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Business

Think Big, Buy Small

by Harvard Business School
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About the show

Are you looking for an alternative to a career path at a big firm? Does founding your own startup seem too risky? There's another compelling path open to you: acquiring a small business and running it as CEO. Co-hosted by Harvard Business School Professors Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff, the show is an extension of their courses on small firms, including Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, which has been taken by thousands of MBA students, and their highly-regarded book, HBR Guide To Buying A Small Business, which has sold more than 65,000 copies. In this series, Rick and Royce guide listeners through the different milestones of the journey to acquiring an enduringly profitable small business, sharing insights on how to evaluate prospects, raise capital, and ultimately determine if this path is right for you.

Latest episodes

  • From Searcher to Seller: The Long Road to a Successful Exit

    October 5, 2026 · 47 min

    Bruce Isaacson spent two years searching for a company to buy before acquiring a decades-old marketing research firm in 2005. Since that time, he has transformed the business, shifting its focus to litigation research and building a…

  • Reflections On the Evolution of ETA

    September 28, 2026 · 57 min

    Jeff Stevens, one of the earliest searchers and a longtime investor in the ETA ecosystem, joins Rick and Royce to discuss how search has evolved over the past thirty-five years. In this episode, he reflects on the early days of search…

  • Should Searchers Look More Seriously at Franchises?

    September 21, 2026 · 54 min

    Michael Horowitz is a former searcher who acquired, scaled, and ultimately sold a portfolio of Wingstop franchise restaurants before becoming an investor in the ETA ecosystem. In this episode, he shares his unconventional journey to…

  • The Role of Culture in Scaling an ETA Business

    September 14, 2026 · 52 min

    After a self-funded search led to the acquisition of Ally Waste in 2020, James Crawley grew the company more than thirty-five-fold. What did it take to scale the business from a handful of employees to a nationwide operation, with hundreds…

  • The Rise of Long-Term Holding Companies in ETA

    August 31, 2026 · 52 min

    In Season Two, Kent Weaver, one of the most experienced operators and investors in the search ecosystem, joined Rick and Royce for a wide ranging conversation about entrepreneurship through acquisition. In this episode, they focus on the…

  • Season Three Questions and Answers with Rick and Royce

    December 1, 2025 · 47 min

    Hosted by producer Katie Zandbergen, Rick and Royce return for their end-of-season dive into listeners’ most pressing questions – those that many aspiring acquisition entrepreneurs wrestle with. They explore how age and personal finances…

  • Partnership, Purpose, and the ETA Path to Concierge Medicine

    November 24, 2025 · 53 min

    Partners in search, Nick Kerr and Shaquille Walker, join Rick and Royce to share their journey from risk-averse upbringings to acquiring HealthBridge, a concierge primary care clinic on Long Island. In this conversation, they discuss how…

  • Navigating Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition as a Family

    November 17, 2025 · 38 min

    In this special “Friends and Family Night” episode, Rick and Royce speak with Meghan Orzetti about the experience of entrepreneurship through acquisition from the perspective of a searcher’s spouse. Drawing on her personal experiences…