Deal Origination Associate

About this role

We are a stealth vertical AI holding company building the world's largest distributor of AI to industries who will never buy it directly from model labs. We acquire hyper-niche vertical software companies serving the forgotten economy - lumber suppliers, elevator repair, marinas, mobile home parks, tow trucks, locksmiths, tattoo parlors, pest control, sign manufacturers, and 20+ other overlooked verticals. We buy the systems of record these industries already run on, then layer AI agents and embedded fintech on top to compound cash flow.

Every acquisition is a permanent home for a founder's life work. More about who we are will be shared under NDA. The Role You are the tip of the spear. Your job is to find, engage, and build multi-year trust relationships with software founders in 25+ niche verticals so that when they decide to sell, we are the only call they make. This is not a warm-inbound seat. It's not investment banking. It's outbound origination + relationship compounding + deal quarterbacking - the exact function that separates Constellation's operating groups from every wannabe roll-up that has flamed out.

What You'll Do... Own the top of funnel end-to-end. Build and maintain a proprietary pipeline of 2,000+ target companies across our buy box, mapped by vertical, ARR, ownership structure, and readiness-to-sell signals. Run heavy outbound. 100+ meaningful founder touches per week - cold email, LinkedIn, phone, handwritten notes, in-person visits. We measure conversations, not activity theater. Build 3-year relationships.

Most founders in our verticals sell once. Your win rate is a function of being the trusted party in their inbox for years before the LOI conversation happens. Show up in the physical world. Attend 8–12 industry-specific trade shows per year. This is where the deals live. Qualify ruthlessly against the buy box (below). No happy ears. If a target doesn't fit, kill it early. Quarterback deals from first call to signed LOI.

Financial pre-diligence, valuation triangulation, LOI drafting support with the M&A lead. Leverage our proprietary distribution. We already reach 50K+ founders and operators through owned channels - your job is to convert that audience into founder conversations. On Day 1 we expect you to have... 2-5 years in deal sourcing / origination at a private equity firm, holding company, or search fund. You've done cold outbound at scale and enjoyed it.