How Ted Sources Deals

Deal sourcing in investment banking has not changed in decades. Managing directors network at conferences, work their Rolodex, and hope that timing aligns with a business owner's readiness to sell. It works. It is also incredibly inefficient.

DealsByTed takes a different approach.

The Traditional Model

A typical MD at a lower middle market investment bank maintains relationships with maybe 200-300 business owners and intermediaries. They touch base quarterly. They attend 10-15 conferences a year. They rely heavily on referrals.

The conversion math: out of 300 relationships, maybe 5-10 will result in a mandate in any given year. That is a 2-3% conversion rate on a relationship that took years to build.

The Agent Model

Ted monitors thousands of potential targets simultaneously. Not just contact information — Ted tracks business signals that indicate readiness to transact:

Ownership transition signals. Founder age, succession planning activity, key person insurance filings, and management team additions that suggest professionalization before exit.

Financial performance signals. Revenue growth trends, margin expansion or contraction, capital expenditure patterns, and debt structure changes that affect valuation timing.

Market timing signals. Sector M&A multiples, comparable transactions, buyer appetite indicators, and financing availability that affect deal probability.

Competitive signals. Roll-up activity in the sector, platform acquisitions by PE sponsors, and strategic buyer expansion plans that create urgency.

How Outreach Works

Ted does not cold-call business owners and ask if they want to sell. That approach is tone-deaf and ineffective. Instead, Ted initiates value-first conversations:

A business owner in a sector seeing active consolidation might receive an industry briefing on recent transaction activity and valuation trends. No pitch. Just useful information that demonstrates Ted's knowledge of their market.

If they engage, Ted follows up with more specific analysis: comparable company valuations, buyer landscape mapping, and market timing considerations. Still no pitch. Just value.

The pitch, when it comes, is consultative: "Given what is happening in your sector, it might be worth having a confidential conversation about your options. No obligation."

The Results

Advisory firms using DealsByTed for origination are seeing 3-5x more initial conversations with potential sellers. The conversion rate from conversation to mandate is lower than warm introductions (naturally), but the volume more than compensates.

More importantly, Ted identifies opportunities that human bankers miss. The business owner who is not at conferences, not in the referral network, but whose business signals indicate readiness to explore options. These are often the best mandates because they have not been shopped to every bank in the market.

The Human Handoff

Ted originates. Humans close. The moment a business owner expresses genuine interest, a human banker takes over the relationship. Trust, rapport, and the nuanced advisory work of guiding an owner through the most important financial decision of their life — that is human work.

The role of the agent is to ensure that human bankers spend their time on owners who are ready and qualified, not on cold calls that go nowhere.