Clearly Acquired: The Y Combinator of ETA for Operators and Ownership-Minded Professionals

In the last two decades, tech founders had Y Combinator—an engine for startup creation, funding, and exponential scale. But where do operators go when they want to build real wealth through ownership—not invention?

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That’s where we come in.

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At Clearly Acquired, we’ve created the first tech-enabled, capital-backed ecosystem for Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA). We're not just helping people buy businesses—we're equipping mid-career professionals and seasoned operators with the platform, strategy, capital, and team to acquire, operate, and scale high-margin, cash-flowing companies.

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We're building the Y Combinator of ETA—not for software startups, but for America’s next great business owners.

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The Macro Opportunity

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• $10 trillion in small business assets will change hands in the next decade as Baby Boomers retire.
• 2.3 million businesses, mostly SMBs, are projected to transition by 2035, per the U.S. Census Bureau.
• Over 90% of these businesses have no formal succession plan.
• The average U.S. small business generates $1.2M in revenue and $250K–$500K in owner earnings.
• Simultaneously, over 4,000 search funds have been raised globally—double the number from five years ago—according to the Stanford Search Fund Study (2022).
• Search fund-backed acquisitions have outperformed private equity, generating IRRs of 32.6% on average and a 5.5x multiple on invested capital.

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This is not a trend—it’s a tectonic shift.
We're witnessing the institutionalization of Main Street M&A.

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Two Journeys. One Destination: Ownership

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🔹 For Mid-Career Professionals:

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You’ve built a great résumé—Director, VP, Principal Consultant.
You’ve earned $200K+ annually, maybe more.
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But after a decade or two of building someone else’s dream, something’s missing:

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• You want control over your time and future.
• You want equity in what you build.
• You want freedom—and you don’t want to start from scratch.

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Buying a business through ETA is your fastest route to all three.

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Whether you’re in tech, finance, ops, or consulting, you already have the leadership and management experience to run a profitable small business. What you need is a proven playbook to source, finance, and execute your first acquisition.

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This is where search funds meet real-world operators.
You’re not leaving the corporate world—you’re graduating from it.

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🔹 For Existing Operators:

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You’ve already built something valuable—a $1M+, cash-flowing business with happy customers and loyal employees.

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But you’re running into the limits of organic growth:

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• Marketing gets expensive.
• Hiring slows you down.
• Inflation crushes margin.
• Expansion feels like starting over.

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That’s why the savviest operators are shifting from “scale” to “acquire.”

With the right acquisition strategy, you can:

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• Add new verticals or services.
• Expand geographically.
• Absorb competitors or legacy brands.
• Gain operational leverage through roll-ups.

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You’re not just running a business anymore.
You’re building a portfolio—and we’re your M&A engine.

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What Clearly Acquired Delivers

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We combine best-in-class technology, operator advisory, and capital access in a single, vertically integrated platform. We make ETA repeatable—whether it’s your first deal or your fifth.

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🔹 1. Search Accelerator

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Our signature program helps you define a clear acquisition thesis—aligned to your life goals, strengths, and financial targets.

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For mid-career professionals, that might mean a solo acquisition with SBA leverage.
For operators, it might mean a bolt-on, market expansion, or a vertical integration.

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We then help you:

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• Create target lists
• Launch direct outreach
• Vet inbound deals
• Track everything through a purpose-built search CRM

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You don’t chase deals—you design your search and drive inbound interest.

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🔹 2. Outsourced Search (Done-For-You)

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If you’re too busy to run the search yourself, we’ll do it for you.

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Perfect for:

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• Executives focused on capital allocation
• Operators managing day-to-day business
• Funds looking to execute on a multi-acquisition roll-up strategy

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We become your deal team:
We source, screen, negotiate, model, and bring you pre-diligenced opportunities that match your criteria and capital stack.

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🔹 3. 1-on-1 M&A Advisory

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We’ve closed over $250M in small business acquisitions across industries like home services, healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, and tech-enabled agencies.

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Our M&A advisors are real operators and dealmakers—not theoreticians.
We help you:

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• Navigate seller psychology
• Package your offer for lenders
• Underwrite cash flow and debt service
• Structure deals with seller notes, earnouts, equity rolls, and more

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We’re your buy-side braintrust—on call, on your side, all the way to close.

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🔹 4. Financing Marketplace

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We maintain the most comprehensive real-time map of lenders in the ETA space.

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Our software instantly matches your deal with lenders based on:

• Industry preferences
• DSCR thresholds
• Loan size
• Geography
• Collateral and seller financing requirements

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Whether you’re pursuing SBA 7(a), SBA 504, conventional, mezzanine, or equipment loans—we know who funds what, when, and how fast.

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We also place:

• Lines of credit
• Working capital
• Debt consolidation
• Partner buyouts
• Seller-financed roll-ups

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We’ve brokered over $100M in small business financing and built the tools to do it faster, cleaner, and at scale.

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🔹 5. Catalyst Funds

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We don’t just support buyers—we bet on them.

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Our Catalyst Fund selectively invests in operators executing high-quality deals on our platform.
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We co-invest equity to help you close larger deals, create win-win cap tables, and retain control without giving up majority ownership.

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We back business buyers like VCs back tech founders.
But you’re buying cash flow, not burning it.

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Who We Serve

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Our community includes:

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• Mid-career professionals (ages 30–55) transitioning into ownership
• Existing business owners building regional roll-ups or multi-location brands
• Searchers funded by friends, family, or self-capital
• High-net-worth individuals looking to acquire operating companies
• Fundless sponsors and micro-PE firms
• Strategic operators seeking bolt-ons and tuck-ins

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Our Belief

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Ownership is the most powerful form of leverage.
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It compounds time, money, skills, and relationships over decades.
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And in ETA, ownership is accessible. No code. No pitch deck. Just cash flow, debt leverage, and operational know-how.

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We believe:

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• Real entrepreneurs don’t always start from scratch.
• The American Dream is still alive—in buying great businesses.
• Operators deserve capital, structure, and a team—just like founders get.

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If You’re Serious About Buying or Scaling a Business—This is Your Edge

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🚀 We give you the tools
💸 We connect you to the capital
🧠 We bring you the team
📈 You close the deal—and build long-term wealth

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Ready to find your next move?

🔗 Join the Accelerator
📞 Talk to an advisor
📩 Get plugged into our deal and lender network
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Clearly Acquired.
Find. Fund. Close. Grow.

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