Can anyone recommend a good broker? - Searchfunder

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by Luke Tatone from Massachusetts Institute of Technology - MIT Sloan School of Management
in Portland, OR, USA

2w ago

Can anyone recommend a good broker?

If you're a broker, please introduce yourself here. Where are you based? What is your background? What type of Searchers do you like working with? When should Searchers reach out to you? What is your fee structure? Anything else on your mind? We'll be able to have much deeper discussions if you can provide as much detail as possible. A paragraph or two is perfect. Be sure to tag (@) when replying to comments to make sure your sub-comments are read.

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reply by an intermediary 2w ago
from Mount St. Mary College in Orange County, NY, USA

I am based in the Hudson Valley of NY. I am an operator and have bought and sold personally but it was before I was aware of "Search/ETA". We focus on main street small businesses with typical SDE $500k-$1.5mm, occasionally we go higher but the commonality is very main street focused. Happy to do intro calls with any searchers. We run a tighter process generally avoiding the big name marketing websites, so talking to searchers and understanding their buy box is key.

reply by an investor 2w ago
from IPADE in Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy

I’m based in Milan, Italy, and lead Ravencourt Capital, a private markets boutique focused on capital formation, M&A readiness, and allocator-aligned investor engagement across Europe, the US, and selected cross-border situations. My background is in private markets, alternative investments, investor mapping, mandate structuring, and buy-side/sell-side advisory. Our work is selective and process-driven, focused on investor readiness, mandate positioning, investor mapping, and disciplined capital partner engagement rather than broad, volume-based outreach. We are most useful for searchers who already have a clear acquisition thesis, a credible target or mandate, and need support around investor readiness, materials, investor mapping, capital partner positioning, and warm, mandate-aligned introductions. We generally work best where the searcher is serious, responsive, and understands that quality of investor fit matters more than volume. Searchers should ideally reach out before running a broad outreach process - either when a target is being evaluated, before LOI, or once there is enough information to assess deal quality, capital need, and investor fit. Fee structure is mandate-specific, but typically includes a defined, checkpoint-based fixed advisory component, plus a success fee tied to capital or transaction outcomes generated within the agreed engagement scope. We generally do not take on open-ended, success-fee-only situations without a formal engagement framework. Happy to connect with searchers where there is a serious mandate and a clear need for disciplined capital partner engagement.

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