Futaleufu Partners

Futaleufu Partners is an investment firm that invests in search funds to find and acquire great businesses. Founded by search fund veteran David Dodson, Futaleufu works closely with the entrepreneurs we back in both the search phase and in operations post-acquisition.

David Dodson

David Dodson has been active for twenty-five years in the formation of new businesses through entrepreneurial acquisition. After graduating from the GSB, under the direction of Professor Irv Grousbeck, he wrote the original course material for search funds—then in its infancy. After one year as a case writer, David Dodson raised his own search fund, which led to the purchase of Smith Alarm Systems in 1989. He subsequently raised two more search funds to purchase an auto parts retailer and an environmental services firm. During this time, Mr. Dodson became an active investor in and board member of other search funds, investing in over forty search funds. Mr. Dodson has been a director and investor in twenty-one middle market companies.

He is currently on the board of: Teton Gravity Research, Penn Warranty, Wind River Environmental, Eyewitness Surveillance, Innflux LLC, and Carillon Assisted Living. He is also active in three non-profit boards: U.S. Fund for UNICEF (Regional), Project Healthy Children, and Sanku LLC. David Dodson currently divides his time between Stanford University and Project Healthy Children (a nonprofit enterprise with operations in Rwanda, Burundi, Nepal, Liberia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi), and a “double bottom line” enterprise Sanku, LLC, with operations in Tanzania. He is also completing his first novel. He has three daughters: Caroline, Rachel, and Hannah.

Susan Pohlmeyer

Susan Pohlmeyer is a principal at Futaleufu Partners, an investment fund formed by David Dodson to invest in search funds and search fund-acquired businesses. She works closely with search fund entrepreneurs during the diligence and acquisition phases of the search, and currently serves as a board observer for Datum Technologies. Prior to joining Futaleufu, she was a member of the investment team at Stanford Management Company, where she covered portfolio strategy as well as private equity investments. She started her career at JP Morgan in equity derivatives.  Susan holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a BA from Dartmouth College.

Learn more at www.futaleufu-partners.com