Peterson’s Multi-layered Strategy Powered by Grata

No matter the sector, Grata builds a complete market map.

Peterson’s Multi-layered Strategy Powered by Grata
CLIENT OVERVIEW

Meet Peterson Partners

Peterson Partners has partnered with over 300 companies across its all 3 branches – VC, PE, and search funds. The team is led by founder Joel Peterson, author of Entrepreneurial Leadership: The Art of Launching New Ventures, Inspiring Others, and Running Stuff and The 10 Laws of Trust: Building the Bonds that make a Business Great.

Max Artz, a Partner at Peterson Partners, met Joel Peterson at Stanford, where Artz earned his MBA after a global career that spanned from New York to China to New Zealand. In 2018, Max Artz joined the Peterson Partners team heading up the search fund portion of the Peterson Partners 3-pronged strategy. 

What sets Peterson Partners apart is also the strategic processes in place to share information across the different verticals and theses. Not only is research shared, but so are the tools.

One of those tools is Grata.

THE OBJECTIVE

Equip searchers with the right tools to find a company.

Searchers have a lot to balance: searching for new companies, reaching out to new executives, and maintaining ongoing conversations is a juggling act. Peterson knew their searchers need the right sourcing tech, to free up their time to have those important conversations.

Equip Business Development with the right tools to map the middle market.

The Peterson private equity team wanted to find hidden verticals (companies that aren’t appearing in databases just yet) but may fit their investment thesis. According to Artz, “The PE business development team of 3 people uses Grata daily to develop different theses and find new verticals. You cross the river by feeling different stones. Grata is a method for us to turn over those stones. We can find verticals we didn’t even know existed.”

THE Solution

Grata is a deal sourcing platform that helps dealmakers find, research, and engage with middle market companies. Grata’s proprietary artificial intelligence validates data through a fully automated system, allowing users to search millions of companies by keyword.

Peterson Partners works across various sectors–business services, software, and healthcare so whatever tool they used to search needed to be dynamic and expose the full universe of companies in these industries.

THE Result

Grata replaced old workflows

Previously, searching the middle market took one of three forms:

  1. Brute force. This looked like a lot of Googling. Searchers would then have to find each company’s contact page to find an email address. 
  2. Light outsourcing. A faster method was to use a resource like Upwork or Fiverr to hire someone to run the search for us. Requests would often look like “find every senior care software business in the mountain west.” Though this route was faster, inaccuracy was common.
  3. Combining tools. There are various tools on the internet that promise easy company search. Peterson pieced together tools to try and create an accurate picture of their target sectors.
“Grata checks the right boxes. It’s fast and accurate.

-Max Artz, Partner at Peterson Partners

Features

Grata Features they Love

Top features that increased efficiency in their sourcing workflow.

Similar Company Search

When a searcher finds a new company that meets their criteria, Grata’s Similar Company Search feature allows them to build a comparative list in seconds. Type in the company, click “Find Similar.” Expand your search with ease.

The Speed of Product Updates 

Peterson Partners has been using Grata for 4+ years. “Since the start we’ve seen Grata’s data refreshed consistently and since the Series A funding, we’ve seen Grata invest in even more accurate data. It’s no surprise as funding has gone up, the accuracy of the tool has as well."

I can’t wait to see what’s next from Grata.”

-Max Artz, Partner at Peterson Partners

Subscribe to our newsletter

Monthly tactics from Grata’s team and operators.

Related
Articles

Learn how Grata drives results — directly from clients.

How Wickdale Capital Acquired Investor Machine Using Grata

How Wickdale Capital Acquired Investor Machine Using Grata

Wickdale Capital, a traditional search fund focused on acquiring one exceptional B2B business for the long term, turned to Grata to cut through an opaque private market. By replacing manual research with targeted, data-driven outreach, founder Kunal Pasrija identified, approached, and closed the right acquisition — finding his deal not through volume, but through precision.
Read more
The Data Edge: How Investment Bank Equiteq Accelerated Global Growth with Grata

The Data Edge: How Investment Bank Equiteq Accelerated Global Growth with Grata

Equiteq, a global investment bank specializing in sell-side M&A for consulting and technology services firms, turned to Grata to compete on precision in one of finance's most fragmented markets. By replacing broad outreach with tightly targeted campaigns across seven offices on four continents, Equiteq has made data quality and global coverage the foundation of its growth strategy.
Read more
How Artemis Origination Accelerates High-Quality M&A Opportunities with Grata

How Artemis Origination Accelerates High-Quality M&A Opportunities with Grata

Artemis Origination, a global buy-side M&A advisory firm, turned to Grata to solve one of dealmaking's toughest challenges: achieving deep coverage in fragmented markets where the best targets are hardest to find.
Read more
How The JIAN Group Increased Outreach Success with Grata’s Accurate Data and Workflow Solutions

How The JIAN Group Increased Outreach Success with Grata’s Accurate Data and Workflow Solutions

For more than 30 years, The JIAN Group has built its reputation on trust, precision, and successful deal execution in the building materials industry. By adopting Grata, the firm strengthened its sourcing and outreach workflows with accurate, confidential data and responsive support.
Read more
Beyond Word of Mouth: How Odeko Saved Time and Sourced Two New Acquisitions with Grata

Beyond Word of Mouth: How Odeko Saved Time and Sourced Two New Acquisitions with Grata

For years, food tech company Odeko relied heavily on personal connections and word of mouth for sourcing new deals. When the team needed to level-up, they turned to Grata. Here's how Grata drove more efficient sourcing — and real results.
Read more
How B. Woods & Company Achieved a More Efficient and Precise Deal Origination Process with Grata’s AI

How B. Woods & Company Achieved a More Efficient and Precise Deal Origination Process with Grata’s AI

B. Woods & Company is a boutique buy-side origination firm that executes highly specific acquisition mandates for institutional capital managers. Founder Will Woods explains how Grata became the firm’s starting point for top-of-funnel research, enabling greater precision, faster mandate execution, and more meaningful founder and investor conversations.
Read more
Building a Pipeline for the Future: How Grata Supercharged Edgemont’s Deal Sourcing Workflows

Building a Pipeline for the Future: How Grata Supercharged Edgemont’s Deal Sourcing Workflows

Grata's AI-driven search capabilities and robust database have provided the Edgemont team with the specificity needed to be successful in the healthcare sector.
Read more
Blue backgound