- Published
Confined to her hospital bed as she waited for her baby to be induced, Ania Aliev was attempting to finalise a deal to buy a company and put herself in the top job.
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Aliev → publish → job
"I was answering investors and emailing people, and the investors were yelling at me 'you need to focus on having your child right now!'," says Aliev, who was 27-years-old at the time in late 2023.
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who → answer → 2023
A recent MBA (Master of Business Administration) graduate from the prestigious Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, she gave birth to a boy.
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she → give → boy
Just three months later she was owner and CEO of Massachusetts-based medical equipment business Life Support Systems.
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she → base → Systems
It used to be the case that US business course graduates would leave university and typically either join a corporate giant to try to work their way to the top, or else form their own start-up.
But some, impatient to be the boss of an established firm, are instead now borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy such a business and install themselves as the boss.
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some → use → boss
Is such entrepreneurial go-getting to be applauded, or is it excessive youthful chutzpah?
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it → applaud → ?
And how do the employees react when a 20-something with little experience suddenly turns up to order them about?
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something → react → them
Aliev, who had worked in finance before doing her MBA, was wary of first impressions at the firm.
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who → work → firm
"If you judge a book by its cover, it's very easy to be like 'oh, young girl, Wall Street background, coming in here and telling me what to do'…
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it → judge → what
I was really conscious about that," she says.
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she → say → that
"And I really didn't want to come off that way to my team."
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I → want → team
Aliev says her approach was initially to just observe and learn.
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approach → say → ?
"Not coming in and telling them 'this is how things are going to be'."
The practice of a young entrepreneur borrowing money to buy a company and become its boss is known as entrepreneurship by acquisition or "search-fund investing".
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entrepreneur → come → acquisition
The would-be business owner sets up a fund, called a search fund, and aims to attract money from both institutional investors and wealthy individuals.
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owner → set → investors
At the last count, in 2023, a record 94 search funds, external were found to have been launched that year in the US, with $682m (£505m) said to have been invested in funds and the companies they bought across 2022 and 2023.
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they → find → 2022
In turn, there are now investment companies in the US that specialise in backing young entrepreneurs and their search funds, such as Search Fund Partners, Aspect Investors and Anacapa Partners.
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that → be → entrepreneurs
They are attracted by reported high rates of return.
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They → attract → return
For while some people may question the wisdom of putting a 20-something in charge of an established business, a report by Yale School of Management found that "juicy returns by any standard", external are available, and funds generally "remained relatively stable".
uncertain
funds → question → standard
For existing business owners, selling to a younger entrepreneur is a chance to move on and perhaps retire.
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selling → exist → entrepreneur
For would-be company leaders the aim is to grow the business for perhaps five to 10 years, before selling at a profit.
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aim → grow → profit
Now more than two years since taking over at Life Support Systems, and 30-years-old, Aliev has led the takeover of a competitor, which she says has doubled the size of the business.
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she → take → business
She says that this focus on growth has been welcomed by most employees.
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focus → say → employees
One, Meaghan Richardson, says: "It can be a little bit challenging sometimes for those of us who have been here a long time... but it's been really great since she's come in because she's just turned a lot of stuff around, which is really exciting.
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which → say → stuff
Some workers have left and she has made others redundant as "they just didn't want to work in a growth company".
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they → leave → company
Elsewhere, entrepreneurship by acquisition can end in failure.
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entrepreneurship → end → failure
Scott Duncan, who gained his MBA from Harvard Business School, was back in 2018 seeking an established business to acquire and run.
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who → gain → business
He secured investment to buy F&M Tool and Die, a company in Massachusetts that makes industrial parts.
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that → secure → parts
It looked great on paper, and seemed to be a strong fit given his previous work in engineering.
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It → look → engineering
Aged 31 when he took over the company, he said his first day was "terrifying".
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day → age → company
"All of the employees had been doing this for decades.
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All → do → decades
I was this newcomer and I had really no idea what was going on.
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what → have → idea
So, they were really perplexed by me as well."
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they → perplex → me
Very quickly, things started to unravel in what would be a seven-year struggle to keep the business afloat.
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what → start → business
Skilled employees left the business, including one who started a low-cost competitor and took an important customer with him.
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who → leave → him
Others proved resistant to change, and Duncan realised it would be impossible to fill the previous owner's shoes.
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it → prove → shoes
"This whole organisation had built up around him, his personality," he says.
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he → build → him
"I bought a business that was very difficult for anyone except for that guy to run."
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anyone → buy → guy
After this difficult start, the Covid pandemic, the rise of cheaper Chinese competition and even a flooded workshop were among challenges in a battle for survival that lasted until 2025.
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that → last → 2025
Duncan describes it as "death by a thousand cuts".
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Duncan → describe → cuts
In February last year, he was left with little choice but to shut the business down.
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he → leave → business
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
