Inorganic Podcast

Christian Hassold & Ayelet Shipley
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Ayelet Shipley and Christian Hassold host the Inorganic Podcast. Ayelet and Christian have combined 20 years of experience helping venture and private equity sponsors execute mergers and acquisitions in SaaS and digital agencies in the U.S. and Europe. On this podcast, Ayelet and Christian discuss M&A strategy, sourcing tactics, and other dynamics around mergers and acquisitions. They also report on market activity, emphasizing larger companies buying smaller SaaS or agencies and discussing the rationale behind the deals and economics. We sometimes invite guests to join our discussion, building on our mission to make the art and science of M&A more transparent for buyers, sellers, and financial sponsors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

  1. E73: "They Sold the Engine and Kept the Garage" Chris Erwin on the Accenture/Whalar Deal

    قبل ٤ أيام

    E73: "They Sold the Engine and Kept the Garage" Chris Erwin on the Accenture/Whalar Deal

    Accenture Song's planned acquisition of the Whalar agency was called the largest creator economy transaction ever. The structure underneath that headline is far more interesting than the number. In this special edition, Christian and Ayelet sit down with Chris Erwin of RockWater, one of the sharpest analysts in the creator economy, to go deep on what Accenture actually bought, what the founders kept, and why the deal structure tells the real story. Chris published a standout newsletter on this deal, and we brought him on to share his expert POV: the carve-out logic, the multi-year partnership nobody has details on, the "largest deal ever" math, and what Accenture Song buys next. What we cover: Why Neil Waller and James Street sold the agency but kept the broader creator-facing portfolio (Sixteenth, Foam, Moby Ventures, The Lighthouse, Umi Games), what the undisclosed multi-year partnership likely includes — global infrastructure, technology, enterprise client access, and balance-sheet capital, how the "$500M+ largest creator deal ever" claim squares with a $225-300M outside EV estimate, why the answer is probably a meaningful upfront payment plus a multi-year earnout, how Accenture's Droga5 precedent and stated M&A policy help reverse-engineer the structure, why the real value driver is media spend, measurement, and the performance data that unlocks $100B+ media budgets, the "do no harm" PMI era and why a prior 12-month working relationship de-risked the deal, and who Accenture Song buys next — plus why there's a genuine shortage of scaled independent creator agencies left to acquire. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Show note: why this special edition replaces Market and Deals Friday 1:09 — Welcome and guest intro: Chris Erwin of RockWater 1:38 — The backstory: Accenture Song's June 8th carve-out of the Whalar agency 3:08 — "They sold the engine and kept the garage" — what that actually means 4:17 — Speculating on the undisclosed multi-year partnership 5:44 — Why life changes fast when you co-sell through Accenture's SOW machine 6:37 — Predicting how the integration goes (and why a prior relationship matters) 7:37 — The "do no harm" PMI era for people-heavy agency businesses 8:01 — Is this really the largest creator economy transaction ever? 8:49 — Reverse-engineering the structure: Accenture's M&A policy and the Droga5 precedent 10:36 — Earnout norms: 3-5 years on larger deals, 2-3 on sub-$100M EV 11:30 — Christian's thesis: Accenture is buying creator media dollars 12:04 — The big-picture framing: consultancies pushing into marketing services 14:05 — Why the materiality of the number unlocks everything Accenture can sell alongside it 14:53 — What Accenture Song buys next — bolt-on capabilities across the creator stack 16:56 — The real problem: a shortage of scaled independent creator agencies 18:01 — The creator commerce wave and where the next big deals get built 🎙️ Guest: Chris Erwin, Founder, RockWater https://www.linkedin.com/in/chrnov/ https://wearerockwater.com/accenture-song-buys-whalar/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A coverage on In/Organic Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  2. S3: The Boutique SI Eating Accenture's Lunch in PXM Services

