Approach to Search

Hi Colin, i think Adam has provided some good thoughts. I would say it depends on where you are in the process. If you are taking the traditional route, a generally narrow thesis can be required out the gate to get funding. In the self-funded route, unless you have a clear thesis lined up, I think it makes more sense to understand your strengths and weaknesses, and defining the TYPE of business and role you want to take on. The Buy Then Build book helps break some of this down and even Sam Rosati's recent interview with Acquiring Minds touches on the topics to focus your search. I would recommend taking a look at those.

Hey Colin,

My approach to search has evolved over time - I'm about 10 months into it (self-funded, although I explored TSF).

Initially, was focused on aerospace and defense mfg.. did a ton of diligence in the space (happy to share my research report) - still think there are a ton of tailwinds. Sstarted to reach out to brokers across the nation with my one-pager (happy to share as well). I also leveraged upwork to generate leads for proprietary outreach. Looked at some interesting deals, but didn't find anything that made sense for me. Overpriced, too small, or high rev concentration.

I've recently decided to expand the aperture to business services, health services, and SaaS. Still looking nationwide, but focusing geographical locations (places my wife would be willing to live). Leveraging ZoomInfo for leads, GrafoAi for bulk email personalization, and Reply.io for email sequencing. Getting solid response rates and meeting with owners. My search is relatively automated now - targeting to add around 500 fresh leads into my email pipeline per week with ~3 hours of focused work (excluding meetings/emails with owners).

Hope this is helpful! Feel free to reach out if you want to connect sometime!