Traditional Search Expense estimation

searcher profile

June 07, 2023

by a searcher from Harvard University - Harvard Business School in Piedmont, CA, USA

Hi all - I'm wondering if current / former traditional searchers have thoughts on three line items of expense estimation:

Broken deal costs - what did you budget and what was reality?

Software and Research - what did you buy and would you buy again?

Interns - how much did you pay? Any tips on hiring / evaluation?

Many thanks,
Chris

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commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Yale University in Los Angeles, CA, USA
Hi Chris - not quite sure on the broken deal cost estimation, but I do think searchers typically account for###-###-#### to fall through over their two-year search horizon. On software and research, we had good results using ZoomInfo for contact outreach and deal sourcing. The revenue figures listed were surprisingly accurate when comparing against a large database of historicals (note that this was in 2020, so it's possible that data quality has changed). Interns I've typically seen as unpaid with the value exchange being exposure to private equity skills and personal coaching from the searcher. I have seen a few searchers consider a full-time hire at the associate level to help, though I'm not in a position to comment on whether they've seen success in doing so.
commentor profile
Reply by a searcher
from Wilfrid Laurier University in Toronto, ON, Canada
I read a twitter thread yesterday by a searcher who recommended Streak as a CRM. It has a free plan, is Gmail based, and looks to have some solid features.

I'm planning to try it out in my search as well.
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