Searchers in niche industries/areas - how did you choose or target these areas?

February 28, 2026

by a searcher from New York University - Leonard N. Stern School of Business in New York, NY, USA

Hi everyone, coming back into search after stepping away for a few months. I was taking a more generalized approach (targeting any businesses within a particular size, EV and multiple) but have decided to narrow down focus on particular industries. For those of you who have taken this approach, how did you find and select markets/industries/areas of focus? What kinds of tools did you use for research and market analysis/data? What was your sourcing strategy? Would appreciate any input or guidance here. Thanks!

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

Hey Chris - it's a good question and I think you're on the right path to target a handful of industries that you like. When I come across a business/listing in a sector that I think could be interesting, I use the following ChatGPT deep research prompt as a back-of-the-napkin check to better understand the industry dynamics. Not perfect for sure but it does give you a directional sense of industry drivers. Shared here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D756Jbt0oYU5m0pLu0SIIxFNOBt1Fb5OAQfCTWD2K-c/edit?usp=sharing

Reply by a searcher
from Texas A&M University in Houston, TX, USA

Chris, I went through the same shift. Once I picked a lane, screening got way faster and I stopped wasting time on “maybe” deals. I liked Matthew’s Porter’s 5 Forces prompt. For me, the driver was simple: I wanted to broaden geography without moving, and Houston felt crowded in the usual ETA lanes. So I changed the criteria first, then paid attention to the industries that kept popping up as interesting. I ran Porter’s on those, and if something looked weak (customer concentration, switching costs, buyer power, etc.), I asked a blunt question: “Can I actually improve that with my skill set, or am I just hoping?” I landed on an industry where it is easy for me to say Yes or no to a deal in minutes and diving deeper makes more sense now. That’s basically how I kept the ETA framework, but filtered it through fit + competition so I’m not chasing everything.

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