IESE Search Fund Conference Follow Up: The 30 Day Plan
IESE search fund conference follow up after Barcelona: who to text first across time zones, example messages, a decision table and a 30 day plan.
By Brett Kaufman. 8 years using relationships to build sales pipelines, from political fundraising to a 7 figure business to running matchmaking for two communities. Over 1,000 introductions facilitated.
IESE search fund conference follow up comes down to order and time zones: within 48 hours of getting home, text the investors, CEOs and board candidates tied to a live decision, then close every intro you promised. The room flies home to many countries and meets every two years, so the next 30 days matter most.
It is Friday night after the closing drinks. You spent two days on IESE’s North Campus between parallel sessions, coffee breaks and a cocktail reception. You met an investor from Mexico who backs first time searchers, a CEO from Germany four years past close, and a searcher from Canada chasing the same industry as you. Tomorrow you all fly in different directions. By the time you land, the details are fading.
If you were in that room on October 15 and 16, you are inside the window right now. I run matchmaking for two communities, so the days after a room empties are where I put my attention. I have not attended this conference. Here is how I would run the follow up.
What is the IESE search fund conference, and who is in the room?
It is the IESE International Search Fund Conference, run by IESE Business School’s International Search Fund Center. The 7th edition ran October 15 to 16, 2026, in the Aula Magna on IESE’s North Campus in Barcelona. IESE says it welcomes search acquired CEOs, active searchers, new searchers and search fund investors from around the world. The 2026 page said registration and the waiting list were closed because the event reached full capacity.
IESE’s search fund page describes it as biennial, with editions back to 2015 and the 2020 edition cancelled. The next date was not posted as of October 28, 2026. Check the official site for dates. The 2024 edition’s advisory board included members from the US, Spain, Canada, Germany, France, Mexico and Brazil. That mix is the whole point of the room.
The 2026 format shapes follow up:
- Day one: an afternoon of registration, a welcome, a main session on search fund performance data, three parallel sessions (fundraising, cap tables and boards; models of entrepreneurial acquisition; acquisition tricks of the trade), then a cocktail reception.
- Day two: main stage sessions on the investor searcher contract, liquidity options for CEOs, the CEO leadership journey and lessons from private equity, with networking coffee breaks, a networking lunch and closing drinks.
That is a lot of break time. Most real conversations happen there.
Before the event: who to research, who to book
The next edition is likely far off, so this is for the one after, or for any international search gathering.
- Investors from your target market. If you search in Spain, find the Spanish investors. Ask for one coffee break on one question.
- CEOs on the liquidity and leadership panels. They are years past close and know what your board will ask.
- Searchers from your industry in other countries. Not competition. They see owners and lenders you never will.
- Board candidates. Day two covered boards and lessons from private equity. If you are adding a seat, this room is a short list.
For how IESE compares with other ETA rooms, see the best ETA conferences.
In the room: capture in 10 seconds
You will not take notes in a coffee line. Capture right after.
One sentence per person: name, country, role, the one thing they said, what you owe them. “[Name], Mexico City, investor, backs solo searchers, wants my cap table.” Add the country every time. Two weeks later, the country is how you remember which [Name] it was.
What is the IESE search fund conference follow up order?
Sort by what is live. The general rules are in who to follow up first after a conference. For this room:
- Investors tied to a decision. On your cap table, weighing your search, or asking for numbers.
- Intros you promised. Cross border intros are the most valuable thing this room produces. Make them first.
- CEOs who offered help. A deal review, a call on liquidity options.
- Board candidates.
- Searchers from other countries. Inside the first week.
Send in their morning, not yours. A text that lands at 3am reads like you did not think about them. Each message under 40 words:
“Great meeting you at IESE on the boards session. Sending the cap table we discussed. Would value your read before our next board meeting in December.”
“[Name], thanks for the time at the networking lunch. Could I get 20 minutes in November on how you handled your liquidity conversation with investors?”
“Promised you an intro to [Name], who searched in Germany in your industry. Sending it now, she is expecting you.”
“[Name], good comparing notes in Barcelona. Want to swap owners we each passed on? Different countries, same industry.”
Text or email depends on how they gave you their contact. More in follow up text after a conference.
Who gets what, and when?
| Who you met | First touch | Next real reason | Risk if you wait |
|---|---|---|---|
| Investor on your cap table | Within 48 hours of landing | Next board meeting or update | Low, you see them anyway |
| Investor weighing your search | Within 48 hours | Your raise or first LOI | High, no reunion for years |
| CEO who offered help | Within 48 hours | After the call, report back | Medium |
| Board candidate | Within one week | A specific seat conversation | Medium |
| Searcher abroad | Within one week | Monthly deal swap | High, no shared city |
Read the last column. For most events, missing the window costs you a few weeks. Here it can cost you years, because nobody in this room shares your city and the next edition is likely a long way off.
What should happen in the 30 days after?
The first week handles what is urgent. The month decides whether Barcelona was a trip or a turning point.
- Close every loop. Every intro made, every document sent.
- Report back. If a session changed how you will structure a deal, tell the speaker.
- Set the next reason. A board meeting, an LOI, a raise, an add on.
- Watch the quiet ones. The investor who said “keep me posted” in October and has not heard from you by mid November is going cold.
“Keep me posted” has no deadline, so it never happens. More on this in the relationship side of ETA.
The system that does this for you
I built FRONT OF MIND because I watched operators meet the right people, have real conversations, then disappear for months. It turns this into 10 minutes a morning. Say a name and a sentence out loud, snap a badge or card, or take a selfie together, and the person is filed under the conference. Each morning you get your 10 minutes for today, and every person has a one line reason why: you met at the IESE conference 12 days ago and never followed up, a follow up is due, their company was in the news. Every draft is a text of 40 words or less, nothing sends without your tap, and it learns from your edits.
Ask Liala “who do I know that is a search fund investor in Spain” and get the right people with why. It runs in your phone’s browser and saves to your home screen. Your contacts are encrypted. No one on our team looks at them, and you can export or delete anytime.
Start free with your first 25 contacts and see who from Barcelona comes up first. The full method is in the conference follow up system.