Hello Trevor, do you scrape companies lists that are present on professional associations/ directories websites or are you scraping companies corresponding to specific search terms/ keywords present on their sites directly through Google or any similar engine ?

^[redacted]‌ it's more the former. The best data tends to be available in places other people aren't looking. Google is a pretty efficient market. For instance, if I search for "Light Manufacturing Businesses for Sale in Paris" I'll likely get brokers and those few businesses that have done great work publicizing and optimizing for SEO. Alternatively, finding the[redacted]business directory for the light manufacturing association is a goldmine. There will be a large number of owners and businesses on there with virtually no online presence outside that note. I think that's the heart of proprietary sourcing.

By the way, I met ^[redacted]‌ last year at the HBS conference. We are doing video chat next Friday, maybe you'll join us.

Definitely agreed with you ! but was curious about how you approached the issue. We'll catch up on friday then, thanks !

Jason, I have a very affordable one that has been extremely helpful! I will PM you his contact if you'd like.

James what is that web scraper you use?

I am a software engineer by training, so I typically build proprietary scrapers for our use cases. If you have a good idea of "what" to scrape, it's not a hard thing to outsource.

Dan what databases do you use?

Depends on what I'm looking for. Are you on-the-look for an acquisition?

Luke - as a Canadian searcher, I'd prefer whichever has the best Canadian data, as I find many of these services tend to be US-focused. I'd think this would also be a clear point of differentiation for any US searchers who are open to moving here.

What are the best Canadian data sources in your opinion?

In my completely anecdotal experience, I've used ZoomInfo in the past to some success, while Reference Canada has been more hit-or-miss. My understanding is also that Pitchbook focuses more on software and VC companies, while ScrubSource is broader in industry coverage - though haven't used either so may be wrong. If so, I would place ZoomInfo at #1 and ScrubSource at #2, with Pitchbook and DataAxle in last place.

Thank you for your insights ^[redacted]‌. Much appreciated!

These data services would be great to have. I've heard very good things about Zoominfo and Pitchbook. I've also heard positives about and have seen a brief demo of DataAxle, but I believe it might available for free through your local library (depending on your area). Have not heard of ScrubSource so cannot comment on that one.

^[redacted]‌ - DataAxle is often available through public libraries for free, but with significant rate limits. We can remove the rate limits entirely.