One operator. One business.
Aligned economics.
Dovetail Growth Partners is a Toronto-based traditional search fund. This page explains the model, shares the data behind it, and introduces the principal. The full memorandum is available to accredited investors on request.
The model, in brief.
Entrepreneurship through acquisition pairs committed owner-operator leadership with an established, cash-generative business, rather than building from zero or assembling a portfolio. A search fund does this in three phases:
- Search (18–24 months). A small group of investors funds a full-time, systematic search for one business. Search capital funds the search; it is not acquisition capital.
- Acquisition. When a target clears diligence, acquisition equity is raised separately, typically alongside senior debt. Search investors receive preferential economics and a pro-rata right to participate.
- Operate (years 1–100+). The searcher becomes the full-time CEO, with a board drawn from the investor group, and no forced exit timeline. The principal's economics are earned through vesting and performance hurdles tied to investor returns.
The structural advantages are alignment (the operator is paid on investor returns, not fees), a lower-middle-market pricing inefficiency that institutional capital cannot efficiently serve, and the operational focus of one accountable operator on one business.
Search
Systematic outreach to owners and intermediaries; screening, owner conversations, diligence, and one or more letters of intent. Investors are consulted before any LOI.
Acquire
Acquisition equity is raised alongside senior debt. Search investors convert on preferential terms and hold a pro-rata right to participate; unused search capital is returned or rolled in.
Operate
The searcher runs the company full-time with a board drawn from the investor group. Value comes from operating improvement over a long hold, not financial engineering — and there is no clock forcing an exit. Great companies, and great CEOs, are built over an even longer horizon.
The data, with its caveats.
Search funds have historically delivered strong returns relative to other private strategies, with a wide dispersion of outcomes. Both facts matter.
| Asset class | Aggregate IRR | Multiple (basis as stated) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search funds, all (862 funds since 1984) | ~33.9% | 4.75× ROI | Stanford GSB, 2026 |
| Search funds, excluding funds ≥10× ROI | ~27% | 2.8× ROI | Stanford GSB, 2026 |
| Search funds, excluding top 10% by ROI | ~20% | 2.1× ROI | Stanford GSB, 2026 |
| Search funds, realized LP outcomes (23 funds) | n/a | 2.50× weighted MOIC (gross) | Yale SOM, 2025 |
| US private equity (buyout) | ~16% | 1.80× median MOIC | PitchBook 2023; DealEdge |
| Venture capital (10-yr pooled net) | ~14–15% | ~1.8–2.2× TVPI | Cambridge Associates |
| S&P 500 (10-yr CAGR) | ~15.5% | ~4.2× growth of $1 | Bloomberg |
| TSX Composite (10-yr CAGR) | ~12.6% | ~3.3× growth of $1 | Bloomberg |
Stanford figures are entrepreneur-reported aggregates across the full population of first-time search funds in the US and Canada, including operating companies, exits at gains and losses, and funds that closed without acquiring. Indexed to public markets, search funds delivered a public market equivalent of 2.88× overall (Stanford GSB, 2026). Yale's investor-level analysis (Lazier, Thomas & Wasserstein, 2025) is a complementary measure of realized LP outcomes. Fund multiples and index growth-of-$1 figures use different bases and are not directly comparable. Past performance of the asset class is not a prediction of any fund's results.
Why Canada, and why now.
in business assets expected to change hands as 76% of Canadian owners exit within the decade.
CFIB, 2023
of owners intending to exit have no formal succession plan: a large pool of motivated sellers reachable before a broker is engaged.
CFIB, 2023
of Canadian PE transactions by count were under $25M in 2024, yet mega-deals absorbed most of the capital. The lower middle market is under-served.
CVCA, 2024
active traditional search funds in Canada as of 2024, versus 300+ in the US. Competitive density in Dovetail's segment is structurally low.
CVCA; IESE, 2023
Sources: CFIB Succession Tsunami (2023); ISED Key Small Business Statistics (2025); CVCA Canadian Private Equity Activity Report (2024); IESE Search Fund Study (2023).
Why Dovetail.
Stanford's research is clear that search fund returns are highly skewed by searcher quality. Inputs are measurable even when outcomes aren't. These are ours.
Analytical discipline
Seven years of buy-side due diligence and value-creation strategy at Bain & Company, supporting 20+ diligences across B2B software, industrial services, healthcare, logistics, and financial services for top-decile North American PE clients, with work reviewed at investment committee level.
Operator experience
Interim Chief of Staff to the CEO and COO of a PE-backed manufacturer through executive transitions, with hands-on execution on inventory, freight, and cost programs. Strategy and transformation work alongside the CTO and CSO of a $1B+ software business.
Both sides of the table
Advisory work for another Canadian search fund on a live acquisition: market sizing, CIM development, LBO modelling, expert interviews, and direct engagement with the seller. Uncommon for a pre-acquisition searcher.
Investment discipline
In a single-acquisition model, a bad deal can produce a zero; a missed deal costs an opportunity. Those errors are not symmetric. The qualification framework is built to avoid existential risk first, not to maximize upside on any one deal.
Sector focus
B2B field services, compliance-driven inspection, and vertical software: sectors with recurring revenue, customers who can't easily switch, fragmented competition, and limited institutional PE at the $1–5M EBITDA level. Sectors where Taylor's diligence experience applies directly.
A systematic, proprietary search
Industry mapping, owner-direct outreach, intermediary relationships, and the search fund network, tracked in a CRM from day one. Relationships built over months, not meetings, with investor feedback solicited at or before any LOI.
The investors we're looking for.
Taylor could pursue an acquisition independently; the paper economics of a self-funded search are more favourable. The traditional model was chosen deliberately, for what the structure provides beyond capital: a small group of experienced principals who have navigated difficult post-acquisition periods, seen deals collapse in diligence, and can provide perspective when judgment is under pressure. Even the best athletes in the world have coaches. The people who sit on this board will need to be available, offer constructive criticism when it's needed, and bring pragmatic solutions to the hardest decisions.
We are seeking a small group of investors and operators who understand the model, what it requires, and what it can return, and who are selected as much for operating experience and network as for capital. If that describes you, we'd welcome a direct conversation.
Want the PPM? Just ask. I’ve been told it’s one of the best ever seen.
The private placement memorandum describes the search capital offering in full: thesis, terms, use of proceeds, illustrative economics, and risk factors. It is available to accredited investors on request. Tell us a little about yourself and Taylor will follow up directly.
Nothing on this website constitutes an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any security. Any offering of units in Dovetail Growth Partners will be made only to accredited investors by means of a confidential private placement memorandum and definitive subscription documents, in reliance on exemptions from prospectus and registration requirements under National Instrument 45-106 and, for U.S. persons, Regulation D. No securities regulatory authority has reviewed or approved any of the information on this site. Neither Dovetail Growth Partners nor its founder is registered as an adviser or dealer under applicable securities legislation.
Thank you. Your note is on its way.
Taylor reads every introduction personally and will reply within a few business days. If you don't hear back, email Taylor.Miller@dovetailgp.ca directly.