Search Fund Accelerator: SFA Cohort
The Position
Residencies & Placements. Search from a shared office with committed capital behind you, then run the company you buy as its CEO.
Cycle: Cohorts start in August or March each year; entry is a conversation with the recruiting address rather than a form.
Applications are open.
Window: A new group of searchers each summer by its home page, and in August or March by its FAQ.
At a Glance
- Location
- New Orleans and Denver, with a nationwide search across the United States.
- Pay
- Pay not published
- Compensation
- No search-phase pay published. A single searcher earns up to 25% of the equity, and a small portion of it is exchanged for a share in every other cohort member's business.
- What You Do
- Full time from an SFA office in New Orleans or Denver, on a search the firm requires stay nationwide.
- What You Must Bring
- Solo searchers only, with no partnerships; U.S. work authorization; and a nationwide U.S. search, since the firm does not back geography-specific or international searches.
- Recruits On
- It recruits on campus, through schools rather than from operating experience.
- Who Can Apply
- Typically highly motivated MBA graduates, which is the firm's description of who arrives rather than a qualification it asks for.
The Company
Search Fund Accelerator is reviewed in full in the directory, with its model, pricing, and the searcher case for and against it. It also backs searches, so the same page carries its fit as a backer and how to approach it. Read the Search Fund Accelerator review.
Interview Prep
These programs do not publish their interview scripts, so this is the shape a residencies & placements program hires on, what it is really weighing, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A rolling, relationship-driven introduction rather than a fixed cycle.
- A sourcing conversation: what you would buy, and how you would find it.
- A working session with the firm's small team.
- A match to a live acquisition or a committed-capital search.
What It Is Assessing
- Sourcing ability and a real point of view on where to hunt.
- Operator readiness for a specific kind of business.
- Whether you fit a small, hands-on team without a large structure around you.
How to Prepare
- Arrive with a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Show you can run a business, with evidence on one page. Buyer Profile Builder
- Understand the firm's committed-capital model before you talk terms. Investors
More on the Board
A salaried seat is a form of capital: the employed lane on Investors weighs these programs beside the funds, and the Path Economics Comparer prices it against searching on your own money.