What does leadership look like when there’s no playbook?
In this episode of Leading In The Dark, Nick Akers sits down with Savannah Rush, Managing Partner at Funded Ventures, to explore her journey from engineering at WashU to consulting at McKinsey, earning her MBA at Harvard Business School, and ultimately stepping into the operator seat through entrepreneurship via acquisition (ETA).
Savannah shares candid insights on:
Why ETA has become one of the most popular paths for MBA graduates
The realities of owning and operating a small business
Leading teams without industry expertise
Building trust after an ownership transition
Why small towns may offer some of the greatest opportunities for long-term value creation
This conversation pulls back the curtain on leadership in its rawest form — early mornings, imperfect plans, real people, and learning by doing.
If you’re curious about entrepreneurship, acquisition, or what it truly means to lead when there’s no manual, this episode is for you.
