From what I've seen, traditional searchers usually have more success finding companies. Partly, it's the support they get from their investors. Partly, it's the fact they are receiving a salary and are 100% (usually more than a 100% :) focused on the search and nothing else, with the full buy-in from their spouses. And they are under the gun to deliver in about two years, after which the money runs out.

I've had a lot more data points from traditional searchers, since they are my focus (and to some extent from very experienced, multi-deal independent sponsors), so I could be wrong. Curious what your experience has been...