Looking for SMB Buyers/Searchers to Stress-Test a Pre-LOI Deal Screening Tool
May 31, 2026
by an member in Hemlock, MI, USA
I’m moving Acquisition Decision Engine into beta, and I’m looking for a small number of serious SMB buyers, searchers, or acquisition entrepreneurs to help stress-test it before launch.
ADE is built as a pre-LOI deal screening tool.
The goal is not to replace judgment, lenders, CPAs, attorneys, QoE, or real diligence.
The goal is simpler:
Help buyers kill weak deals faster, document why, and avoid wasting time, lender credibility, or diligence dollars on deals that should have been rejected earlier.
The tool currently evaluates a deal across financial, operational, and qualitative risk factors, including things like:
EBITDA quality
SBA debt support
Owner dependence
Customer concentration
Revenue trendCAPEX/OPEX burdenTransition riskSeller financing/earnout structureRecurring revenueCyclicalityDeal-breaker flags5:1 upside/downside asymmetry
It then produces a first-pass deal screen with:
Deal score, Confidence score, Proceed / caution / reject recommendation, Strengths, Weaknesses, Watch items, Hard risk flags, Decision-path reasoning, Lender first-look memo support
I’m especially interested in feedback from people who have looked at real Main Street / lower-middle-market deals and understand that many deals under ~$5M are only worth what the SBA-supported cash flow can justify.
Best fit: Independent searchers, Self-funded searchers, SMB buyers, Small holdcos, Operators evaluating acquisitions
People with past deals they can anonymize and run through the tool. This is beta, so I’m not looking for praise. I’m looking for blunt feedback.
Specifically: Where is the logic wrong? Where is the SBA debt assumption off?What would make you trust or distrust the output? What would make this useful before submitting an LOI? What would you expect to see before paying for something like this?
If you’re willing to test it on a real, anonymized, or past deal, comment below or message me directly.
I’m not asking for confidential seller materials unless you’re comfortable sharing them. Basic deal facts are enough for the first round of testing.
Screenshot above is a fictional sample deal shown only to demonstrate the output format. It is not a real company, broker listing, appraisal, lender approval, or underwriting opinion.
Thanks in advance.