David’s first job out of business school was working for Professor Irv Grousbeck, and his first job was to create the initial case material for the first two search funds. An entrepreneur at heart (in high school he imported jewelry from India and sold it door-to-door) it was obvious what to do next—raise the third search fund.

While he spent the next decade as an operator of five companies, he was also quick to give back when he was in a position to do so, serving as a director of many early search fund companies including Asurion (Kevin Taweel and Jim Ellis), Continental Fire & Safety (Jim Southern), and Carillon Assisted Living (Karen Moriarty and Ken Kirkham).

Along with his friends Irv Grousbeck, Peter Kelly, and Jim Ellis, at Stanford he helped create the first course on search fund—and he continues to teach the next generation of search fund entrepreneurs at Stanford and is a regular resource at Harvard Business School. David is the author of the best-selling book, The Manager’s Handbook, the search fund textbook on becoming a leader.

In 2000 David co-founded Sanku, which has now operated in seven African countries with a sustainable business model to fortify foods with vital vitamins and minerals to the most vulnerable populations. In 2018 he founded StudentVotes with two search fund entrepreneurs, to harness technology to make voting more accessible to college students.