E9: Running a Rollup Play in a SaaS Co with Chris Barnes

In/Organic Podcast

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E9: Running a Rollup Play in a SaaS Co with Chris Barnes

Christian Hassold

Feb 13, 2024

Transcript

Building a multi-product company inorganically is no easy feat. It requires a strong product team, tight alignment among executive leadership, and a solid M&A function to identify and pursue the targets of interest. This is a fairly common strategy, but how does it work?

On this episode of In/Organic, we are joined by Chris Barnes, former SVP of Corporate Development at Syndigo, a SaaS and services business backed by Summit Partners and The Jordan Company. Syndigo was scaled to hundreds of millions in revenue through a sophisticated roll-up strategy. Under Chris's leadership, the company acquired twelve companies over 5 years. In this episode, we will discuss how Chris and the team at Syndigo ran their process with a lean team.

Takeaways

Multiple acquisitions can be a strategic approach for SaaS CEOs to solve specific problems or drive platform expansion.
Identifying and prioritizing acquisition targets requires thorough research and consideration of factors such as market size, growth potential, and cultural fit.
Successful integration of acquired companies requires a focus on culture, process alignment, and a great customer experience.
Investor partners can provide valuable resources and expertise in valuation, pricing strategy, and customer / market feedback.

Highlights

00:00 Introduction

01:23 Chris Barnes’ Background

04:53 Syndigo's Acquisition Model

07:21 Key Players on the M&A Team

09:08 Identifying Acquisition Targets

10:55 Prioritizing Acquisitions

12:18 Qualifying Potential Targets

14:03 Managing Multiple Acquisition Outreaches

17:43 Running Plays to Assess Targets

19:24 The Role of the Acquisition Team

22:38 Evaluating Business Growth Potential