Search fund deal sourcing
By Jason, founder of JW AI Works
Every search starts with finding companies to talk to. This page covers how direct owner outreach fits into search fund deal sourcing, for traditional search funds and self-funded searchers alike.
The search fund landscape
Search funds are an established path to owning a business. Stanford GSB's 2026 search fund study counts 181 new search funds launched in 2024–2025 and 862 tracked since 1984. About 58% of searchers go on to acquire a company, and the median purchase price in 2024–25 was $16M. (Stanford GSB, counts)
Self-funded searchers aren't in those numbers. Stanford's study doesn't cover them, and there's no reliable count.
Where search fund deal flow comes from
Most searchers use a mix of channels:
- Listed deals from brokers and other intermediaries
- Their network, including investors, advisers and people in their target industry
- Direct outreach to owners whose businesses aren't for sale
Direct outreach is how you reach owners who haven't decided to sell yet. It takes steady work: building lists, writing emails, following up and sorting replies, week after week.
How direct owner outreach works for searchers
- Set your buy box. Industry, states, size range, years in business and anything to leave out.
- Build your list from public sources, such as government business records and companies' own websites, and check every email address.
- Write short, plain emails as yourself. Write as a real person with a real reason for writing. Our guide on how to approach a business owner about selling has a sample email.
- Send steadily from separate inboxes, warmed up first, with your name, mailing address and an opt-out in every email.
- Sort replies and screen interested owners with a few short questions, then get them on your calendar.
What to track
Your investors will ask how your search is going. Track the basics each week: owners contacted, replies, interested owners and calls booked. Nobody can promise reply numbers. For a rough reference, one outreach firm shared its 2025 numbers on Searchfunder: 82,035 emails to owners led to 1,815 replies (3.87%). That's their combined result, not a forecast. (source)
What sourcing help costs
Some deal-flow services charge a monthly fee plus a success fee when you buy, up to 5% of the price. With Klontak, a full year costs $9,000 whether you buy or not. See pricing for what's included.
Where Klontak fits
Klontak runs the outreach for one buy box. We build your owner list, write emails in your voice that you approve, send them in your name from inboxes set up just for you, and sort the replies. Interested owners get your calendar link. You get a weekly report plus a live Google Sheet, which is handy for investor updates.
It's $750 a month, flat, with no commission and no success fee. If your emails aren't going out by day 21, month 2 is free. Day 21 counts from your first payment, and days we spend waiting on your buy box or approvals don't count toward it. That guarantee covers when sending starts, not results (full terms). Klontak never negotiates or advises on price or terms.