Best practices for Searchfunder tools (IBIS, BVR, Data Axle)

June 13, 2023

by a searcher from Harvard University in Greenwich, CT, USA

I've had a ton of success using Searchfunder access to IBIS reports for investment thesis research. It's the first step of my interns' research process each week. Select an industry, pull up the IBIS report, identify key growth drivers, Google for more info. Really appreciate the explanations in the "demand determinants", "market segmentation", and "questions for owners" sections as places to dig into more.

Has anyone developed a strong process around using BVR or Data Axle? I haven't found them as useful but I'm sure there's functionality I'm missing. How have you incorporated these other tools into your regular search operations?

Reply by a searcher
from University of California, Berkeley in 美国加利福尼亚圣克拉拉

Hi Chris, thanks for sharing! That's a very practical way of using IBIS. Is there any tip you found useful when selecting which industry to look at as I found they're in detailed categories and there are too many industries.
Regarding BVR, I found it's a useful data source to check multiples and see which industries may be popular (based on how many recent trades).
I haven't use data axle much. I guess it's a useful tool to get the target company list.

Reply by a professional
from University of Pennsylvania in Austin, TX, USA

I’ve used Data Axle for direct mail prospect list generation for SMB lending products before, the data issues get ironed out when you do giant scale strategies. For more targeted searches I’ve been working with Enigma to build a prospecting tool. It only works with industries with credit card data currently, but I like the ability to screen both a business, it’s neighbors and nearby competitors for monthly revenue trends in a few minutes.

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