I recently spoke on a panel with Inverness Graham’s Matt Moran about best practices for sourcing private equity investment opportunities. The focus of our discussion ranged from what technologies we use to empower more effective and efficient business development efforts to how we motivate the entire team to generate investment opportunities regardless of their aptitude for BD. The conference was chaired by Milestone Partner’s Dan Ryan, another business development pro who has a proven track record of success. Here’s a synopsis of what Dan discussed. To read more please see the attached presentation.
Why should firms hire a dedicated business development professional?
- Quality of actionable deal flow is one of the top factors for a fund’s success
- Consistent deal volume
- Intermediary community is still very fragmented
- Brand / message consistency – particularly important in changing market
- Feet on the street – network with relevant lenders, service providers, competitors, etc.
What makes a great head of business development?
Professional attributes:
- Corporate finance background
- Must be able to speak intelligently about investment opportunities and portfolio companies
- Intimate knowledge of firm’s investment philosophy/criteria
- Strong network or ability to quickly build one
- Can act as an effective liaison between deal sources and investment committee
- Ability to champion a deal (selectively)
- Ability to champion a banker for sell-side mandate (selectively)
Personal attributes:
- Organized
- Open-minded/thoughtful
- Executive presence
- People person
- Ability to let guard down/have fun
- Building rapport with deal sources is important
Click on the link below to access Dan’s presentation:
It’s the beginning of the year, which means we have a couple of weeks to finish planning our first half of the year travel. I’ll be headed to Boston in 2 weeks for the BIG deal on January 17 and then off to Atlanta
Once you’ve decided to make the leap and implement a CRM system, it’s important to set attainable goals for the organization well before implementation begins. These goals will become the basis for your implementation plan. More goals doesn’t necessarily equate to more development cost because over the past 10 years CRM developers have built systems to accomplish 80% – 90% of the things most investment shops are looking for. The more specific and detailed your planning is, the more successful and cost effective your implementation will be. 
Today’s investment professionals are relying on technology more than ever to help manage the increasing amount of information streaming in from distinct sources. Investment opportunities, referral sources, CIMs, limited partners, NDAs, portfolio company reports, financing sources, industry contacts – the list only continues to expand.
I attended the iGlobal Forum Independent Sponsor event on October 26, 2016. It was an interesting day where we spent time discussing new opportunities and trends in sourcing deals, negotiating fee structures, and finding fund sources. I do a fair amount of business with several great independent sponsors and have summarized where the industry is and where I think it is going.