Looking for Resources on Self-Funded Search Workflows & Deal Flow Management

April 25, 2025

by a searcher from Georgia Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Hi everyone — I’m diving deeper into the self-funded search path and looking to tighten up my approach around workflows and deal flow management. I’d love to learn from those of you who’ve gone down this road already. A few things I’m especially interested in: How you structured your outreach (brokers vs. proprietary, cadence, tooling) What your CRM or deal tracking setup looked like How you handled screening and prioritizing deals Any templates, tools, or playbooks you found helpful along the way If you’ve written or read anything that was particularly helpful — blog posts, decks, videos, etc. — I’d be grateful if you shared. Appreciate this community and all the wisdom shared here. Thanks in advance!

Reply by a searcher
from Barnard College in New York, NY, USA

Hey ^redacted‌, here's what I'm doing: 1) For CRM and financial modeling, I'm using ETA IQ (www.etaiq.com). I was using Hubspot previously, but it was a bit much for what I needed. 2) With regards to deal sourcing, I'm doing a combination of brokered and proprietary. On the proprietary side, I've found mass email campaigns pretty ineffective (in large part because spam filters cause deliverability issues). 3) For deal screening, my first stop is to run the numbers through ETA IQ's built-in financial model to see if it pencils and is worth pursuing. 4) For data enrichment and lead generation, I've been using Clay (www.clay.com). Hope this helps!

Reply by an member
from Pennsylvania State University in West Chester, PA, USA

I'm currently building out a proprietary deal flow system focused on direct-to-owner outreach. I'm using data sources like Mergent Intellect and DB Hoovers to identify target companies, then pairing that with Apollo.io (a more affordable ZoomInfo alternative) to find owner contact information and manage outreach. Happy to connect and share more if it’s helpful! Would love to hear from anyone who has done similar as well.

+5 more replies.

Join the discussion