    ٢١ يونيو

    S3: The Boutique SI Eating Accenture's Lunch in PXM Services

    Steve Engelbrecht started Sitation from a rental apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts — five weeks after being laid off in the chaos that followed 9/11. Today it's a 62-person commerce enablement firm with a client roster of household names and a defensible niche the big SIs can't easily replicate. Recorded live at Salsify's Digital Shelf Summit in Atlanta, Christian sat down with Steve — founder and CEO of Sitation — for a conversation about building a services-plus-software business in commerce, how AI is rewriting the buy-vs-build equation, and why a 62-person specialist can out-maneuver Deloitte Digital and Accenture Song in product data. What we cover: The Sitation origin story and the early bet on PIM before it was a category, the three pillars of the business today (systems integration, managed services, and proprietary software), why the software-services convergence is playing out in real time, the "headless PIM in 2026" conversation with Salsify's CEO and what AI agents, MCP, and CLIs mean for the future of product data, how AI lowered the bar for participation and changed buy-vs-build, the Philips case study — a 111% conversion lift on a single SKU by optimizing content, not price, why 90%+ of Sitation's team came from industry and how that makes them stickier than the big SIs, and how Steve thinks about Sitation's future: international expansion as a platform vs. fitting neatly into a larger strategic's plans. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:26 — Welcome from Salsify's Digital Shelf Summit in Atlanta 1:00 — The origin story: first day of work September 10, 2001, laid off five weeks later 2:11 — Early to commerce enablement — and Boston as a commerce software hotbed 3:02 — What Sitation does today: the three business segments 5:25 — The 2019 "pick a lane" problem and why software-services convergence vindicated the strategy 6:16 — How AI is changing the buy-vs-build equation 7:36 — The "headless PIM in 2026" conversation with Salsify's CEO 8:33 — Salesforce going headless and the new customization opportunity for SIs 10:00 — APIs, the MCP revolution, CLIs, and why schema matters for AI agents 11:05 — How a 62-person firm out-maneuvers multi-thousand-person SIs 11:42 — Why this is a massive market, not a zero-sum game 12:30 — The Philips case study: 111% conversion lift on one SKU without touching price 13:30 — Why multinationals choose a boutique over Deloitte Digital or Accenture Song 15:46 — The strategic question: platform play or acquisition target? 16:29 — International expansion as the organic (or capital-backed) growth path 17:40 — Why Sitation's platform credentials make it an attractive, hard-to-replicate target 18:45 — Why you can't build Sitation's early-mover position — you have to buy it 🎙️ Guest: Steve Engelbrecht, Founder & CEO, Sitation | Recorded at Salsify Digital Shelf Summit, Atlanta https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevenengelbrecht/ 🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A coverage on In/Organic Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  3. E72: A 14-Deal Week: Residence buys GateMaker, plus Bluebird's Recap

    ١٩ يونيو

    E72: A 14-Deal Week: Residence buys GateMaker, plus Bluebird's Recap

    Fourteen deals worth mentioning in a single week. And those are just the ones that surfaced. The week before Cannes, the dam broke. Christian and Ayelet break down the deepest deal review we've done yet — anchored by a transaction Ayelet's team actually advised on the sell side: Residence acquiring GateMaker, a female-founded creator and influencer agency with a blue-chip beauty roster. Plus a sponsor-to-sponsor recap in commerce services (Bluebird Group + Bertram Capital), and a rapid-fire run through 12 more deals across creator, beauty, luxury PR, B2B, and commerce. One platform investment. One deep dive. Twelve quick hits. Under 20 minutes. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:39 — Welcome to Market and Deals Friday — and a 14-deal week 1:12 — Did everyone wait until the week before Cannes to announce? 1:37 — Coming up: a special edition with Chris Erwin of RockWater on the Accenture/Whalar deal 2:00 — Market update: Bluebird Group partners with Bertram Capital 2:20 — Bertram's buy-and-build model and the Bertram Labs tech advantage 3:00 — Reading the deal size from a $1.6B control fund with a 43% IRR 4:00 — Why a relationship-driven commerce services business resists AI disruption 5:35 — Deep dive: Residence acquires GateMaker — a sell-side deal Ayelet's team ran 6:05 — GateMaker's founders, blue-chip beauty roster, and creator economy pedigree 7:20 — Did Residence already have creator capability? (No — this was the capability buy) 7:50 — Second acquisition in under five months: Residence is now a 9-agency network 8:44 — The Gemspring-backed platform build and why Residence is now an active acquirer 9:28 — The "anti-holdco" model — and Christian's pushback on the framing 10:42 — Why creator and influence relationships command a premium right now 11:30 — The cross-industry pattern: do-no-harm PMI for people-heavy businesses 11:56 — Advisors: Palazzo and Speed M&A on the sell side 12:32 — Brinkley the deal-finding agent and a 20-deal week 13:20 — Quick hit: Front Row acquires Carbon Beauty (second deal this year) 13:57 — Quick hit: Mazarine acquires Bacchus — luxury PR and UHNW access 14:10 — Quick hit: Huge acquires Rotate — composable commerce 14:27 — Quick hit: Motion Agency acquires LKHNS — B2B and video (Kim Everl's 7th) 15:30 — Quick hit: Akeneo acquires Pricing Hub — PIM moves into pricing 16:33 — Rapid fire: Mile Marker/Lyfe, Legion Advertising, Factual/Intelsio, Everything Branding/Darlington 17:44 — The week's only disclosed number: 2X acquires KnownWell at a $400M combined valuation 18:09 — Quick hit: Scorpion acquires One SEO Digital 18:32 — 14 deals, one disclosed price: the lower middle market buying capability quietly 18:52 — Don't miss the Erik Huberman interview (Ep. 71) + the Chris Erwin special coming up 🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A coverage on In/Organic Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  4. E71: Executing M&A with No Cash Up Front ft. Erik Huberman

