Peterson Partners
At a Glance
If you are raising a traditional search, a two-decade backer whose founder helped write the model's early chapters belongs on the outreach list; arrive fluent in the standard economics.
- Pricing
- Custom Pricing, Investment terms, not fees: it publishes an average investment of $500K to $5M and a five-to-ten-year horizon, and nothing about the searcher's own economics.
- Best For
- Traditional searchers who want a long-tenured, multi-strategy backer whose founder helped shape the search-fund model
- Track Record
- A search practice run inside a multi-strategy firm that counts more than 300 companies across all of them over two decades. The search strategy, which it calls Peterson Search Partners and describes as dedicated to search funds and micro-cap buyouts, closed a $100M second fund by its own news post.
- Lane
- Traditional
- Funds
- The search phase and the deal
- Based
- Salt Lake City.
- Invests
- No investing scope on the pages this review read, so ask whether it will look at a search where you are.
- Buys
- Business services, software and internet, and healthcare companies, through growth, co-investment and buyout structures. The published $500K to $5M is its own check rather than the company's size.
- Before A First Call
- A two-decade record across more than 300 companies and a team page of biographies, with a contact page and an investor login. Nothing on the searcher's side of the first conversation.
- First-Time Operators
- A statement that people are the key differentiator and that entrepreneurial leaders differ from other leaders, with team biographies under it. A philosophy about character rather than a bar on history.
- How Long The Search Runs
- No length on the search and nothing about what happens if it ends without a deal, on the pages this review read. Ask what the clock is before you sign anything.
- Published Terms
- Average investment of $500K to $5M, participating usually 5 to 10 years.
- What A Searcher Gets
- Not published on the pages this review read. It is the figure a searcher most wants and most of this shelf does not print it, so ask before the first call rather than after.
- After The Close
- Says it stays for a chapter of growth, usually five to ten years, as coach and advisor.
- Roadmap Stages
- 1. Learn & Choose Your Path3. Set Up & Fund the Search
Pros and Cons
Pros
- A dedicated search-fund practice with more than twenty years behind it
- Founder Joel Peterson's Asurion role ties the firm to the model's origins
- A partnership approach and long five-to-ten-year holds, not a quick flip
Cons
- Search funds are one of three strategies beside private equity and venture, not the sole focus
- Terms and process are not published, the category norm
- Selective, so a strong personal and deal thesis is table stakes
What Searchers Say
Named in search-fund discussion as a long-standing backer, anchored by Joel Peterson's role in the model's early history; individual experiences track the specific partner relationship, as with all search investors.
How to Approach
Firms do not publish a term sheet you can prepare against, so this is how traditional (investor-backed) search capital comes in, what it weighs, and how to arrive ready.
The Typical Arc
- A first conversation on your background and why search, before any deal.
- A deep dive on your plan: industries, criteria, and how you will source.
- Backing for the search itself, then a fresh underwrite when you bring a live deal.
- A board seat and governance once you close.
What It Weighs
- Whether you will finish a two-year search, not only start one.
- The quality of your thesis and target criteria.
- How you will behave on a cap table over a long hold.
How to Prepare
- Bring a sourcing thesis, not a blank slate. Buyer Profile Builder
- Know which firms lead versus follow, and on what terms. Investors
- Make your operator case on one page. Buyer Profile Builder