Blog: Tuesday, 18 November 2025
Buying an established business rather than starting from scratch offers ambitious entrepreneurs a faster route to leadership—but success requires patience, experience, and a tolerance for uncertainty
When most people think of entrepreneurship, they imagine building a company from the ground up—the classic startup story. But there's another path gaining momentum: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA), where aspiring business leaders buy existing companies rather than launching new ventures. This approach solves a pressing problem—retiring owners seeking successors—while offering experienced professionals a direct route to CEO-ship.
Unlike traditional buyouts driven by financial engineering and quick exits, ETA focuses on long-term stewardship. The model centers on acquiring healthy, established companies from owners ready to retire, then building the business over time while preserving its identity and culture. It's not about asset stripping or aggressive cost-cutting—it's about injecting fresh energy and ideas into proven operations.
The approach appeals particularly to mid-career professionals who have accumulated valuable experience across industries but aren't interested in the high-risk, high-growth startup model. These individuals bring operational expertise, strategic thinking, and industry networks that can immediately benefit an established business.
However, ETA demands different skills than traditional entrepreneurship. The search process alone can take months or years, requiring resilience through countless conversations with potential sellers and deals that fall through. Success hinges on finding the right cultural and operational fit, securing financing, and managing the delicate transition from founder to new owner.
Lisa Stuhler, Founding and Managing Partner of Tilia Nachfolgekapital, has experienced this journey firsthand. After working across fashion companies, retail strategy consulting, and agency leadership, she discovered ETA offered the perfect synthesis of her accumulated experience. Her insights reveal both the challenges and rewards of this alternative entrepreneurial path—and why it might be ideal for those who thrive on uncertainty while seeking meaningful business impact.
Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition means becoming an entrepreneur by acquiring an existing, healthy company rather than starting from scratch. The entrepreneur takes over from an owner and continues to build the business long-term. Unlike a typical buyout, ETA is very personal: it’s not about financial engineering or numbers on a paper, but about becoming the next generation of this company, preserving the company’s identity while at the same time bringing in new energy and ideas.
For me, ETA was the most authentic way to combine everything I had done before and make use of it. From working at several fashion companies and retailers, to strategy consulting, to steering a large agency from owner-led to Private Equity-led, and even founding my own start-up. I love that once I’ve found ‘my company,’ I can use all of those experiences to take it to the next level, ideally with a seasoned owner by my side in the beginning.
The truth is: ETA isn’t a shortcut to being a CEO; it’s a marathon, especially the search. The search takes time, deals fall through, you will talk to 100 and more owners and might not have found a deal and once you acquire, real transformation starts. But for those who thrive on uncertainty and flexibility, it can be the most rewarding journey you can take. Every owner-conversation will teach you something new: either about their business, about how they came up with the idea or what they did when things were tough etc. and you can simply listen and learn from it for your future.
I think ETA could redefine what succession means in Europe. Instead of selling to corporates or private equity, founders could choose a successor who truly wants to continue their legacy. It’s continuity through entrepreneurship – not disruption. But for that to happen, we need to broaden the ETA lens: not just focus on Search Funds, but also enable smaller businesses, even those with €300k in EBITDA, to become accessible and attractive to young, capable successors. If we manage to simplify financing, standardize processes, and raise awareness, ETA could become one of the most powerful answers to Europe’s succession crisis and a real engine for sustainable growth.
Do it if you love people as much as numbers. Because most of ETA isn’t about deals- it’s about empathy, trust, and being the answer to a problem. You’ll spend more time in conversations than in spreadsheets. And don’t do it if you’re chasing a title or a quick win. ETA is uncertain, often unglamorous, and brutally honest. But if you’re curious, ready to own outcomes, to lead through ambiguity, and to build something that lasts, then it’s one of the most interesting journeys you can take. For me, it’s the better fitting way to entrepreneurship -not starting from zero, but building from 1 to 100.
To drive more growth to the ETA ecosystem, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is proud to invite you to join the inaugural RSM ETA conference on Thursday, 20 November 2025
The RSM ETA conference aims to connect leading investors, operators, search fund entrepreneurs, MBA students and Alumni for an active day of insights, hands-on workshops and networking that focuses on the growing ETA landscape in the Benelux.
Science Communication and Media Officer
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers.