    ١٨ يونيو

    E71: Executing M&A with No Cash Up Front ft. Erik Huberman

    Erik Huberman has acquired 23 agencies in 10 years — and he doesn't pay cash up front for any of them. Recorded live at Possible 2026 Ayelet sat down with Erik Huberman, founder of Hawke Media, for one of the most candid conversations about agency M&A we've ever had. No spin, no posturing — just the actual mechanics of how a bootstrapped agency built a 23-deal acquisition machine focused on the lower and middle market that everyone else ignores. Erik breaks down the deal structure that puts growth (not cash) at the center, why he intentionally did 10 deals in one year to "break the system" and learn integration the hard way, the advice from a roll-up veteran that made him simplify his contracts, and why a third of his deals don't go well — and how he absorbs that without PE backing. What we cover: Why Hawke Media stays focused on growth-stage and challenger brands instead of going enterprise, the deal structure where Hawke guarantees the founder's profitability and takes over HR, accounting, legal, and operations, why "no cash up front" filters out the wrong sellers (and the ego trap behind it), how Hawke gets to a term sheet in three days, why over-complicating contracts benefits the person being tricky, the "would you do all 10 deals again?" advice that changed everything, why Mountain Gate and most PE want him to go enterprise — and why he won't, and what it would actually take for Erik to bring on a venture-minded private equity partner. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 1:02 — The Hawke Media mission: be the best at the lower and middle market everyone else abandons 2:04 — Three sides of the business: 23 acquisitions, a venture fund, and an AI tool 2:23 — How HawkAI started as a predictive analytics tool and became an internal advantage 3:23 — 10 years of M&A: from one deal a year to 10 in a single year 4:00 — Why Erik did 10 deals at once to intentionally break and rebuild the system 4:30 — The mistake of over-complicating contracts to protect the downside 5:22 — Putting the risk back on the seller — and the advice that made him reverse course 6:32 — The actual deal structure: guaranteed profitability, no cash up front 7:03 — Why a 23-deal track record means he never has to speak hypothetically 8:13 — Who this deal structure actually works for (and who it doesn't) 9:23 — The "I'll be a billionaire next year" founder problem 10:09 — Why founders get bogged down by the back-office work they hate 10:29 — Where Hawke fits vs. Mountain Gate, Herringbone, and the scout fund operators 11:21 — Why most PE wants Erik to go enterprise — and why he says no 12:17 — The "wild wild west" of lower middle market deals 12:29 — Three days to a term sheet: how the process actually moves 13:49 — Why "no cash up front" is the first thing he says, and the ego piece behind it 14:36 — Why simplicity wins: the rev-share story and avoiding the retrade game 15:21 — Doing this at scale now vs. before the name — why you can't just copy the playbook 15:45 — Why a third of deals don't go well, and why you have to be able to absorb it 16:45 — Acquisition isn't for everyone: you have to build the infrastructure first 17:23 — Why integrity and over-disclosure are baked into how the deal works 18:11 — "Ask me what I had for breakfast" — radical transparency with sellers 18:57 — What's next: dominating lower and middle market marketing, the reverse-franchise model 19:18 — Would Erik ever sell? Why he's not bowing out — but might take a PE partner 20:54 — Why he needs a venture-minded PE fund, not a traditional buyout thesis 22:38 — Cleaning up the balance sheet and earning the right to that conversation 22:52 — Entrepreneurship as a "mental illness" and the Mexican taco stand exit plan Connect with Erik on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikhuberman/ Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  5. E70: Accenture x Whalar (Agency), plus Walker Sands, Channable, Sitecore Deals Announced

