M&A Science

Harvard instructor, author and speaker,   Richard Kasperowski , discusses how to build and maintain high-performing teams in any industry.

The Founding Partners of the M&A advisory firm, Agile Gorilla, discuss their agile, modern approach to deal and integration management.

Nitin Kumar, a seasoned C-level operating executive and management consultant in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector, discusses how to create integration strategies better suited to modern business environments.

Al Ansari, a veteran divestiture and integration advisor currently assisting Cisco  with the development of their divestiture methodology, discusses the strategies, decisions and planning behind divestitures.

In this podcast, Kison interviews James Harris, Principal of Corporate Development Integration at Google. They explore the ways in which deal practitioners can implement a more Agile approach to each step of M&A, from due diligence to integration.  

In this episode, Kison speaks with Joseph Feldman, a corporate development, acquisitions and growth strategies consultant. Joseph discusses acquisition strategies, diligence checklists, company inconsistencies, and post-close surprises.

In this episode, Kison interviews corporate and business development consultant Judah Karkowsky. They discuss the best ways to approach cultural integration, handling ownership issues, the surprises you can find during preliminary due diligence, international entities' approach on diligence, being transparent with employees during an integration, and confidential data protection.

In this episode, Kison asks Paul Weiskopf, a professional who has worked over 25 years with companies in the technology industry such as Hewlett Packard, Adobe Systems and smaller companies, about his professional experience on M&A. Weiskopf shares his knowledge about strategy common errors that lead companies to failure and about the best ways to build integration plans for acquisition teams.

In this episode, Kison interviews mergers and acquisitions attorney Luke Fedlam, who shares his knowledge on working with and outside counsel, representing the seller, sending letters of intent, setting up a financial plan, and how to transaction showstoppers beforehand. 00.00 /  05.00 / help from the outside council 05.00 / due diligence and letters of intent, bankers 10.00 / 15.000 timeline and...

In this episode, Kison interviews Armando Biondi, Co-founder and COO for AdEspresso. Biondi shares his personal experience on the AdEspresso and Hootsuite merger. They discuss selling, communication during the integration process, and negotiating.

In this episode, Kison interviews Ken Marlin, author of The Marine Corps Way to Win on Wall Street. Marlin has a very diverse background going from corporate development to CEO of a company to running an investment bank. They discuss advising buyers, business strategies, and setting clear business objectives.

In this episode, Kison interviews International Strategy and Business Optimization Specialist Abhik Jain. Together they talk through the differences between M&A, PE and investment banking, proprietary and auction deals, and Jain's personal advice on handling negotiations and transactions both from the sell side and the buy side.

This special episode of M&A Science is an audiobook written by Nitin Kumar, a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, on the strategy of wargaming. In an era of disruption and uncertainty, developing and executing successful M&A transactions require new strategic approaches. Business wargaming is one such approach, significantly increasing overall M&A effectiveness by providing valuable foresi...

"Are you doing things that could be perceived negatively that would create a higher bar for that next acquisition? Those things can come back and haunt you" Scott Hile is an M&A professional with two decades of experience. He also teaches Entrepreneurial Law and Global Business Transactions in Clemson University's MBA Program.   0:00 - 5:05   Prioritizing investment and legal concerns during due d...

"This is the first time I've been acquired by a company that felt like it had a soul." That's what John Derusso was told after leading an integration. John is the Director of Corporate Development Integration with Cisco Systems and has been for the past four years.   0:00-0:10 John's background with Cisco and supply chain 0:13-2:12 Successful acquisitions 2:12-6:42 Retaining people 6:42-9:36 Big p...

Sean Peace has a captivating story to tell about selling and exiting an unprofitable business in a unique niche: a fintech startup dealing with entertainment in the Southeast. In 2013, he founded Royalty Exchange, an auction marketplace selling music royalty streams as memorabilia to the highest bidding fans. After two years and $100K in revenue, the company landed $2 million in venture capital fi...

As former VP at Huron Capital, Mark Miller is very familiar with the start-to-finish private equity process. He's responsible for transaction teams involved in all aspects of deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio management. Mark has a wealth of experience executing deals on the buy side – managing due diligence, negotiating legal documents, setting the ultimate capital structure, and lining up...

As a professional with 29 years' experience in M&A corporate development, financial operations, and management, Paul Tennola, CFO of Paynet, is an expert when it comes to M&A. In addition to his experience with Paynet, Paul has worked with TransUnion, Wolters Kluwer, and SunGard. He has looked at over 1000 companies, successfully leading and closing more than 50 transactions. He believes M&A is a...

In 2005, Vamsi started his own company focused on data compliance for the pharmaceutical industry. His company provided technology to support clinical trials to the FDA. "I like to build companies, but I also like change. [After five years], I thought about selling the company and rolling it up into a publicly listed company." He sold it in 2010 and moved to India to pursue new opportunities. Whil...

Greg DellaFranco is currently a Senior Manager of Corporate Development at Deloitte Consulting. Prior to joining Deloitte, he served as Director of Corporate Development at KPMG. When combined with 16 years in corporate development, corporate strategy, new venture creation, and alliance roles at Accenture, Greg has valuable M&A insight to share.   0:48 – 1:43 Greg's background in corporate develop...

Jeremie originally started his career at Goldman Sachs and spent time in investment banking focused on equities, equity sales, and trading. He has experience on both sides of M&A, as an acquirer and "acquiree," and says the deals he has seen in the past 10 years – some successful, others not – have changed his perspective on M&A.   0:00 – 2:12 Jeremie's background in SaaS and investment banking 2:...

In this interview, we touch on a range of topics from how Scott handles hurdles to post-closing surprises, deal disasters to integration management, and ultimately, the keys to running a successful process. 00:00 - 00:40 Intro 00:40 - 04:25 Scott's corporate development background 04:25 - 06:36 Small vs large transactions 06:36 - 12:25 Diligence lessons learned 12:25 - 17:55 Walking away from deal...

Andrew Jordan is a Principal at Riveron Consulting where he provides transaction advisory services. He's had his hand in mergers and acquisitions for the last 8 years and has incredible insight regarding quality of earnings (Q of E) and M&A deals. Show Notes: 0:00 – 0:47 Summary of Andrew's background 0:48 – 5:44 Advantages to sellers doing Quality of Earnings (Q of E) analysis 5:45 – 6:51 When to...