M&A Science Kison Patel

Michael Frankel, Founder and Managing Partner of Trajectory Capital. 
Here at M&A Science, our goal is to bring you the best and most effective techniques to improve your M&A practice.
In light of our 300th podcast episode, we have compiled the top 10 things that make M&A successful, together with Michael Frankel, Founder and Managing Partner of Trajectory Capital. 
Things you will learn:
Alignment in the shared vision of the end-state
Cultural alignment
Reverse Diligence
Continuous learning and improvement
Empathetic leadership
This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.

FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://firmroom.com 
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
05:58 Alignment in the shared vision of the end-state
10:51 Cultural alignment
15:03 Joint Go-to-market planning pre-LOI
20:24 Parallel diligence and integration planning
24:33 Reverse Diligence
27:13 Communication strategy with stakeholders
32:37 Continuous learning and improvement
35:16 Anticipate functional challenges
39:52 Empathetic leadership
44:47 Proper preparation
47:56 Craziest thing in M&A

Jeremy Segal, Executive Vice President Corporate Development at Progress (NASDAQ: PRGS)
When it comes to M&A, time is of the essence. As a buyer, it’s best to identify whether to pursue the deal or not as soon as possible, to avoid wasting money and time. Also, if the seller is a good target company, procrastinating could lead to more competition. 
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Jeremy Segal, Executive Vice President Corporate Development at Progress, shares their strategy on how to close deals in 30 days.
Things you will learn:
• Initial conversations with the target company
• Price negotiations
• Preliminary due diligence list
• Deal specific adjustments
• Confirmatory due diligence 
This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.
Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://dealroom.net
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
04:16 Initial conversations with the target company
08:56 Price negotiations
12:33 Preliminary due diligence list
17:05 When to ask questions
18:34 People Involved
19:10 Sales and Go-to-Market
21:02 Revenue Synergies
23:43 Customer Journey
24:26 Surprises
27:40 Customer Success
28:46 Financials
32:11 Red flags in people
32:47 Information Technology
34:28 Legal
36:48 Marketing
39:19 Breakdown of COGS
41:30 Benefits Template
42:56 Operating Expenses
43:58 General
44:58 Deal specific adjustments
45:56 Processing the preliminary diligence information
47:11 Confirmatory due diligence
50:40 Craziest thing in M&A
 

Steven Freidkin, CEO and Founder of Ntiva, Inc. and Christopher Vollmond-Carstens, Chief M&A Officer at Ntiva, Inc. 
In a highly fragmented industry, roll-ups are a great growth strategy. But integrating multiple entities can be difficult, especially if you don’t have a proven framework. Ntiva has been successful in its M&A strategy and has completed 15 acquisitions as of today. 
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Steven Freidkin, CEO and Founder of Ntiva, Inc. and Christopher Vollmond-Carstens, Chief M&A Officer at Ntiva, Inc., share their strategy on how to execute the roll-up strategy in the tech industry. 
Things you will learn:
• Creating value using a roll-up strategy
• Evaluating a target company
• Importance of recurring revenue
• Red flags pre-LOI
• Biggest advice for first-timers
This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.

Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://dealroom.net
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
08:04 Creating value using roll-up strategy
12:38 Pitching to private equity
18:32 Evaluating a target company
22:30 Importance of recurring revenue
23:35 Customer Concentration
26:42 Challenges of doing roll-ups
30:36 Mismanaging M&A
37:52 Deal Sourcing
43:46 Red flags pre-LOI
46:53 Deal structure on roll-ups
51:52 Biggest advice for first-timers
52:46 Craziest thing in M&A
 

Kyle Price, Chief of Staff & Corporate Development at Roblox
Creating a dedicated M&A function can be daunting for non-acquisitive companies. It’s a big commitment that could take away valuable time and resources from top level management. However, when done right, corporate development muscle can be built slowly, and organically. 
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Kyle Price, Chief of Staff & Corporate Development at Roblox, shares his experience on how to start an M&A function slowly and successfully from scratch. 
Things you will learn in this episode:
• When to build an M&A function
• Importance of the people side in M&A
• Working with business leaders
• Evolution of corporate development
• Handling biases in the M&A process
This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.

FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://firmroom.com
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
04:10 When to build an M&A function
07:40 Challenges of a high-growth company doing M&A
08:45 Lessons learned along the way
10:39 Importance of the people side in M&A
12:57 Integration planning
14:39 Working with business leaders
16:42 Deal sourcing
17:24 Overcoming anti-M&A culture
22:04 Team alignment from functional leads
24:02 M&A surprises
25:59 Setting up new leaders for success
28:07 Evolution of corporate development
33:15 Measuring corporate development activity
34:20 Incentivizing the team
35:03 Handling biases in the M&A process
43:33 Craziest thing in M&A
 

Ivan Golubic, CFO | Corporate Development M&A at FastLap Group
Roll ups are a great strategy for highly fragmented industries. It allows the platform company to increase its size, capabilities, and market presence through the acquisition and integration of other businesses. However, it can be challenging without a proper framework. 
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Ivan Golubic, CFO, Corporate Development M&A at FastLap Group, shares his experience on how to start executing roll up strategy in M&A from scratch. 
Things you will learn:
• Setting up the roll up strategy
• Valuation on roll up strategy
• Building the operating strategy
• Dealing with capital providers
• Biggest lessons learned doing roll up strategy
This episode is sponsored by the DealRoom.

Ready to take your M&A to the next level with software made to manage each stage of the deal process? See how DealRoom can facilitate your next deal at https://dealroom.net
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
03:01 Transitioning from Corporate Development to CFO 
07:39 Setting up the roll up strategy
12:26 Importance of industry expertise
14:10 Proactive approach to expanding industry expertise
16:11 Valuation on roll up strategy
22:10 Building the operating strategy
24:54 Dealing with capital providers
28:37 Building your pipeline
30:45 Pitching to the PE firm
35:48 Explaining your M&A process to investors
38:46 Building your M&A team
40:42 Monitoring Cost
42:05Success metrics
49:25 Utilizing Technology
50:45 Importance of a unified platform
52:58 Biggest lessons learned doing roll up strategy
56:39 Future trends in the roll up space
57:33 Craziest thing in M&A
 

Jim Buckley, Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration at VMware
Integration planning is one of the most important aspects of M&A pre-close. Planning after the fact will cause massive delays and value leaks for the entire deal. It is why the integration team must be involved during the due diligence phase. 
In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, we will talk about how to create an executable integration plan during the diligence, featuring Jim Buckley, Vice President, Mergers and Acquisitions Integration at VMware.
Things you will learn in this episode:
• How to work as an integration leader
• Building an integration plan
• Pre-LOI integration planning
• Connecting diligence with integration planning
• Defining 'done' in M&A integration
This episode is sponsored by FirmRoom.
FirmRoom provides 80% cost savings over VDRs that bill by page and delivers a far better user experience to boot. Sign up in under 2 minutes by going to https://firmroom.com
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Episode Bookmarks
00:00 Intro
04:41 Navigating corporate transitions
08:31 Aligning the integration leader with the north star
10:02 How to work as an integration leader
11:25 The role of an integration lead
13:31 Building an integration plan
16:25 Focus on revenue and integration
18:51 Pre-LOI integration planning
25:08 M&A due diligence
27:37 Employee integration and customer satisfaction
29:56 Connecting diligence with integration planning
36:20 Approach to team collaboration
39:06 The details of integration plan
41:11 Complexities of M&A integration planning
44:57 Aligning with the target company
46:46 Defining 'done' in M&A integration
49:12 Integration teams leading due diligence
51:38 Leveraging diligence data for effective planning
53:13 Advice for M&A practitioners
55:45 Craziest thing in M&A