Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition: New Path In Japan
“The Hitotsubashi ICS Entrepreneurship Club is pleased to host Sawyer Tadano, Program Manager at SMEVentures, for a special session exploring Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition (ETA) — an emerging entrepreneurial pathway that has gained significant traction in the United States and Europe, and is now beginning to unlock opportunities in Japan and Asia-Pacific.
While traditional entrepreneurship often focuses on building startups from scratch, ETA offers an alternative approach: acquiring and operating an existing profitable business. This model allows entrepreneurs to take over companies with established customers, revenue streams, and operational foundations — reducing innovation risk while focusing on execution and growth.
During this session, Sawyer will introduce the search fund model, explain why it has historically delivered strong investment performance, and discuss why Japan’s succession challenges create a unique opportunity for this model today.
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📚 What We’ll Cover
🔁 1. Rethinking Entrepreneurship: Startups vs. Acquisition
Entrepreneurship is often associated with launching startups and pursuing product-market fit. This talk will introduce ETA as an alternative path, where entrepreneurs acquire existing businesses with proven models, shifting the challenge from innovation risk to execution and growth.
📊 2. The Economic Thesis Behind Search Funds
Why does this opportunity exist? We will explore the structural inefficiencies in the lower middle market, where many profitable businesses are too small for traditional private equity yet too large for individual buyers.
📈 3. How the Model Works — and Its Track Record
Sawyer will explain how search funds operate and share performance insights from Stanford research, including historically strong IRRs and the strategic characteristics of businesses that outperform.
⚙️ 4. Solving the Execution Challenge
Traditional search funds often rely on solo entrepreneurs conducting long acquisition searches. Sawyer will explain how SME Ventures accelerates this process by providing infrastructure, data, capital, and mentorship.
🇯🇵 5. Why Japan Is a Blue Ocean Opportunity
Japan faces a growing SME succession crisis, with thousands of profitable businesses lacking successors. This creates a compelling opportunity for new entrepreneurial talent to preserve and grow these companies.
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🎤 Speaker
Sawyer Tadano Program Manager SMEVentures
Sawyer works with SMEVentures, a firm that partners with aspiring entrepreneurs to search for, acquire, and operate small businesses across Asia-Pacific.
🔗 Learn more LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sawyer-tadano/ Company: https://www.smeventures.com
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🤝 Event Format
Presentation + Q&A + Networking
This session will include:
• 📖 A practical introduction to the search fund model • 💡 Discussion on entrepreneurship opportunities in Japan • ❓ Q&A session with the speaker • 🗣️ Informal networking with students and entrepreneurs
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📅 Event Details
Date & Time 17:30 – 19:00 March 19 (Thursday), 2026
🗓 Agenda
17:30 – 18:15 | Talk: Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition 18:15 – 18:35 | Q&A Session 18:35 – 19:00 | Networking
🔎 Additional Resources
For those interested in learning more about the search fund model:
• 📘 Stanford GSB Search Fund Studies
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/experience/about/centers-institutes/ces/research/search-funds
• 📘 IESE Search Fund Research