Education

What we've learnedrunning off-market searches.

Articles on sourcing, financing, and deal structure, written from the inside of live engagements rather than as generic M&A advice.

Seven articles

Recent articles.

Market Sizing
Size Your Acquisition Market in an Afternoon: The Full Prompt and the Math Behind It

The complete method for sizing an acquisition market in an afternoon: the free data sources, the API calls, the math, and a prompt you can paste in as-is.

September 9, 2026
Financing
The SBA Rules Changed Again. Here's What It Costs You.

SOP 50 10 8.1 takes effect October 1 and rewrites SBA change-of-ownership underwriting. What it changes, and what to do about a deal already in motion.

September 9, 2026
Conversations
The 18 Questions I Ask Every Seller

A fixed set of questions for the first call with a seller, in the order that gets them answered, and the four rules that make the set work.

June 1, 2026
Conversations
They Replied. Now What?

An owner replies, the excitement takes over, and two messages later the best lead of the year is dead. Here's how to run the first call instead.

April 6, 2026
Outreach
The First Message: What to Say to an Owner Who Isn't Selling

The single question that ends a cold conversation with a business owner before it starts, and the four things to say instead.

February 9, 2026
List Building
How to Build a Target List That Actually Produces Deals

A search stalls almost every time for the same reason: the target list was built wrong before the first email ever went out.

December 22, 2025
Sourcing
Why the Best Businesses Are Never Listed

The businesses worth buying rarely get listed, and the ones that do have usually already been through a bidding war before you saw them.

November 10, 2025
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