Insights
Process
What happens after the intro: verification, NDAs, CIMs, and telling a live deal from a dead one.
How to Measure Deal Sourcing: The Numbers That Show a Pipeline Is Working
Deals closed is a lagging metric with a feedback loop measured in years. The leading indicators a private equity BD lead can read within a quarter (coverage, universe penetration, speed, source health, stage conversion) and the two numbers that reliably mislead.
Oct 6, 2026 · 7 min read
ProcessHow to Build a Target Universe for a Mandate Below $10M EBITDA
Where a lower middle market target universe comes from when the companies have never raised or sold: NAICS and why it fails alone, trade associations, license registries, supplier and customer lists, the reconciliation step, and how to keep the list alive.
Oct 5, 2026 · 7 min read
ProcessDeal Screening: Cutting a 400-Company List Down to the Twenty Worth a Call
How a PE associate screens a lower middle market target list in order of what each check costs: free desk checks first, the disqualifiers worth more than any positive signal, why scores built on public data mis-rank founder-owned companies, and what to hand the partner.
Sep 28, 2026 · 7 min read
ProcessHow to Tell Whether a Lower Middle Market Deal Is Real Before You Spend Partner Time
A listing being visible says nothing about whether it is available. Seven checks that separate a live deal from a dead one, in the order they cost you the least, and what a straight answer from an intermediary actually sounds like.
Sep 21, 2026 · 4 min read
ProcessWorking With Business Brokers as a PE Buyer Without Overpaying
Brokered processes are where most lower middle market deals actually are, and where institutional buyers most often pay for the wrong reasons. How to be the buyer a broker wants without bidding like one.
Sep 20, 2026 · 6 min read
ProcessTime to NDA, Time to CIM: What a Fast On-Market Process Looks Like
The days between a teaser landing and a CIM arriving decide more lower middle market deals than price does. What each step should take, where it actually stalls, and how to shorten the part you control.
Sep 20, 2026 · 6 min read
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