Comparison
DealSource Systems vs TruSight.
DealSource Systems wrote this page and DealSource Systems is one of the firms on it. That belongs in the first line, not in a footnote. Every TruSight claim below was read off trusightllc.com on 18 September 2026 and is quoted. This is the comparison on this site where the other firm wins a whole category outright, and the page says which one.
Who each one is for
TruSight works with "professional investors, private equity funds, family office investors, and business intermediaries" in the lower middle market, and also partners with investment banks who want their deals distributed.
DealSource Systems works only for acquirers and advisors who want off-market owner conversations created for them. We have no intermediary network and do not distribute anyone's deals.
What TruSight actually does
Two services, named on their own site. "Intermediary Coverage": "Receive weekly deals from our 13,000+ intermediary contacts and broaden the reach of your investment opportunities through proactive sell-side marketing." "Retained Buy-Side Search": "Receive a constant flow of targeted, proprietary acquisition opportunities custom-tailored for your firm, discovered through outreach directly to private companies."
Behind both sits a data asset: "TruSight acquired Private Equity Info in 2021 to enhance Deal Sourcing services with a team that delivers 15,000 updates per month to our database of investment banks, private companies, acquisitions and the executives involved."
Tenure, in their words: "For over 10 years, TruSight has focused on providing subscription-based deal origination, retained buy-side acquisition search, and contingent deal sourcing services", and on the investor page, "For more than a decade". No prices are published.
What we do
DealSource Systems runs origination as a standing function for private equity funds, M&A advisors, boutique investment banks and search funds. AI maps the market against your thesis, scores readiness signals on each company and drafts the approach. Then operators with deal experience review every message before an owner sees it and handle the replies, including the ones that need a real answer about structure or timing.
Pricing is on the site rather than behind a call: from $4,000 a month for a single thesis, $8,000 and above for a dedicated multi-thesis mandate, no success fee, 90-day minimum term. The engagement we publish in full is Merritt Healthcare Advisors, a healthcare investment bank: 14 qualified founder conversations in the first three weeks, 133 inside 90 days. We are part of Danish Lead Co.
| TruSight | DealSource Systems | |
|---|---|---|
| Core services | Intermediary Coverage and Retained Buy-Side Search | Off-market owner origination only |
| Network claimed | "13,000+ intermediary contacts" | None. We create conversations rather than route them |
| Deal source | Weekly deals from intermediaries, plus direct outreach to private companies | Direct outreach to owners on your thesis |
| Data asset | Private Equity Info, acquired 2021, "15,000 updates per month" | Market maps built per mandate, not a standing database |
| Published pricing | None published | From $4,000 a month |
| Minimum term | None published | 90 days |
| Tenure | "For over 10 years" | Newest firm in the category, one published engagement |
| Works for intermediaries too | Yes, distributes their deals to investors | No. Acquirer side only |
Where TruSight is stronger than us
Intermediary coverage, which we do not offer at all. "13,000+ intermediary contacts" delivering weekly deals is a service with no equivalent on our side. If the hole in your pipeline is that bankers and brokers are not showing you deals, TruSight fills it and we cannot. That is the clearest single-row loss on this whole comparison section.
A maintained data asset. Private Equity Info with "15,000 updates per month" is infrastructure they own. We license and build data per mandate rather than maintaining a standing database.
Tenure. "For over 10 years" against our one published engagement.
Two directions at once. Because they also market deals on behalf of intermediaries, their coverage compounds from both sides. Ours only goes one way.
Where we are stronger
Genuinely proprietary, not intermediated. A deal that arrives through an intermediary network arrives with other buyers attached. Everything we open is a first conversation with an owner who is not running a process. Our published engagement produced 133 of them inside 90 days.
Published pricing and a stated minimum. From $4,000 a month, 90-day minimum, no success fee. TruSight publishes no prices.
Message-level accountability. Operators with deal experience review every message before an owner sees it and handle the replies, so the quality of the first touch is a person's responsibility rather than a volume statistic.
The honest counterweight: we are the newest firm in this category and we publish one documented engagement. Anyone asking for a decade of closed transactions across hundreds of mandates is asking for something we do not have yet.
When to choose TruSight over us
Choose TruSight if your gap is on-market visibility rather than proprietary conversations, if you want weekly curated deal flow arriving without your team having to generate it, if you want the banker relationships themselves as the asset, or if you also want your own live mandates marketed to investors. Many funds should honestly buy this before they buy what we sell.
When to choose us over TruSight
Choose us if you are already seeing every brokered deal you want and losing them on price, if your thesis needs companies that have never spoken to an intermediary, if you want your own firm's name in front of owners rather than a third party's, or if you want a published monthly price rather than a quote.
Running both
These two are not mutually exclusive and the categories barely overlap. A fund with budget for one line of coverage usually has the on-market gap first, because that is the cheaper problem to fix. A fund that already sees everything brokered and keeps losing competitive processes has the other problem, and that is the one we solve.
How we checked this
Read on 18 September 2026: trusightllc.com and trusightllc.com/investors, which carry both service descriptions, the "13,000+ intermediary contacts" figure, the Private Equity Info acquisition and the "15,000 updates per month" claim, and the tenure statements. We looked for published pricing and found none. Our own numbers come from our published engagement and stated pricing.
Common questions
What does TruSight cost?
They publish no pricing. Their site describes subscription-based deal origination and retained search, but no figures. Ours is published: from $4,000 a month, $8,000 and above for a dedicated multi-thesis mandate, no success fee.
Does DealSource Systems offer intermediary coverage?
No. We do not maintain a banker network and we do not route brokered deals. If that is the coverage you need, TruSight's "13,000+ intermediary contacts" is the service and we are not a substitute for it.
What is the difference between intermediary coverage and proprietary search?
Intermediary coverage brings you deals that are already in a process, from bankers and brokers. Proprietary search creates conversations with owners who are not in a process at all. TruSight sells both. We sell only the second.
Can a fund use both firms at once?
Yes, and the overlap is small. TruSight would cover what the market is already showing. We would cover the companies that will never appear on that list. The question is which gap costs you more today.
How long has each firm been operating?
TruSight says "For over 10 years" and "For more than a decade". We are the newest firm in this comparison with one documented engagement published in full. That is a real advantage for them.