    ١٢ يونيو

    E70: Accenture x Whalar (Agency), plus Walker Sands, Channable, Sitecore Deals Announced

    A month forecasted that Accenture was about to make a material acquisition in the creator space. This week it happened. Accenture Song is acquiring Whaler Agency — the most awarded creator agency in the Western hemisphere in a carve-out plus three-year partnership that's far more interesting than the headline. But is it really "the largest creator economy transaction ever"? Christian runs the math. The claim doesn't survive contact with a calculator unless there's a lot more going on than a simple agency purchase. Christian and Ayelet break down the structure, what Accenture actually bought (hint: it's the $600M in media spend and the measurement layer, not just the creators), and why this probably isn't the end of Accenture's media buying spree. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:39 — Welcome to Market and Deals Friday, June 12 1:20 — The victory lap: our Episode 61 Accenture prediction came true 2:06 — Why the deal took longer than expected (deals just take time) 2:20 — Why we didn't name Whaler at the time — protecting a people-heavy business 3:05 — When and how to tell your team you're selling: a real consideration for owners 3:46 — What happened: Whaler Agency joins Accenture Song, terms undisclosed 4:28 — The $44B creator economy and why Whaler sits in the middle of it 4:50 — The real prize: $600M in media spend + the measurement and data layer 5:33 — Reading it against the holdcos: consultants are coming for creator businesses 6:16 — The math problem: can this really be "the largest creator economy deal ever"? 6:50 — Why a $500M price on ~$12M EBITDA (40x) doesn't add up for the agency alone 8:00 — The carve-out + call option + licensing theory that makes the number work 8:30 — Is Whaler Agency just step one? Why Christian doesn't think so 9:46 — Accenture Song's creator build: 9 acquisitions in 2024 alone 10:16 — Why $600M in media spend is the growth-acceleration play vs. single-digit agency growth 12:28 — Moelis advised Whaler; Accenture Song's corp dev ran it in-house 13:46 — Why this is a planned (not closed) deal — and what shareholder disclosure will reveal 14:35 — Quick hit: Walker Sands acquires Rev Partners (Mountain Gate turns on the engine) 15:35 — Why Mountain Gate is already doing M&A less than a year into Walker Sands 16:00 — Quick hit: Channable acquires Metreon — server-side conversion tracking 16:41 — Quick hit: Sitecore acquires Scrunch — AI search optimization beyond traditional SEO 18:16 — The connective tissue: four deals, zero disclosed prices, all capability buys 18:31 — Why AI won't kill feed management anytime soon (the 20-30% false positive rabbit hole) 20:11 — The bet: Accenture's next move is about media, not agencies 20:38 — Structure over headline EV — the drum worth beating for every smaller shop 21:06 — Wrap and a Knicks championship wish 🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A coverage on In/Organic Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  6. E69: "Just Ask, Was Good or Bad": Kevin Simonson on His Second Exit, Selling adMixt to Interluxe Group

    ٥ يونيو

    E69: "Just Ask, Was Good or Bad": Kevin Simonson on His Second Exit, Selling adMixt to Interluxe Group

