E14: Ecosystem Mapping 101 (f.k.a. Market Mapping)

In this episode of the In/organic Podcast, our host, Christian Hassold discusses the concept of ecosystem mapping and its importance in corporate and inorganic strategy. He emphasizes the shift from market mapping to ecosystem mapping and provides insights on building a comprehensive ecosystem or market map. Christian also shares his approach to gathering information, categorizing companies, and creating market maps. In this conversation, Christian discusses the process of market mapping and rank stacking in the context of M&A strategy. He provides examples of market maps, explains the relationship between market maps and company strategy, and outlines the criteria for rank-stacking M&A targets. He emphasizes the importance of ecosystem mapping and the need for independent thought in the M&A process.Key Takeaways- Ecosystem mapping is an approach that considers the entire ecosystem surrounding a company, not just its competitors.- The shift from market mapping to ecosystem mapping is essential for identifying inorganic growth opportunities and understanding the broader value creation within an ecosystem.- Building a comprehensive ecosystem map involves gathering information from various sources, categorizing companies, and determining whether the companies are direct competition, indirect competition, or a partner.- A sub-component of ecosystem mapping is identifying potential M&A targets and rank-stacking them in terms of revenue and potential fitment with an acquirer. Rank stacking drives clarity in terms of which M&A targets a company should prioritize from a list of targets.Chapters00:00 Introduction02:30 Problem statement and preconditions05:45 The ecosystem map08:26 Building an ecosystem map06:01 Sources of information14:29 Categorizing companies and estimating revenues16:40 Examples of ecosystem maps22:19 Rank stacking process24:46 Criteria for rank stacking M&A targets33:39 Complimentary episode on M&A Science34:41 Summary36:31 TakeawaysConnect with Christian & In/organic PodcastChristian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/In/organic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inorganic-podcastIn/organic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InorganicPodcast/featured Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.