In 2002, Steve McLaughlin who was Global head of Financial Technology investment banking at Goldman Sachs left his job to found FT Partner from his apartment in Pacific Heights, San Francisco.

When the firm was launched, McLaughlin was helped by unpaid interns from University of California, Berkeley to buy office supplies from a Staples store.

After the sale, FT Partners commissioned and framed a cartoon commemorating the deal with plans to present it at a celebratory dinner in New York.

It was speculated that FT Partners was chosen because its independent nature allowed it to get better valuation for VeriFone compared to the larger investment banks who might underprice the new offering to please their investor clients.

In addition FT Partners as a single IPO adviser was able to keep VeriFone's intention secret until it was ready to market the deal which was more difficult with the traditional underwriting route as it involved multiple parties.

[1][2] FT partners business model combines investment banking advisory services with the profit seeking of private equity which results in fees that often ratchet up as a percentage of the sales price it fetches for clients.

The blueprint of FT partners is to find companies that are not properly valued, negotiate unusual fee structures and only represent the sellers.