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Playbook · M&A advisory

Fundz for M&A advisors and investment bankers

AI made execution free. Knowing first is the whole game now.

Mandates start before anyone calls a banker: the leadership team turns over, a founder steps back, the company comes under financial pressure, a competitor gets bought, or the numbers say it is likely to be acquired. Fundz shows you those companies every morning, so you are the first advisor in the room, not the fifth.

What Fundz does for a deal advisor

  • Sell-side signals. Leadership overhauls, a founder or CEO leaving, and signs of financial pressure often come before a sale, a restructuring or a recapitalisation.
  • Buy-side signals. Companies that just raised or just bought something are often buying again. The acquisitions card shows who is buying and in which sectors.
  • A look ahead. Likely to be acquired ranks companies in your saved filter that look set to be bought soon. Predictive Intelligence
  • The right person. The CEO, founder or CFO at each company, with the first email written for you.

Set up once (10 minutes)

Do this once. It takes about ten minutes, and it is what turns every number on your dashboard from the whole country into your own market.

  1. Tell Fundz who you advise. Open your targeting and fill in Target Criteria (industries, company size, locations) and Your Business Profile (a sentence or two on what you do and who for). Every morning Fundz scores the newest companies against these and fills Clients to reach today on your dashboard. How Daily Leads work
  2. Make your plays count your territory. While your cards still count the whole market, a Make these numbers yours box appears under Your plays this week on your dashboard. It asks where you work, which industries and what company sizes, starting from the targeting you already gave. Save it and every card that can be narrowed shows In your saved filters, with your own count beside the whole-market number. It only fills lists you have not set up yet, so it never overwrites a filter you built.
  3. Set your acquisitions filter. Open Acquisitions, filter to your sectors and deal geography, then click Save + Email Daily (or Save Only). The acquisitions card on your dashboard then counts only your market. Acquisitions
  4. Connect your inbox so SmartSend can send from your own Gmail or Outlook, and connect HubSpot or Salesforce if you use one. SmartSend
Not sure what to type? Use the Ask or tell Fundz anything box on your dashboard and say it in your own words, for example "companies in Texas with 50 to 500 employees that just raised". Talk to Fundz

Your daily routine (15 minutes)

About 15 minutes, top to bottom of your dashboard. The page is laid out in the order you work it.

Before the rest
Leaders left with nobody in the seat
The list at the very top of your dashboard: six companies where a senior leader left and nobody has been named to replace them. Companies covering a gap at the top often bring in outside advisors, and some start thinking about a sale. Each name opens the company page, and Open the full list shows every one.
Minute 1
Read your Daily Intelligence Brief
On the Pro and Strategic plans, a short, plain-words summary of what happened overnight at companies you care about. Each item carries a suggested next step and, where Fundz has the right person, a SmartSend button and Add to targets. Daily Briefing
Minutes 2 to 8
Work Clients to reach today
The companies picked for you today, ranked by what just happened at each one and how well it fits your targeting. Each row says why it is here. Pick the two or three you would most like to pitch, open the company, and either SmartSend the right person or press Add to targets to work it over the next few weeks.
Minutes 8 to 15
Clear Today
One list of the companies you are already working: who replied, which follow-ups are due and what just happened at your targets. Deal with each row right there. Press Handled once you have answered a reply. How Today works

Your plays this week

The Advisory dashboard puts one list at the very top, Leaders left with nobody in the seat, and five cards under Your plays this week. Each card counts one kind of moment and opens the exact list behind its number.

