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa discuss the capital stack and the different paths into acquisition entrepreneurship in this milestone 100th episode.
This is a milestone episode of the M&A Launchpad Podcast — Episode 100. In lieu of a guest interview, hosts Casey Minshew and Feras Moussa look back on how they got started in acquisition entrepreneurship and use the milestone to unpack the capital stack in plain terms. They walk through the three main paths buyers take into the lower middle market — the traditional search fund model, the self-funded search model, and the independent sponsor model — and explain how debt, equity, seller rolls, seller notes, earnouts, SBA loans, and SBICs fit together to get deals done. This conversation is especially useful for anyone trying to figure out which buying model fits them, and for buyers and sellers alike who want a clearer picture of how modern lower middle market deals are actually financed and structured. In this episode, we discuss: Search fund vs. self-funded vs. independent sponsor — Casey and Feras break down the three main paths into a buy-side deal and how to pick the right one for your situation What an independent sponsor actually is — fundless sponsors, typical deal size ($2–10M EBITDA), and how equity and management fees get structured What an SBIC is — how these…
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