What to do with a target list once you have it? Tactics for cleaning it.

May 19, 2022

by a searcher from Stockholm School of Economics in Atlanta, GA, USA

I know so much of a searcher's time centers on finding targets. No list will be perfect when downloaded from Grata, ZoomInfo, etc and some clean-up is needed, whether by the searcher or helper (interns). I love to get thoughts on 3 things to make it easier and faster:

- Making sure that the target is independent: Besides visiting its website, is there any easy way to make sure the target is not already owned by a PE shop, a nonprofit, or a subsidiary? I have found that transactional data can help with this but is not perfect. Is there a better way?

- Finding out who the owner(s) is. I know a website can help but not always and it is so manual. I have found that sometimes going to state incorporation documents as a source. Are there any other ideas?

- Does anyone ever track news about companies? I am curious once they are on your list, do you stay current with public information on their hiring, launches, etc.

I am happy to talk offline and share strategies if others are interested in these questions and any way to improve and streamline the process of outreach. Thanks all,

Marc

Reply by a searcher
from University of Pennsylvania in San Mateo, CA, USA

Very curious to see the responses to this. From what I've seen it's mostly done by interns. Interns will look through company sites and Linkedin profiles to try and determine if target is independent and who the owners are. From there state documentation seems to be best way to find or confirm owners. Might also be able to use Upwork for the owner part

Reply by an member
in Johns Creek, GA, USA

I've used pitchbook in the past (really expensive/not really useful for mom/pop) while I've interned at large funds, but I'm not sure there's a good tool for independent/searchers.

+3 more replies.

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