Questions
Everything people ask
before their first one.
What is San Diego ETA?
San Diego ETA is a free monthly meetup for entrepreneurship through acquisition in San Diego County. It meets the third Wednesday of every month, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, for self-funded searchers, funded searchers, independent sponsors, and owner-operators. Buyers outnumber service providers by design, and nobody pitches from the stage.
Is there a search fund or ETA community in San Diego?
Yes. San Diego ETA is the county's monthly meetup for searchers, independent sponsors, and owner-operators. Before it launched in September 2026, San Diego had only scattered one-off attempts and no club meeting on a fixed cadence. Denver, Chicago, and New York have run this format for years; San Diego ETA is the same idea, built for San Diego County.
When and where does San Diego ETA meet?
The third Wednesday of every month, 5:30 to 7:30 PM, in San Diego, California. The first meetup is Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at Novo Brazil Brewing Mission Valley, 1640 Camino Del Rio N, Ste 341, San Diego, CA 92108, inside Westfield Mission Valley. The date never moves, so you can hold the third Wednesday for the year.
How much does it cost to attend?
Nothing. The monthly meetup is free to attend for buyers and for the ecosystem around them. Costs are covered by five category-exclusive Founding Partner sponsors rather than by ticket sales, which is why there are no pitches from the stage.
Do I need to be actively searching to attend?
No. The room is built for anyone serious about buying a business: people early enough to still be writing a buy box, people under LOI, people who already closed, and people still working a W-2 while they plan the jump. You do not need a deal, a fund, or a track record to walk in.
Can lenders, brokers, attorneys, and other service providers attend?
Yes, as guests. Service providers are welcome in the room and are asked to follow the house rules: no pitching, no deck-slinging, no business-card carpet bombing. The only sanctioned selling is a thank-you, meaning public credit for a referral or an assist. Providers who want the microphone sponsor the club instead.
What happens at a San Diego ETA meetup?
The same five beats every month, starting with the October 2026 meetup (September 16 is a jointly held open-networking night with no agenda). Open networking at 5:30 with the first round covered by the sponsor. One conversation worth showing up for at 6:15, which is an operator interview, a live deal teardown, or a lender AMA. Needs, Deals, Wants at 6:50, where attendees get 45 seconds each. Intro matches at 7:00, pairing people into three-person coffees before the next month. Doors at 7:30, and the bar stays open.
What are intro matches?
Intro matches, also called troikas, are the club's engineered follow-up. Opt in at a meetup and you get paired into a three-person group, usually mixing a searcher, an operator, and someone on the capital or advisory side, with the expectation that you meet for coffee before the next meetup. It is what turns a happy hour into a network.
Is San Diego ETA affiliated with Searcher School or Sunset Coast Partners?
No. San Diego ETA is independent. It is not a funnel, not a course, and not anyone's marketing channel. Jed Morris founded and hosts the club, and no offer is pitched from the stage, including his own. Students and members of competing programs are explicitly welcome.
Who runs San Diego ETA?
Jed Morris, an independent sponsor based in San Diego. He is a USAF veteran with 10 years active duty and an NYU Stern MBA. He bought two landscaping companies in 2023 and the business failed eight months later, leaving him with more than $1M in personally guaranteed debt. He has spent the years since studying why acquisitions fail.
How do I RSVP for the next San Diego ETA meetup?
Registration is free. The September 16, 2026 meetup is held jointly with The Acquisition Club, so that one registers through their Eventship listing at eventship.com/event/acquisition-club-september-meetup. From October onward, every published third Wednesday is on the club's own Luma calendar at lu.ma/sandiegoeta. Either way the location is shared with registrants ahead of the date.
Is the September 2026 meetup the same as The Acquisition Club meetup?
Yes. The September 16, 2026 meetup is one event held jointly by San Diego ETA and The Acquisition Club, which is hosted by Mychal Richardson. Rather than run two San Diego small-business-acquisition meetups on the same third Wednesday, the two groups are running it together. It is free, it is open networking with no agenda or panel, and registration goes through The Acquisition Club's listing.
Does San Diego ETA run workshops or a conference?
The monthly meetup is the fixed commitment. Half-day workshops are planned on a quarterly cadence, with a low-cost ticket and a produced artifact for every attendee, such as a buy box, a diligence checklist, or an LOI redline. A regional conference is planned once the club has a full year of monthly meetups behind it.
The list
Can't make the next one?
Stay in the room anyway.
One email a month: the next date, the venue, and what actually came out of the last room. No pitches, no course, no funnel. The same rules as the room itself.