    Kevin Simonson has now sold two agencies. The first — Metric Digital to Wpromote in 2020. The second — adMixt to Interluxe Group, announced this week. And he came on In/Organic Live the same week the deal closed to talk about what's actually different the second time around. Christian and Ayelet sat down with Kevin — outgoing CEO of adMixt, now President of Performance Marketing at Interluxe Group — for an unusually candid conversation about deal structure, integration, and why the headline multiple tells you almost nothing about whether a deal was good. What we cover: Why Kevin took the adMixt CEO seat (a turnaround that wasn't actually broken), how a single text from a friend on a Mountain Gate board started the whole process, why there was no formal auction and the buyer recommended his own banker, why a strategic that didn't already offer his service line was the more interesting buyer, the "do no harm" integration approach — no title mapping, no email changes until 2027, how deal structures have shifted from 2020 to 2026 (equity loans, rollover treatment, the 2022 law change), and why Kevin now just asks friends "was it good or bad?" instead of asking about the multiple. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:12 — Welcome and guest intro: Kevin Simonson, outgoing CEO of adMixt 0:45 — Kevin's background: iProspect intern to Metric Digital to Wpromote to adMixt 1:39 — What adMixt does: "we get people to buy things on the internet" 2:07 — Why adMixt is different — they built their own media buying software 3:03 — Who is Interluxe Group? Experiential, media, and PR for luxury brands 4:02 — The Mountain Gate connection and how a single text started the deal 4:50 — Reverse due diligence: why trusted relationships de-risked the process 5:52 — No formal process: how the strategic buyer side reached out and stayed updated quarterly 6:46 — Why the buyer recommended Palazzo as Kevin's banker 7:26 — Why Interluxe was the right buyer: a brand-new service line vs. overlap at Wpromote 9:29 — The "do no harm" integration: no title mapping, no email changes, slow roll to 2027 10:10 — Deal structure: how it's changed from 2020 to 2026 (and the 2022 law change) 11:14 — Ayelet on the legal mechanics: asset vs. stock vs. membership interest purchase 12:56 — Why the multiple lies: "just ask if it was good or bad" 13:43 — Why structure matters more than the headline EV 14:07 — Mountain Gate's acquisition tear and the standing invite to Shamrock 15:11 — Kevin's credit to founder Zach and the foundation that made adMixt worth buying 16:15 — Why this was an excellent turnaround, well landed 🎙️ Guest: Kevin Simonson, President of Performance Marketing, Interluxe Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinsimonson/ Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  7. E68: Sprinklr acquires ViralMoment, Asana Pays $75M for StackAI, Interluxe x adMixt

    ٥ يونيو

    E68: Sprinklr acquires ViralMoment, Asana Pays $75M for StackAI, Interluxe x adMixt

    our deals this week. One disclosed price. The same trade running through all of them — buyers acquiring capability quietly rather than building it. Christian and Ayelet break down what each deal actually signals about where the software and agency markets are heading — plus stick around for the live after-show with Kevin Simonson, CEO of adMixt, on the Interluxe Group acquisition. One deep dive. Three quick hits. One live after-show. What we cover: Why Sprinklr restarted M&A after nearly five years and what choosing ViralMoment first says about the market, the "tale of two cities" in AI exits — top 1% startups clearing the preference stack vs. capability tuck-ins sold as assets, why Asana's $75M StackAI deal is the other side of that coin, and how two ad tech and agency deals (Peer39/Adloox and Interluxe/adMixt) reflect the same buy-not-build logic. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 0:00 — Welcome to Market and Deals Friday 0:30 — Quick market context: the data is backing up the thesis 2:50 — Why corporate M&A is surging while PE volume drops 4:11 — Deal #1: Sprinklr acquires ViralMoment — video-native social intelligence 5:00 — The gap it fills: social moved to video, listening tools are still text-based 5:50 — ViralMoment background: founded by Chelsea Hall, Carnegie Mellon, seed-stage 6:27 — Sprinklr's earnings context and why this was a buy-not-build asset deal 7:30 — The tale of two cities: top 1% AI startups vs. capability tuck-ins 8:30 — Sprinklr is hiring an M&A role right now (and Christian's soapbox on the title) 9:22 — Deal #2: Asana acquires StackAI for ~$75M — clearing the preference stack 10:00 — Why this is the "right tech, right team, right investor" version of the same trade 10:30 — The MIT startup angle and the agent execution layer Asana was buying 11:01 — Deal #3: Peer39 acquires Adloox from Scope3 — walled garden verification 11:50 — Why this matters against DoubleVerify and IAS 11:55 — Deal #4: Interluxe Group acquires adMixt — performance firepower for luxury 12:56 — The thread tying all four deals together: buy is beating build 13:27 — Tease: big announcement next week + after-show with Kevin Simonson of adMixt Links: Goldman report: https://www.goldmansachs.com/insights/articles/ma-volume-expected-to-surge-this-year-despite-economic-uncertainty EY Parthenon report: https://www.ey.com/en_us/newsroom/2026/06/ey-parthenon-forecasts-resilient-8-percent-growth-in-us-dealmaking-in-2026-despite-geopolitical-and-economic-headwinds Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  8. E67: Why NewEngen is Buying What Other Agencies Don't Understand ft. Justin Hayashi

