Search Funded: The ETA Podcast

Most private equity returns over the last decade were not driven by operators. They were driven by cheap debt and multiple expansion. That playbook is breaking.
In this episode, Lee McCabe, partner at Claymore Partners, explains what actually drives value creation now and why most lower middle market businesses are far less prepared than they think. At Claymore, Lee works directly with private equity firms and their portfolio companies to drive value creation across marketing, data, and technology.
Before that, Lee led digital and growth initiatives at companies like eBay, Expedia, Facebook, and Alibaba, giving him a unique perspective on how digital and now AI actually show up inside real businesses, not just pitch decks.
We cover:
 Why most businesses do not actually understand how they make money 
 How KPI laundering and broken data lead to bad decisions 
 Why AI is mostly a distraction for unprepared companies 
 The real value creation playbook: data, systems, marketing, then AI 
 How to think about CAC, conversion, and net profit per lead 
 Why CEOs, not tech, are usually the biggest bottleneck 
 How searchers and independent sponsors should adapt in a post multiple expansion world 
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In this episode we speak with Eric Whitley, co-founder of GridSME and GridSec, one of the leading providers of grid compliance, engineering, and cybersecurity services for renewable energy operators in the Western United States. After decades working inside the power grid, Eric and team built a highly specialized business that became essential to the rapid growth of solar and other inverter-based resources.
But what makes Eric’s story especially compelling isn’t just the business he built, it’s the decision he and his team made not to sell it.
After going through a full sale process, meeting with buyers, and receiving multiple offers, they ultimately walked away. Instead of optimizing for an exit, he and his partner and top leadership chose to structure the company for long-term independence, internal ownership, and what he calls a “forever company.” And since Eric stepped aside from leading the company, they chose to fund his buyout of GridSME through the company rather than outside investors, thus creating a succession ownership model for each of the remaining owners when their time is right. 
Along the way, Eric shares the frameworks that shaped his thinking, from The Pumpkin Plan to Another Way: Building Companies That Last…and Last…and Last, and how they translated those ideas into real decisions: focusing on A-level clients, building almost entirely through referrals, and sharing 50% of profits with employees.
More than anything, this conversation is a reminder that behind every acquisition opportunity is a real person who has spent decades building something meaningful. 
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In this episode, Ibrahim Abdel Rahim returns to share how ETA has evolved from a niche strategy into a rapidly globalizing asset class.
Moonbase has expanded beyond Europe into markets like Brazil and India, where activity is accelerating, while countries like Spain continue to produce strong deal flow. But as the ecosystem grows, Ibrahim argues that deeper structural issues are emerging.
He points to investor dynamics as a key pressure point. What was once a collaborative, trust-based model is, in his view, seeing more misalignment, politics, and investors who underestimate the level of involvement required to support operators.
According to Ibrahim, this is most visible in board composition, arguably the most important driver of outcomes in ETA. He suggests that boards are increasingly formed based on check size rather than merit, leading to under-engaged or overly financial oversight, which becomes especially problematic when companies struggle.
Ibrahim shares his framework for building effective boards:
 Prioritize merit over capital 
 Balance experience with hunger 
 Include operational, not just financial, expertise 
 Optimize for trust and responsiveness 
Zooming out, Ibrahim argues that while ETA is scaling quickly, the model’s success depends on maintaining high-quality investors and strong boards. The key question going forward is whether the ecosystem can grow without losing what makes it work.
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DC Moore is a mid-career searcher and the new CEO of Atlantic Technology Group, an enterprise wireless and mobility infrastructure provider benefiting from durable tailwinds tied to 5G densification, in-building connectivity needs, and rising mobile data demand.
With a path that includes Georgia Tech (electrical engineering), Wharton, and time at Motorola, Lockheed Martin, and McKinsey, followed by more than a decade in Africa doing M&A and operating leadership, DC brings a fundamentally different profile to ETA than the typical post-MBA searcher.
Instead of buying a simple business and replacing the owner, DC deliberately sought out complexity, kept the founder on, and structured real alignment around long-term growth.
In this episode, DC discusses:
Why ETA appealed to him as a way to combine acquisitions with real operating authority rather than just board-level investing
Raising a traditional search as a mid-career operator and challenging some of the stereotypes around who “fits” the model
How a failed deal process with ATG turned into a better partnership by preserving trust with the seller
Structuring meaningful rollover equity so the founder remains economically and emotionally invested in the next phase
Managing unexpected hockey-stick growth, especially working capital strain and building hiring systems before scaling too fast
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Kevin Hong is a former searcher who was fired from the company he acquired and is now the founder of Caprae Capital, a tech-enabled lower middle market investment platform behind SaaSquatch Leads, Search as a Service, and a growing portfolio of businesses.
After years as an entrepreneur, Kevin turned to search as a more de-risked path to ownership. But his experience running a data center services business turned into a battle over governance, board control, seller alignment, and strategy. Instead of disappearing after being removed, he went public, interviewed other terminated searchers, and began publishing investor rankings and operator feedback in an effort to bring more transparency to the search ecosystem.
In this episode, Kevin discusses:
Why search appealed to him, how he approached his acquisition, and what ultimately led to his firing
What he thinks traditional search gets wrong about governance, boards, and operator-investor alignment
How Caprae works, what he means by “rewriting LMM PE from the source code,” and why he believes founder-led, tech-enabled models can outperform the traditional playbook
What he learned from surveying terminated searchers and why he believes the industry needs more transparency as it scales
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