The add-on research desk for PE-backed trade platforms.
Electrical & MEP first. HVAC and plumbing platform mandates considered.
We spend 30 days building a shortlist of add-on targets that clear your buy-box. Owner outreach is optional, and nothing goes out without your approval. One flat fee, prepaid. No success fees. No meeting guarantees.
A row is not done until it's proven twice.
One number per mandate. Scope in writing.
A scoped feasibility decision before a full mandate: we test the written buy-box against available registry coverage, source constraints, and likely exclusions. If you proceed to S1, the $1,500 is credited in full toward the $5,000 mandate. This is not a smaller mandate.
A written buy-box, a documented evidence standard, and an exclusion appendix showing what failed and why. The final PDF + CSV contains every independent operator that clears the agreed standard. Expected volume and geography are confirmed in the SOW after feasibility review. Weekly scorecard. Final delivery on day 28–30.
Optional, after kickoff. You approve the sequence before anything sends, and we log every opt-out. Up to 3 introductions if the owners consent. Never guaranteed, never priced on contingency.
Rolling coverage of one buy-box on a monthly retainer for platforms that want the map kept current, not rebuilt each quarter. Offered after a completed pilot, by separate SOW.
Renewals, second geos, and deeper niches are separate SOWs. Not a data dump. Not a banker process. Not a meeting factory.
Every layer of the stack wins somewhere. Including the ones that aren't us.
A comparison sheet that never concedes anything convinces no one. Here is the honest version.
| Layer | Cost shape | It wins when… | It doesn't cover… |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data platforms | ~$15k–60k/yr subscription | You have an analyst with time to search, filter, verify, and call continuously. | The qualification labor. Raw contractor records are not a shortlist that clears your box. |
| Internal BD | Salaries | You're at the scale where origination is a full-time function. | Early platforms. The first hire usually comes after the first add-ons close. |
| Sell-side bankers | Free to you (seller pays) | The company is already for sale and you tolerate auction pricing. | The independents not in market, where proprietary price conversations live. |
| Appointment shops | Per meeting booked | You want volume conversations and will absorb qualification cost on your own calendar. | Evidence. When the meeting is the billable unit, "qualified" stretches. |
| Managed origination | ~$2k/month, flat | You want volume and motion from one vendor: list building, copy, outreach, and owner calls. It is genuinely good value for that job. | Registry-level verification and the rejected rows: what failed the buy-box, why, and against which source. |
| The FrmWrk desk | Fixed fee / 30-day mandate | You want a mapped, verified target set for one thesis without contingent comp or a new subscription. | We are not a database, not a banker, not a meeting factory. We don't negotiate deals. |
We'd rather lose the sale on this page than win it on a claim the first deliverable can't cash.
The scope has edges. These are hard.
If one of these is what you actually need, we'll say so on the fit call and point you to the right layer of the stack.
Four steps. Thirty days.
Fit call
15–20 minutes. We confirm the shape of your buy-box and whether outreach is in or out of scope.
SOW + prepaid
One written scope, one flat number. Work starts when funds clear.
Weeks 1–4
Research at the evidence bar, weekly scorecard. Outreach only after you approve the script and the first contact list.
Day 28–30
Final PDF + CSV against the locked buy-box. Renewal conversation if the work earned it.
The rejected rows are part of the deliverable.
A 5-company specimen pack for a hypothetical, labeled buy-box: Minnesota commercial electrical, independent operators. Every included row meets the full evidence bar. The exclusion appendix shows every reviewed row that didn't make it, the failed criterion, and the source.
The sample is not your confidential thesis and not a free custom mandate. It exists so you can judge the discipline before a dollar moves.
Geography is confirmed on the fit call. We run one mandate at a time and do not take overlapping mandates within the same trade + target geography.
Prefer a conversation first? Book a 15-minute fit call.