Leaders left with nobody in the seat
Top of your dashboard · last 30 days
TriggerA CEO, CFO or other senior leader left a public company and nobody has been named.
WhoThe board chair, lead director or largest shareholder.
Why nowA leadership gap is when boards step back and ask whether to hire, merge or sell.
Next stepOffer a strategic-alternatives conversation, not a pitch book. Open the full list
Companies under financial pressure
Your plays this week · last 30 days
TriggerA filing reports an open problem: a bankruptcy filing, a lender calling a loan, an exchange listing notice, restated financials, or an auditor change with a going-concern or control warning. Routine auditor changes and companies back in compliance are left out.
WhoThe CEO, CFO or board. For buy-side clients, the company itself is the opportunity.
Why nowDistress forces a decision: refinance, sell assets, find a buyer or restructure.
Next stepBring a view on options and a sense of which buyers or lenders would engage. Open the full list
Leadership overhauls
Your plays this week · last 90 days
TriggerSeveral executive changes at one company in 90 days.
WhoThe CEO and board.
Why nowClusters of executive changes often come before a sale, a restructuring or a strategy change.
Next stepAsk to share what comparable companies were valued at recently. Open the full list
Companies that just bought or sold a business
Your plays this week · last 30 days
TriggerA company bought or sold a business.
WhoThe buyer, for the next deal. The seller's competitors, who may now want to sell or buy.
Why nowDeals cluster in a sector. One acquisition makes every competitor rethink its options.
Next stepCall the buyer's corporate development lead about their next target, and the seller's closest competitors about theirs. Open Acquisitions
New senior leaders
Your plays this week · last 14 days
TriggerA company appointed a new senior executive.
WhoThe new CEO or CFO.
Why nowNew leaders set a plan in the first 90 days, and that plan often includes buying or selling a division.
Next stepOffer a short market map of targets or buyers in their space. Open Executives
Just raised money
Your plays this week · last 7 days
TriggerA company closed a funding round.
WhoThe CEO or CFO.
Why nowFresh capital is often earmarked for acquisitions.
Next stepBring two or three targets that fit their strategy. Open Fundings

Office moves as a deal signal

Office Expansions shows companies taking new office space or building one out, from public-company lease filings and city building permits. Expansion often follows a deal or comes before one, and a company adding sites is a candidate buyer. Office Expansions

Your weekly routine

Monday
Scan Your plays this week
Each card counts one kind of moment in your market this week and opens the exact list behind its number. Work the cards with the biggest counts in your saved filters first. The role tabs above the cards (Sales, Recruiting, Advisory, Investing, Founder, Raising) let you peek at another role's plays; the one marked you is yours.
Monday
Look ahead with What happens next
Below your plays, Likely to raise next and Likely to be acquired list companies from your saved filter that look set to do it soon. Reach them before the news. Predictive Intelligence
Tuesday
Read the SEC Daily Briefing
Under SEC Intelligence, the Daily Briefing sums up the day's public-company filings in plain words, and the 10-K/10-Q analysis flags risks for any company you are about to call. SEC Intelligence
Wednesday
Check Lender Intelligence
On the Strategic plan, Lender Intelligence shows companies whose business loans are coming up for renewal (Renewal Radar) and companies borrowing from two or more lenders at once (Stacked Borrowers). Both are refinancing and consolidation moments, and good openings for a capital-markets conversation. Lender Intelligence
Friday
Review My targets
Move each company to its stage (To contact, Contacted, Replied, Meeting, Won, Lost) and set its next step. Tick Email me when there's news at my targets once and Fundz emails you when something happens at one of them. My targets · Target news email

Reach the decision maker

  1. Open the company. Every company name on your dashboard opens its page: what just happened, funding history, hiring, momentum and the people. Company profiles
  2. Find the CEO, founder or CFO. Search the company's people for free, then press Reveal email only on the person worth reaching. A reveal uses one contact credit.
  3. SmartSend. Fundz drafts a short email that mentions the event, you edit it, and it goes from your own inbox. Follow-ups stop when they reply on Outlook, and wait for your OK on Gmail. SmartSend
  4. Or warm it up first. Engage matches the signals at your target companies to your own LinkedIn connections, so you can start with someone you already know.

What to say

Hi Laura, I noticed the recent changes on your leadership team. Moments like this often lead boards to look at all their options. We advise companies your size on growth, recapitalisation and sale. Happy to share what similar businesses have been valued at recently, with no agenda.
Hi Ben, congrats on the acquisition. Buyers who close one deal are usually looking at the next. I have a short list of companies that fit the same thesis. Worth 20 minutes?

Troubleshooting

The numbers look like the whole country

You have not saved a territory yet. Use Make these numbers yours under Your plays this week, or set your targeting. A card marked Whole market is a signal that cannot be narrowed to a territory, so it always counts everything.

A card says zero in my saved filters

Nothing new happened inside your filter in that window. The card also shows the whole-market count, so you can widen the filter or open the full list.

A page in this playbook is missing from my menu

Your sidebar shows the pages for your role. Click All tools at the bottom of the sidebar to see everything. The same button then reads as your role's view (for example Recruiter view), which takes you back.

My daily list is empty

Your targeting needs industries, company size, locations and a business profile before leads can be scored. Finish or widen your targeting and leads arrive the next morning.

Ready to run this playbook? Fundz sets up tuned to how you work.Start with this playbook →