    ٣١ مايو

    E67: Why NewEngen is Buying What Other Agencies Don't Understand ft. Justin Hayashi

    Most scaled independents looked at Grapevine.ai during the sale process and didn't get it. They couldn't process the economic model. They didn't know how to assess the technology. Justin Hayashi leaned in and won. Recorded at Possible 2026 in the Unplugged Collective pavilion, Christian Hassold and Ayelet Shipley sat down with Justin Hayashi, CEO of NewEngen, one of the most tech-forward independents in the market to break down how he thinks about acquisitions, what makes NewEngen genuinely different from its peers, and what he's looking for next. NewEngen started in 2016 as a tech company trying to dethrone Marin Software, among others. It evolved into the agency their clients always said they were and built a platform around content, creator marketing, and measurement that most of their competitors can't replicate. What we cover: The origin story; from Zulily's IPO to trying to build a bidding algorithm to accidentally building an agency, how three acquisitions in the content and creator space shaped NewEngen's differentiated positioning, the Grapevine.ai deal thesis and why beating an aggressive forecast during diligence was the final proof of conviction, how NewEngen handles integration with a "do no harm" philosophy while keeping brands like Donut Studios intentionally separate, and the buy box for what comes next: social, content, measurement, and commerce. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS 00:12: Cold open: does the YC target on agency backs keep you up at night? 1:08: Welcome and guest intro: Justin Hayashi, CEO of NewEngen, at Possible 2026 1:19: The backstory: from Zulily IPO and billion-dollar sale to Qurate, to founding NewEngen 2:25: The original thesis: dethrone Marin Software and Kenshoo — and why it didn't work 3:58: The pivot: from SaaS company (that clients kept calling an agency) to what NewEngen is today 4:28: Tech-enabled DNA: what survived the pivot and what defines NewEngen now 5:54: What scaled independents are getting wrong — and where NewEngen differentiates 6:45: Three acquisitions in the content and creator space: why content was always the bet 7:23: The Grapevine.ai deal: why most scaled independents walked away and NewEngen stepped up 8:04: Why Caroline's conviction and operator mindset won the first filter 9:00: 900 vetted, high-performing creators vs. seven million claims — the quality argument 10:29: Two lenses: founder CEO conviction vs. PE underwriting — how Justin navigated both 11:06: The aggressive forecast, the bottoms-up conviction, and what actually happened 11:30: Zuckerberg's earnings calls as diligence data: short-form video growth 20% → 30% YoY 12:43: What made Grapevine.ai hard for strategic buyers: long-tail revenue and small contracts 13:37: How Caroline's client migration story played out in real time during diligence 15:19: Donut Digital acquisition: "do no harm" integration and why they kept the brand 16:45: LT Partners vs. Acorn Influence vs. Donut Studios: three different integration approaches 17:57: The hardest integration lesson: get alignment on goalposts before you close 18:59: Buy box: social/content, measurement, commerce, B2C only, $3-12M revenue sweet spot 21:02: Closing take: NewEngen is the software-led agency ready to take on Silicon Valley 🎙️ Guest: Justin Hayashi, CEO, NewEngen | Recorded at Possible 2026 https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinhayashi/ Connect with Christian and Ayelet Ayelet’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ayelet-shipley-b16330149/ Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ Web: https://www.inorganicpodcast.co 🔔 Subscribe for weekly M&A and agency coverage on In/Organic Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ayelet Shipley and Christian Hassold host the Inorganic Podcast. Ayelet and Christian have combined 20 years of experience helping venture and private equity sponsors execute mergers and acquisitions in SaaS and digital agencies in the U.S. and Europe. On this podcast, Ayelet and Christian discuss M&A strategy, sourcing tactics, and other dynamics around mergers and acquisitions. They also report on market activity, emphasizing larger companies buying smaller SaaS or agencies and discussing the rationale behind the deals and economics. We sometimes invite guests to join our discussion, building on our mission to make the art and science of M&A more transparent for buyers, sellers, and financial sponsors. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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  • صناع العمل
    Christian Hassold & Ayelet Shipley
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٣ - ٢٠٢٦
  • الحلقات
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  • التقييم
    فاضح
  • حقوق النشر
    © Inorganic Podcast
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    Inorganic Podcast

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