Sleeping Giant Capital
At a Glance
The employed lane's regional option: a narrower map traded for training and a committed local backer; compare against the national cohorts before choosing either.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Employment economics, not fees: a salary during the search and equity at close, with the salary sized only as six figure; the Acquire course that comes first is priced at $5,000.
- Best For
- Mid-career operators committed to West Michigan who want the employed path with training built in rather than a national cohort
- Track Record
- Eight operating companies over six named chief executives or presidents on its own page, the newest a family succession its release still labels a residency. It counts $150 million of committed capital on its home page, a second fund it calls evergreen, and more than seventy aspiring chief executives prepared on its impact page.
- An operating-companies page pairing every business with a named chief executive or president, six of them now. The fund size the September read called absent is on the front door as permanent, committed capital of one hundred and fifty million, and a release announces a second evergreen fund with more than a hundred million in initial commitments. The about page's counters still render as zeros to a plain read, and its impact page prints seventy-plus aspiring CEOs prepared, beside a founder's biography saying more than fifty trained. Read at: The home page, the about page, the FAQ, the operating-companies page, the news index and the second-fund release.
- Lane
- Employed
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- Based
- West Michigan.
- Invests
- No investing scope on the pages this review read, so ask whether it will look at a search where you are.
- Buys
- Closely held businesses with a succession need, enduringly profitable with roughly $1 million to $10 million or more of EBITDA, by its business-owners page.
- Before A First Call
- Its own Acquire Program first, in its own words: every CEO-in-Residence must begin there. Enrollment is rolling and it advises applying three to six months before you are ready to make the move.
- First-Time Operators
- States a bar that a first-time operator has to clear, usually having owned a profit and loss.
- How Long The Search Runs
- A residency lasting 18 to 24 months.
- Published Terms
- No check size, stake or fee on the pages this review read. Most firms on this shelf publish none, so ask early rather than late.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Six figure compensation for a CEO-in-Residence over an eighteen to twenty-four month residency, in its own words, with the equity described only as meaningful and never given a percentage.
- After The Close
- Has the CEO lead day to day with an active board that includes its partners.
- Roadmap Stages
- 1. Learn & Choose Your Path3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- The salary-plus-committed-capital structure is stated plainly on its own site
- A training program in front of the search filters both sides before either commits
- Place-based focus means the firm knows the local owner and lender network
Cons
- Geographic concentration in West Michigan narrows the deal universe to one region
- Equity percentages and salary figures are not published
- The two-stage structure (train, then search) adds time before you are actually looking
What Searchers Say
The visible example of the place-based employed model; its founder's academic base and operator-training pipeline are what practitioners cite. Read whole across seventy-nine addresses: eight operating companies over six chief executives on its own pages, a $150 million committed fund, and a four-person residents roster, one of them already placed and still listed.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how employed searcher (salary model) capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A recruiting process more than a fundraise: you are applying to a program.
- A case or deal exercise and a panel with the partners who would back you.
- A salary and committed capital, in exchange for most of the equity.
What It Weighs
- Whether you can operate, since the firm is hiring a CEO.
- Fit with the firm's playbook and the cadence its portfolio runs at.
- Why you would trade ownership for a salary and a built-in backer.
How to Prepare
- Know the firm's thesis and portfolio cold. Investors
- Weigh salary and equity against owning outright. Path Economics
- Bring a real deal, underwritten end to end. Underwrite a Deal