Building a great M&A funnel starts with top of the funnel. Just as it is in sales, you need to cast a wide net at the top and make sure you advance both the right companies and relationships from top to bottom. Not all opportunities are are equal, some are sourced organically and some through banker led inbounds. Some have time urgency and some may require a long time to develop. What are other considerations in managing the M&A funnel?
In this episode, Erik Morton joins us to share his approach to building M&A pipeline in a SaaS company. We’ll double-click on the top funnel, including the criteria to consider when deciding what belongs in it or not. We also talk about the importance of building relationships with sell-side advisors, too. Erik is the Strategy SVP at CommerceHub and has over 20 years of experience in e-commerce and SaaS. Interestingly, he started as a software developer and product manager, which adds some superpowers to the way he is able to evaluate potential partner or acqusition opportunities.
Throughout our conversation, you'll hear about Erik's background and the moment he realized the most exciting place in a software business wasn't in finances but in engineering and product. He also shares his thoughts on the M&A funnel, the software development role in SaaS, and how to develop relationships and identify opportunities that can turn into revenue-driving partnerships or M&A opportunities.
Tune in to Episode 2 of In/Organic Podcast and learn the secrets to building a strong M&A pipeline.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
About Erik's background and his passion for the engineering and product side of software businesses (1:20)
How to maximize tools and partners to develop a great top funnel (6:00)
Eriks view on the whole funnel in an M&A context (8:30)
How Erik deals with organic versus banker-led inbound opportunities (15:40)
Erik discusess differences in view on what qualifies as bottom funnel (27:50)
Erik shares lessons learned from over 20 years in the industry (34:00)
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