E5:AM&A: Running Early Stage BD with an M&A Mindset with Alyshah Walki

The business development function in early-stage SaaS companies tends to be a ‘catch all’ for partnerships, competitive intelligence, and increasingly, identifying potential acquisition targets. In a world where 90% of startups fail and of those that succeed, 90% exit to a strategic versus going public, every successful startup should know what potential acquisitions (of any size) can do to accelerate the business. But, where to start?In this first edition of Ask the Expert, Alyshah Walji was kind enough to come on the pod and take on some burning questions on his mind as an up-and-coming business development leader. His questions span both how to think about the role as well as how to approach partnerships tactically, including how to begin building the M&A funnel early on. Alyshah is the Director of Partnerships at Vividly, a very active member of the Canadian startup community, and a passionate supporter of social causes related to youth, education, and gender. Tune in to Episode 5 of In/organic Podcast, and discover new ways of cultivating partnerships to align short-term objectives with long-term vision. In This Episode, You Will Learn:[2:14] Background on Alyshah and his company Vividly[7:00] How to think about the business development role & function[9:11] Should you build or buy - assessing what to do and not do to[16:10] The importance of aligning the leadership team with the company's strategy[19:50] Prioritization and timing. How to balance short-term revenue goals with long-term strategic partnerships[22:30] Prioritization of partnerships in a noisy ecosystem[27:00] Developing partner & M&A pipeline is similar to running an enterprise sales process, here is how[32:56] Where to go to get M&A advice and resourcesConnect with Alyshah:LinkedInTwitterConnect with Christian & In/organic PodcastChristian's LinkedInIn/organic on LinkedInIn/organic on YouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.