Mike Curry·March 30, 2022

It's All Your Fault: How to Become CEO of Your Acquisition

Mike Curry, an Atlanta-native who went from investment banking in London to a failed bootstrap clothing startup to an MBA at the University of Chicago Booth, teamed up with his longtime Emory classmate Keith (a corporate lawyer) to raise a traditional search fund and acquire a medical physics business just outside Baltimore in 2014. The deal closed with 16 employees and over the next seven-plus years Mike and Keith built it into a 34+ person operation, roughly doubling revenue, and subsequently used it as a platform — now called Apex Physics Partners — to acquire additional businesses in the space. The episode's central theme is the emotional and leadership transition required when moving from individual contributor to CEO: Mike describes the first two years as brutal, marked by imposter syndrome, investor pressure, employee distrust, and a pivotal moment when a peer CEO told him bluntly that 'it's all your fault' — meaning the CEO must claim full accountability rather than be pulled along by circumstances. Mike and Keith ultimately won their team's trust through sustained small actions (sharing lunches with admin staff, taking out the trash, acting on employee feedback), and the episode is a candid account of how patient culture-building, not aggressive execution, unlocked the business's growth trajectory. Mike is also a vocal advocate for broadening ETA access across backgrounds, ethnicity, age, and career stage, motivated in part by the national reckoning around racial and economic justice following 2020.

Deal facts

financing structure: traditional search fund
notes: Acquired a medical physics business (later identified as KGHP) just outside Baltimore in 2014 with partner Keith. Grew from 16 to 34+ employees over ~5 years. Subsequently built a platform company called Apex Physics Partners through additional acquisitions.

Why this business

After a failed bootstrap startup and returning from investment banking in the UK, Mike was introduced to the concept of ETA by a customer who had done a search. He cold-called Stanford professor Irv Grosbeck, went to Booth for an MBA, and then raised a traditional search fund with his longtime Emory classmate Keith. They searched broadly and found the medical physics business just outside Baltimore after calling business owners.

What's working

Building culture and trust over time — earning employees' hearts and minds before pushing growth initiatives
Taking personal accountability as CEO ('it's all your fault' mindset) gave them a greater locus of control
Doubling headcount from 16 to 34 over five years, roughly doubling revenue in parallel
Promoting from within — a 2015 part-time admin hire from Craigslist became Director of HR and head of integrations
Continuing to acquire additional businesses under the Apex Physics Partners platform banner
Sharing a transparent five-year retrospective with the team showing measurable progress against early feedback

What's hard

First two years were extremely difficult — too many problems at once with multiple stakeholders (investors, employees, customers) all needing things simultaneously
Transitioning from individual contributor / high performer to leader who creates results through other people was a major psychological shift
Inherited a culture where employees did not trust leadership or believe feedback was genuinely wanted; took two years to earn real trust
Mike sat in a grocery store parking lot crying, called his mom, and questioned whether he was cut out to be a CEO
Came in thinking hard work and financial incentives were the primary motivators; quickly learned culture and belonging mattered more to the team
Early instinct to drive changes fast clashed with the reality that buy-in and trust had to be earned first

Notable quotes

As the leader of the company you should recognize that it's all your fault.

When you buy a business you don't buy the hearts and minds of the employees.

I drove home and I sat in a grocery store parking lot and I cried and I called my mom and asked her, you know, I spent all this money to go to business school, am I doing the right thing, am I really cut out to be a CEO or a leader of a small business.

People probably overestimate what they can do in a year and underestimate what they can do in five.