Meet the founders.
Sam and Ross met at McKinsey and left consulting to operate. Sam has run three investor-backed companies as CEO and closed acquisitions of his own. Ross has spent his career growing revenue inside PE-backed software businesses. We're mid-career on purpose: experienced enough to have already run companies like yours, with decades left to run the one we buy.
Sam Lamson
Sam has led three investor-backed companies as CEO, running operations, sharpening performance, and growing the business through hands-on leadership. He's closed acquisitions of his own, so he knows the transition from the buyer's seat. A former Naval Officer with an MBA from Columbia, he's drawn to businesses where technology meets daily operations.
Ross Hickey
Ross has spent his career growing revenue inside software and technology businesses, working alongside management teams on go-to-market, sales execution, and long-term growth. He focuses on vertical software, ERP ecosystems, and tech-enabled services, where deep industry expertise builds a lasting edge.
Backed by people who've built and run companies.
Behind Sam and Ross is a group of investors who helped define the search-fund model and backed some of its best-known outcomes. They commit their own and their partners' capital for the long term, never on a fund clock, never for a quick exit.
The investment team behind Asurion, the most successful acquisition in search-fund history. TTCER's partners bought a small roadside-assistance company in 1995 and built it into a global technology-protection business now serving over 250 million customers. They invest only their own capital, which lets them back founders over decades rather than fund cycles. Among the partners is Will Thorndike, author of The Outsiders.
One of the most established institutional investors in the search-fund model, with $250 million of committed capital dedicated solely to backing operator-CEOs. Since 2009, Pacific Lake has backed hundreds of searchers and the companies they run, including Banyan Software, now a major global acquirer of enterprise-software businesses. Few investors have seen more of these transitions, and they bring that pattern recognition to every company they back.
The fund of David Dodson, one of the people who helped create the search-fund model. Dodson wrote Stanford's original course material on it, has run six companies as CEO or executive chairman, invested in more than 100 businesses, and authored the bestselling The Manager's Handbook. He still teaches one of Stanford GSB's most sought-after courses, and works directly with the operators he backs, on the conviction that this model runs on hands-on mentorship, not just capital.
Backs operator-CEOs acquiring profitable lower-middle-market companies, led by a Bain & Company alumnus and Stanford GSB graduate who ran one of the most successful search funds on record. Aspect's portfolio runs straight through our focus areas, technical-support services for rural internet providers, engagement software for senior-living operators, and sales-intelligence data tools. They understand how tech-enabled services and mission-critical software run, because they have owned them.
Share your story with us.
Whether you're exploring a transition now or just want to talk, we'd love to hear what you've built. We reply personally.