Off-Market Deal Sourcing (that actually works): 7 Channels I Keep in Rotation

I have used variations of the tactics below, pairing them with our in-house AI engine Ai.Da 3.0 to feed proprietary opportunities to several of the world’s top twenty-five financial institutions, including Sixth Street, BlackRock and Blackstone. Reverse-ETL of Government Procurement Feeds • Why it works: New awardees often outgrow their balance sheet within a year and seek liquidity. • First action: Pull last quarter’s SAM.gov awards into BigQuery, filter for contracts under $15 million, enrich founder emails with ZoomInfo, and reach out. “Busted” ESOP Conversions • Why it works: Trustees need a face-saving exit when the plan under-funds and welcome quick recaps. • First action: Search DOL Form 5500 filings for plans that missed funding targets two years straight, then contact the trustee. Niche Slack or Discord Communities • Why it works: Founders overshare operational pain when they think only peers are watching. • First action: Spend ten minutes answering questions in the Contractors OpenAir Slack and track every DM that follows. Debt-Service Exhaust Signals • Why it works: Selling receivables at a 30 % haircut is a clear liquidity flare. • First action: Scrape UCC filings listing Pipe, Plastiq, or ClearCo as secured parties; prioritise companies stacking more than one advance. LinkedIn Talent-Migration Triggers • Why it works: A newly hired CFO or Controller often signals the owner is prepping the books for sale. • First action: In LinkedIn Recruiter, set an alert for Controller hires at private companies in your target sectors and follow up within thirty days. Alumni-Triggered M&A Alerts • Why it works: Founders nearing an earn-out cliff are open to a cleaner exit. • First action: Query ZoomInfo for founders whose previous company was acquired 2.5–3 years ago and start a conversation. Industrial Brokers’ “Dead” Files • Why it works: Local brick-and-mortar brokers drop mandates once EBITDA tops $1.5 million; you can revive those files for a 25 bps success fee. • First action: Offer a revival fee on listings pulled in the past twelve months that never closed. How I Stack the Workflow • Automated sourcing: n8n bundles Channels 1, 4, and 6 into a Monday-morning CSV. • One-touch outreach: Load the list into Woodpecker and personalise the opening line with a datapoint from your scrape. • Fast triage: Any reply mentioning timeline, price expectations, or EBITDA gets an immediate fifteen-minute intro-call link. I hope this helps, I've seen a few common threads on here where people are asking how to source deals. Voila. Happy Hunting.