How do I avoid reinventing the wheel in the first 3 months of search?

July 14, 2025

by a searcher from SDA Bocconi - School of Management in Milano MI, Italia

Hi all, My partner and I are about to launch the search phase of our traditional duo search fund. As we prepare, we’ve noticed there’s quite a bit of inefficiency around setting up operational tools and workflows — things that many searchers have likely already figured out (e.g., automating our Pipedrive CRM, setting up outreach automations for contacting owners, etc.). For context, we’ve already taken care of the basics like website, email infrastructure, etc. My question is: What activities or preparations would you recommend to ramp up the search phase more efficiently and avoid reinventing the wheel? Any practical tips, tools, or lessons learned would be hugely appreciated!

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Reply by a searcher
from University of South Carolina in Savannah, GA, USA

I completely agree with what Michael and Ben said. Building early relationships and not over-engineering are both key. To add to that, here are three specific things that helped me ramp up more efficiently and avoid a lot of wasted time during the early phase: 1. Set up workflow infrastructure early. I mapped out CRM pipeline stages like New Lead, Contacted, NDA Sent, CIM Reviewed, Diligence, and Dead or Closed. That structure gave me clarity and saved me from the chaos of spreadsheets and dropped follow-ups. It allowed me to stay focused on conversations instead of constantly trying to stay organized. 2. Build a simple deal review calculator. I didn’t want to over-model every opportunity, so I created a basic tool where I could plug in just three numbers: offer price, SDE, and revenue. It instantly showed me monthly loan payments, profit after debt service, and how the pricing compared to typical industry multiples. It gave me a clear "go or no-go" decision in about two minutes and kept me from wasting time on deals that didn’t pencil out. 3. Always ask sellers, "Why are you selling?" It sounds basic, but the answer usually tells me more than the numbers. If someone is facing burnout, a liquidity need, or some kind of time pressure, it often creates more flexibility in deal structure.However, if they are evasive or vague, that is usually a red flag. This one question has helped me qualify opportunities faster and negotiate more effectively.

Reply by a searcher
from University of Virginia in New York, NY, USA

We're currently in the middle of a Partnered Search, and here’s what’s in our systems stack that’s helped us move more efficiently through the process: 1) ETA IQ (www.etaiq.com): We use it daily for financial modeling and deal tracking. It’s our go-to for initial go / no-go deal screening, and we also use it to run more detailed models when deals progress. 2) Clay (www.clay.com): We use them for building and enriching our lead lists for proprietary outreach. We tested ZoomInfo and found Clay to be more accurate, more cost-effective, and generally just easier to use. 3) Dropbox (www.dropbox.com): They're our central repository for all deal-related docs. Google Drive works fine too, but we prefer Dropbox's UI/UX. Hope this helps.

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