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Crossroads Capital is a boutique M&A advisory operating in the DC Metro area. They’re focused on GovCon/Defense, IT Services, and SaaS businesses. For the most part, they operate in the Mid-Atlantic region in the lower middle market, but they have history with cross-border deals to Europe as well.
Richard Phillips, the Co-Founder of Crossroads Capital, shares insights into the development of a deal sourcing process that is not only efficient, but also works across industries.
CHALLENGE
Flying Blind: The Pitfalls of a Fragmented Process
Phillips had experimented with various deal sourcing tools in the past, but none quite hit the mark. "To put it simply," he stated, "– other software solutions just haven't been effective enough at intelligent targeting."
Some tools failed to address their buy-side needs, while others excelled in specific industries, but fell short when deployed in broader sectors. Additionally, many of the software solutions they had tested weren't intuitive enough, making it difficult to find what they were looking for and be more systematic in their approach.
Their process ended up consisting of a mix of different databases, direct communication with companies, and a lot of internet searches, but it didn’t feel ideal. “We knew we were missing out on targets and intelligence, it felt like we were flying blind a little bit,” Phillips admitted.
SOLUTION
Enhanced Target Quality: Deeper Analysis and Better Results
Turns out, Inven was the missing piece. When Crossroads Capital discovered Inven, it was revolutionary for them.
Phillips recalls, “When we saw the interface, I remember thinking that this is great. It's creative. Easy to use, easy to understand, easy to navigate. Easy to find what you’re looking for quickly.”
“I absolutely love it. I sing its praises a lot to other folks,” Phillips says. He mentioned various features that made Inven stand out. They have found value in Inven’s contact data, the intent to sell, AI screening capabilities and especially the software’s nuanced understanding of the context and criteria of each search. While their main use case for Inven rests on the buy side, they have also recognized the software’s capabilities for the sell side buyer search as well. “It's a great business intelligence tool and its ease of use is on top of all those things.” Phillips says.
OUTCOME
Crossroads Capital Cuts Deal Search Time by up to 80% with Inven
Inven not only felt like the most comfortable and seamless software to use for Crossroads Capital, but it also delivered impactful results. “It has improved our search capability,” he explains. “The impact of it is so obvious and apparent. Work that might have taken ten hours with our previous methodologies and tools, now takes only two or three – and we’re able to do a deeper analysis on targets with that saved time.”
For Crossroads Capital, Inven has improved the quality of targets and allowed them to spend their time more effectively and thoughtfully.
Philips highlights, “Of all the tools I've used, and I've used pretty much all of them–Inven is the easiest to use, the one I enjoy most, it's my go to."
