🧐What I Learned Last Week 4.7.23
Curating the best M&A, SMB, and EtA-related content for this week.
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📰 Articles
2023 Software M&A Market Outlook: Perspectives From The Top 50 Dealmakers
The article discusses the state of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the lower-middle-market (LMM) software industry. According to the article, the LMM software M&A market is currently characterized by cautious optimism due to various factors, such as the pandemic, high valuations, and the increasing number of market participants. Despite these challenges, deal activity in the LMM software M&A market remains robust, and industry experts predict that the market will continue to see strong deal flow in the coming months. The article also highlights some of the notable transactions that have occurred in the LMM software M&A market in recent months and offers insights into the factors driving deal activity in the industry.
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How To De-Risk Acquisitions
The article provides insights into strategies that can help mitigate the risks associated with mergers and acquisitions (M&A). The author, Patrick Dichter, argues that M&A can be a risky venture, with studies showing that many deals fail to create value for shareholders. Dichter outlines several ways to de-risk acquisitions, including conducting thorough due diligence, creating an integration plan, focusing on cultural fit, and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. The article emphasizes the importance of creating a clear vision and strategy for the acquisition, communicating effectively with stakeholders, and avoiding common pitfalls such as overpaying for the target company or neglecting the integration process. Overall, the article provides practical tips for de-risking M&A and increasing the likelihood of success.
🧵 Best of Twitter
NOTE: Substack is experiencing technical difficulties with its Twitter integration. I’ve improvised but the formatting may be a bit off.
Good reminder to keep things simple. No need to reinvent the wheel…
Be mindful when dealing with aggregators…
Analyzing client reviews should absolutely be part of every M&A due diligence…
Love this chart. Search Fund activity is just starting to accelerate…
The power of Twitter…
Great overview of the process & expenses of turning your business into a franchise…
🤔 Thoughts, Events, Other
New Course
Karen Spencer is one of the co-founders of Searchfunder. Recently, she has been focused on increasing accessibility to the EtA space through mentorship and her cohort training program, Nuts & Bolts. Due to popular demand, she has now launched a self-study program called Take Off.
Gain the confidence and traction needed to search for and buy your small to medium sized business. You complete the self-study program within 60 days with three key components for success:
• Pitch: a narrative for investors. lenders and business owners
• Plan: an action plan with next steps
• Peers: A diverse network of searchers
Take Off will be launching on April 22nd and students who sign-up prior to that date will receive a 10% discount by using the code: PRELAUNCH
⚒️ Tools & Resources
I want to share some tools & resources that I have found helpful. Please note that some of these may contain affiliate links. This means that I may receive compensation if you sign-up and use them.
PrivSource - PrivSource helps you source deals and connect with transaction partners without ever paying a success fee.
BizNexus - Marketplace + off-market origination in one platform. The marketplace averages about 10k active listings & pre-CIM opportunities, and the off-market origination focuses on data & multi-channel. Local Boston company and I consider the founder (Adam Ray) a friend.
X5 Deals - Proprietary deal sourcing. They do the outreach and send you relevant, actionable deals directly into your inbox.
Import Dojo - a newsletter that sends eCommerce and Amazon FBA businesses for sale to your email inbox. They send deals each Wednesday at 9:00 AM CST.
Deal Flow Scout - Peer-to-peer deal flow exchange. Free, open, transparent.
Deal Sourcing Guide - A directory I put together of online marketplaces, brokers, DFY deal flow, and more.
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Important Disclaimer: This newsletter is provided for informational & educational purposes only, and should not be relied upon as legal, business, investment, or tax advice. This newsletter may link to other websites and certain information contained herein has been obtained from third-party sources. While taken from sources believed to be reliable, it has not been independently verified. The Business Inquirer makes no representations about the enduring accuracy of the information or its appropriateness for a given situation. References to any companies, securities, listings, investments, or digital assets are for illustrative purposes only and do not constitute an investment recommendation or offer to provide investment advisory services. Charts and graphs provided within are for informational purposes solely and should not be relied upon when making any business, tax, or investment decisions. Content in this newsletter speaks only as of the date indicated. Any projections, estimates, forecasts, targets, prospects and/or opinions expressed in these materials are subject to change without notice and may differ or be contrary to opinions expressed by others.