In this Real Humans: Alumni, Patrick El Hajj, HEC Paris MBA ’23, shares how he transformed his consulting background and entrepreneurial instincts into a career as a search fund entrepreneur through Anchora Transmission. Born in Lebanon and now based in Paris, Patrick matriculated with a list of startup ideas and a desire to shift from corporate consulting at PwC to a more independent and fulfilling path. HEC Paris stood out for its strong entrepreneurial focus, powerful alumni network, and its reputation across France—where Patrick and his wife had decided to build their future. Read on for his story.
Patrick El Hajj, HEC Paris MBA ’23, Search Fund Entrepreneur at Anchora Transmission
Age: 32
Hometown: living in Paris, born in Lebanon
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Civil engineering in Centrale Nantes (France) and Lebanese University (Lebanon)
Graduate Business School, Graduation Year and Concentration: HEC Paris, graduated in 2023, Entrepreneurship specialization
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Consulting at PwC France for 5 years
Post-MBA Work Experience: Search fund entrepreneur at Anchora Transmission
Why did you choose to attend business school?
Growing up in Lebanon, I was always exposed to local micro-entrepreneurs seeking independence and creating their own mom-and-pop business. After my studies, I found myself immersed in a corporate setting, with a lot of intellectual stimulation, but many political and organizational constraints coming with it and a feeling of lack of freedom. Therefore, despite learning a lot and loving my time in consulting, I decided to step back from this career path in my 30s, get inspiration/advice, and try to find my own entrepreneurship path more aligned with my identity. So, I entered the MBA with a list of startup ideas I spotted in everyday life around me and wrote on a phone note, in order to try to launch one of these ideas for a new business.
Why HEC Paris? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
For personal and professional reasons, my wife and I have decided that France is our country base for the upcoming years of our life. So, I naturally searched for the best business schools that could open doors and support me in realizing my entrepreneurship aspirations in France. The HEC reputation, its well-size program duration (16 months enough to learn, reflect, and enjoy), and its strong entrepreneurship alumni base encouraged me to apply to HEC and only to HEC. My conversations with 20+ students and alumni confirmed all that I searched for, so I worked on making it happen and entering HEC. Until today, I still benefit hugely from this choice as the HEC brand is extremely powerful in France and many parts of Europe to meet new people, get rapid credibility, and build new relationships.
What about your HEC Paris MBA experience prepared you for your current career?
After graduating from HEC, I created Anchora Transmission, a search fund looking to acquire a single SME to scale as the new CEO with the support of 20 investors. My MBA experience gave me a super valuable network of new investors and mentors to support me during this entrepreneurship journey, from search to exit, including acquisition and operations. Also, M&A, PE and deal-making classes bridged the financial knowledge gap I was missing to onboard on an entrepreneurship through acquisition journey, requiring a full skillset of financial, strategic and operational capabilities.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I heard first about the search fund model one month before starting my MBA, from an INSEAD MBA friend. This career path resonated with my entrepreneurship aspirations, so I started reaching out to 30+ entrepreneurs and investors who have done it to get their own experience.
Therefore, I interned in another search fund to validate my career choice hypothesis by immersing myself in the ecosystem, getting to know investors and learning skills missing for my future journey.
After spending two months of sourcing deal opportunities and due diligence for a signed deal offer, I was confident and equipped with the knowledge and network to launch my own search fund, which I did at the end of my HEC MBA.
Moreover, the people I interned with became close friends and advisors for me as they had a two-year advance in their entrepreneurial journey compared to mine.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
The search fund journey is about scaling a small SME (1-5m€ EBITDA) into a professionalized enterprise through classical levers such as digitalization, internationalization, and sales acceleration.
After doing many personality tests and looking back on my journey so far, I realized I can thrive in the scaling part of entrepreneurship more than the product creation from scratch experienced in the classic startup model.
Naturally, search funds were a perfect fit for my skill set as an engineer and consultant optimizer, and for my entrepreneurial dream, as it involves acquiring a business with existing products, clients, and suppliers and working on developing it to its full potential.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
Dare to cold reach out to people on LinkedIn. Embarking on an MBA is an opportunity to take time to engage with new people beyond your historical network and an “excuse” to ask people for advice as a student. If you take time to personalize your message and be clear about what you are asking, you will be amazed how many people will respond back to you, share knowledge/contacts/advice, and be super happy if they can help you. To succeed in the cold reach out, it is important to be genuine in the interaction, work on your pitch to be memorable, thank people for their time, maintain a relationship after getting their help and why not offer help for their projects.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
I had the opportunity to have an outstanding mentor who supported me throughout my whole MBA journey to get the best out of my time at HEC by regularly sharing his wisdom and advice. An MBA is explorative but requires intentionality to have a sense of direction and select activities accordingly. The trade-off recipe between exploring every possible career/life option and executing on a plan does not exist as a one-size-fits-all answer as it is very person-related. Sometimes, internal reflection and introspection are natural for some students who will take some time off to reflect on what they are currently living. For those who are not, find a mentor who is external to the MBA ecosystem and share your thoughts regularly to understand the magic of the MBA period you are living in and also to get the most out of it.
