# Harvard Business School: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition

The clearest money for self-funded search.

Also on this site: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/mba-eta
Source: https://searchspheresource.com/resources/mba-eta/harvard-business-school
Last checked: 2026-09-04

## At a Glance

- Club: An ETA Club whose stated purpose is the network and resources a searcher needs.
- Money: The Search Fund Fellowship: $65,000 a year for graduating students pursuing a self-funded search, renewable once for $130,000 in total, and pointed at small companies in underserved communities that its graduates have not traditionally gone to. A second and smaller door sits beside it: the school's career support and exploration funds make one-time awards of $5,000 to $15,000 as a loan reduction at graduation. A fully self-funded acquisition search is named as eligible, for graduates whose guaranteed pay sits at or below $130,000.
- Conference: An Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Conference, which the school lists on its own calendar of the conferences its student clubs run.
- Its own page: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/student-life/activities-government-and-clubs/student-clubs/entrepreneurship-through-acquisition-club

## The Classes

- Field Course: Entrepreneurship through Acquisition taught by Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff
- The Financial Management of Smaller Firms taught by Richard Ruback and Royce Yudkoff

## Who Teaches It

- Richard Ruback, Baker Foundation Professor
- Royce Yudkoff, Professor of Management Practice

## What It Publishes for Anyone

- Think Big, Buy Small, the podcast the two course faculty host on buying a small company.
- The HBR Guide to Buying a Small Business, written by the same pair.

## What Else It Runs

- Founder Pathways: a six-session series bringing search investors and alumni who have bought companies in front of students.
- Faculty who meet the fellowship's holders regularly through the search itself, not only at the award.
- An endowed gift behind the fellowship, which is why the money is open to graduating students from any background.

## Where to Read It

- ETA Club: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/student-life/activities-government-and-clubs/student-clubs/entrepreneurship-through-acquisition-club
- Search Fund Fellowship: https://www.hbs.edu/mba/financial-aid/career-support-and-exploration-funds/search-fund-fellowship
- MBA course catalog: https://coursecatalog.mba.hbs.edu/

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