Topic · 12 notes
Outsourced Corporate Development
Outsourced corporate development is an acquisition team you engage instead of hire. The outside team defines the thesis, maps the market, contacts owners, screens targets and supports diligence and negotiation, while your leadership keeps every decision. It suits companies that want to acquire but can't yet justify a full-time corp dev function.
Guides
- Proprietary deal sourcing: how direct owner outreach actually worksHow acquirers find proprietary deals by contacting owners who aren't for sale: building the list, the first message, follow-up cadence, confidentiality and turning conversations into processes.
- Acquiring a marketing, PR or digital agency: a buyer's guideWhat acquirers should know before buying a marketing, PR or digital agency: client concentration, key people, contracts, earn-outs, asset deals and integration.
- Building an acquisition thesis before building a target listA practical framework for defining acquisition objectives, target criteria, economics, integration logic, and decision gates before sourcing begins.
Playbooks
- Making your first acquisition: a playbook for founder-led companiesA step-by-step playbook for founders and management teams making their first acquisition: why, what to buy, how to find targets, valuation basics, diligence and the first 100 days.
- Running a PE add-on program without adding headcountHow sponsors and platform CEOs run steady add-on acquisition programs with an outsourced corporate development team: thesis, market coverage, owner outreach, board reporting and integration readiness.
Explainers
- Buying from startups that are shutting down: code, data, customers and teamsWind-downs are creating a quiet market in code, customer lists, data and teams. How acquirers can buy assets from shutting-down startups, what to check, and why AI labs are now competing for the same assets.
- Where AI helps corporate development, and where it doesn'tA practical look at AI in corporate development: market mapping, target screening, outreach drafting and diligence review, and the judgment calls that still need experienced people.
- How market maps support both M&A and organic growthHow a well-built market map can support acquisition sourcing, partner development, channel strategy, and focused outbound growth from the same underlying intelligence.
Outsourced Corporate Development: common questions
What does an outsourced corporate development firm do?
It runs the acquisition program end to end: thesis, target criteria, market mapping, owner outreach, screening, early diligence and negotiation support, with regular pipeline reporting to the management team.
Who uses outsourced corporate development?
Founder-led companies making their first acquisitions, mid-market companies without a deal team, and private equity-backed platforms running add-on programs without adding headcount.
How is it different from a buy-side banker?
A buy-side banker usually works one transaction at a time. Outsourced corporate development is an ongoing program that builds a pipeline across the whole market and keeps working after the first deal closes.
Build your acquisition program.
We define the thesis, map the market, run owner outreach and report on the pipeline, so your team only spends time on targets worth meeting.