How to approach your startup M&A process?

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Unlike successive funding rounds,

Unlike successive funding rounds, M&A discussions in the startup ecosystem are mostly secretive,  and  founders are grappling with the playbooks to follow. 

For its part, SaaSBOOMi has been organizing focused M&A roundtables for the community. But there’s a lot more to learn. 

Also, given the nascent ecosystem, exits are few and far between. 

Here is my checklist:Get

Here is my checklist:

Get great counsel. You need advice (ideally before you decide to sell, but surely now) to help you with multiple aspects of the sale—legal, financial, T&Cs, special conditions like escrow/lock-in, etc., and process-related.

Align all stakeholders. You

Align all stakeholders. You cannot discuss each step with all stakeholders. Between key employees who are aware and your board plus key investors, schedule a call to align them on key points plus establish guard rails so you can post periodically as opposed to having to discuss each item.

Agree on negotiable and non-negotiable things to work with during deal negotiations.

Acquisitions aren’t just about

Acquisitions aren’t just about the startup exits; many companies such as Freshworks have been using M&A as a growth strategy, even for acquiring leaders required across different life stages. 

Here we bring conversations and insights from a few of the most candid entrepreneurs about how they managed M&A discussions.

Create a small group

Create a small group of key employees who are aware and will help with the due diligence process.

Make sure that complete confidentiality is maintained within the core group to avoid unwanted speculation and ensure the smooth functioning of the company. Assign ownership of different due diligence like data room/tech, revenue and sale, HR, etc.

Ensure all your data is populated in extreme detail to avoid time wastage due to incremental data requests.

Always get an investment

Always get an investment banker involved in such deals. For a first-time entrepreneur especially, one doesn’t know what the structure will exactly be or what options are available.

There are so many nuances that you would always want to get an investment banker involved. They take their fair share, and I feel it’s better to give their fair share rather than have zero percent of nothing

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