A systematic read of the 80-comment California intro thread on Searchfunder. Every comment was extracted from HTML and classified programmatically (name, stated title, background, buy box, time searching). Below: a snapshot of who showed up.
Source: search-funder/california.html · 80 comments · 79 from members (one is the host prompt).
MBAs cited: Wharton (Gurvinder Singh), NYU (Jed Morris), Berkeley Haas (Nick Yu). Tags overlap — a single searcher can be both ex-tech and ex-founder, etc.
Range floor: $300K SDE (Korbin Law water-testing labs; George Sobota industrial services). Range ceiling: Dominic Foster cites $2M–$50M EBITDA / up to $600M revenue (already a holding-company buyer, not a single-searcher).
Note: time-searching was the most under-disclosed field. Treat this as a directional read, not a census.
| Name | Location | Background | Buy box / status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Connor Peterson | SF Bay Area | consulting | Niche specialty finance services; live deals |
| Imran Chaudhry | LA / OC | operator | $1–3M EBITDA, industrial / B2B / A&D |
| Seth Shaner | Orange County | consultingPEoperator | $2–10M EBITDA, regional restaurant rollup; LOI #2 |
| Gurvinder Singh | SF Bay Area | operatorWharton | $700K–$3M EBITDA, B2B / dist / healthcare |
| Tiffany Oda | Orange County | tech operator | $1M+ EBITDA, CA home services / med spas |
| Jed Morris | San Diego | militaryNYUbig tech | Indep. sponsor — GovCon / A&D / IT / cyber |
| Porter Daughtry | El Segundo | M&A / QofE | $2–10M EBITDA, SoCal; negotiating first platform |
| Vishwas Patil | SF Bay Area | 16y big tech | $700K–$1.5M EBITDA · ~1 yr in · prev. LOI broke |
| Korbin Law | Los Angeles | analytics | $300–500K SDE, CA water/env testing labs |
| Max Needle | San Diego | IB / PE | $5–30M EV, healthcare services; committed capital |
| Calvin Goodman | Bay → OC | SaaS founder | $500K–$2M SDE, B2B / trades, SoCal |
| Armando Domingos | SF Bay Area | Googleprior founder | $1.5–3.5M rev, precision machining (AZ + SoCal) |
| George Sobota | Orange County | consultingoperator | $300K+ SDE, light mfg / B2B; mid-LOI |
| Stephen Kamp | Yorba Linda | prime brokerage | $700K–$1.5M EBITDA, SoCal mfg / services |
| Sireesha Atluri | SF Bay Area | tech sales / ops | Digital content; AI workflows; part-time |
| Scott Phillips | Orange County | 30y tech exec | $300–750K price · 18+ mo searching · several LOIs |
| Michael Koenig | San Francisco | 10y IB / PE | $1.5–5M EBITDA · 3 weeks in |
| Peter Turner | Carlsbad | adtech | $500K–$2M EBITDA, CA / AZ / NV |
| John Matsubu | SF Bay Area | PhD chem eng | $400K–$1M EBITDA, industrial / labs · just started |
| Bhavin Jindal | San Bernardino (IE) | Amazon Freight | $1–5M rev, logistics; targeting first deal 2028 |
| Nick Yu | Oakland | 15y SWEHaas | $750K–$1.5M profit, vertical B2B SaaS · just starting |
| Jeannine Kerran | Bay Area (Danville) | commercial construction | Home services platform · final steps of close |
| Joshua Jensen | Santa Cruz | 15y HPconsulting | $500K–$1M SDE · weeks from close |
| Pawanjit Singh | Chico | rental car / mfg | $1–5M rev, manufacturing / waste / distribution |
| Wallace Young | South Lake Tahoe | compliance / banking | ~$400K+ SDE, Reno-Tahoe area |
| Adi Pradeep | Los Angeles | tech leadership | $5–10M, OEM manufacturing · acquired & growing |
| Alexander Gittelson | Los Angeles | entertainment | $1–3M EBITDA, mfg / construction · under LOI |
| Tayo Akanni | Oakland | corp financeconsultingmilitary | $500K+ SDE, senior home services / optometry |
| Andre Vashilko | Scottsdale → CA | IT channelprior founder | $500K+ SDE, MSP / VAR; SBLGP focus |
| Curtis Heyne | Orange County | COO | Equipment-intensive ops; acquire or partner |
| Susie Harborth | Orange County | advisorfounder (Inspira) | $750K+ SDE, hospitality / wellness / CPG |
| AJ Shergill | SF Bay Area | physician | Small behavioral-health practices to bolt on |
| Dominic Foster | Los Angeles | lenderfounder | $2–50M EBITDA, holdco · already acquired |