Edward McDonnell - Alumni Profiles - People - Batten Institute

Edward McDonnell (MBA '16) began is career as mechanical engineer, but soon into his Darden experience, he became immersed in entrepreneurship. After exposure through UVA Pitch Competitions and the Batten Venture Internship Program, McDonnell began his career in Entrepreneurship through Acquisition (ETA), acquiring Botanical Designs in Seattle, Washington. Through his 6.5 years tenure as CEO, McDonnell helped grow the company from 80 employees to 200 across eight branches, all while acquiring five founder-led business and integrating them into Botanical Designs. Reflecting on his time at Darden, McDonnell specifically credits the General Management skills he acquired during his time here, noting the strength of Darden in guiding students to be effective leaders. 

Q: What advice would you have for prospective and current Darden students who are interested in pursuing a career in Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition?

1. First off, this is Entrepreneurship. It requires grit and perseverance, so make sure you really want to be an entrepreneurial leader, which is different from other types of leaders. Whatever life stage you are currently in, now is the right time to pursue ETA (or never – which is also okay). The opportunity cost of pursuing ETA just increases with time (e.g. mortgage, kids college expenses, higher salary later to forfeit, bonuses tying you to your current role, etc).

ETA is not just for newly minted MBA grads. I have seen those succeed in ETA from age 25 to age 60+. Henry Ford once said, “Whether you think you can, or you think you can't--you're right.” Mindset is the most important factor here, and any perceived barriers are just an individual rationalizing the fact that they don’t really want to pursue ETA. It is 100% okay to not want to pursue ETA, but either do it or don’t do it.

2. Everything takes longer than you think. Searching. Acquiring. Operating. You'll face hurdle after hurdle, and will just need to grit your teeth and power through. This is a marathon mentality. ETA is also not a part-time endeavor. If you are going to pursue this, it needs to be full-time and 100% focused (searching, acquiring, and operating are all full-time jobs).

3. If that is too daunting and you don’t want to pursue it, that is 100% fine. ETA is not for everyone, and there are many other legitimate career paths that can fit goals and lifestyle.

4. Don’t do this for the money. This is entrepreneurship, and you must really want to be an entrepreneur. Even though ETA can be a very lucrative and wealth building endeavor, that should not be your primary reason for pursing ETA.

Q: What characteristics are most important to be a successful acquisition entrepreneur?

1. Grit & Perseverance. You will face obstacle after obstacle, and as long as you keep at it, all will be fine, and you will figure out how to be successful.

2. Discipline on what type of company to buy. Buying a bad company is worse than buying no company at all.

3. Selling Yourself. Searching is a long cycle sales process. Operating is continuously selling vision to employees, job candidates, customers, vendors, bankers, and more. 

4. You don’t need to necessarily be a traditional salesperson. I was a mechanical engineer previously, so you can guess correctly that I am not a salesy person. But you do need to expect to pick up the phone and develop relationships and expand your network constantly.

5. Leadership, including respect and humility towards those in all roles and walks of life. Successful acquisition entrepreneurs have deep respect for individuals on the front lines, doing real work.

6. Set a vision. The long-term vision will determine how you run a company and what decisions you make (e.g. do you want to exit in 5 years, or hold a company forever, or live in your hometown and manage a smaller company, etc). This is a partnership with you and your family, so all key individuals in your life need to be bought in on a shared vision. Same goes for employees being bought into a shared vision.

7. Financial Acumen. You are a P&L owner and an M&A acquirer and data analyzer.

Q: What was an obstacle or challenge you had to overcome?

Selling a company was probably the hardest thing I have ever done. Harder than finding a company. Harder than running a company. Harder than so many things! An Acquisition Entrepreneur should empathize with the business seller and understand how difficult and stressful the process is for the seller. That empathy can build you a greater connection with a seller and differentiate you from other prospective buyers.
 

Q: Do you have any class recommendations from your time at Darden?

Effectual Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Finance & Private Equity, Entrepreneurship through Acquisition, Sales Management, and Taxation of M&A