Buy Side Representation - Whats the true value and what creates the best outcomes?

searcher profile

January 20, 2026

by a searcher from Drexel University in New Jersey, USA

First time posting. I've read all of the threads on this topic but most of them are a bit dated so I wanted to get current thoughts of the community. I am a self funded, first time searcher who is very committed to my search BUT will remain in my day to day job due to stage of life and family obligations (kids in college). I'm clear on my range of targets, financial metrics, etc.. but DEAL FLOW is the limiting factor at the moment. I'm willing to pay for professional help sourcing deals but curious around what the community thinks about... 1) What are realistic expectations someone like me should have for buy side representation? (ie. metrics around increase in deal flow, what do you get for your money?) 2) Are there firms that are particularly effective at this by taking a different approach with tech, dedicated sourcing resources, etc...? 3) Anyone have experiences to share (positive or negative) that were in similar situations to me?
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commentor profile
Reply by an intermediary
from Wesleyan University in Granville, OH, USA
About half of my clients as an intermediary have been buy-side. They all have over $1B in revenue. What's the value I bring to them? I'm a safe pair of hands to represent them from deal generation through close without eating up their time. They all know how to execute deals, often better than I do. For typical searchfund-sized deals I wouldn't recommend my own services at all. The fees necessary (including an up-front retainer) for me to put as much time and care into your search as you would represent an unsupportable fraction of the deal for anything smaller than a $25M. Others may have business models that work better (for them) in this scenario than mine does. ETA is now a competitive market. For the fee an advisor is asking, can they devote the time and focus necessary to make the deal generation part effective?
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Reply by an intermediary
from Mount St. Mary College in Orange County, NY, USA
I am hard pressed to recommend buy side representation in the Self Funded Searcher space, for deals with SDE under $1-2mm. Frankly as a buy side broker, I am just going to make the same efforts you can. If a searcher had a geographic target and industry, I suppose we could be a great tool to make unsolicited inquiries, but thats a very specific use case. In general you will get max value by just doing short intro calls with various intermediaries who can reach out when they have deals to market.
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