Strategy, Operations, and Emotions — Navigating M&A as a Business Owner

In this special episode of Deal Talk with 7MA, Partner Tripp Davis leads a discussion on navigating M&A as a business owner or operator.For the panel discussion, which was part of 7MA’s ACCESS Conference 2021, Tripp is joined by David Lewis, Founder and CEO of DemandGen (acquired by BDO) and Partner at BDO Digital; Andy Fay, Chief Revenue Officer of Innovasource (acquired by Energizer); and George Young, Founder, CEO, and now Managing Director of Kalypso (acquired by Rockwell Automation).This panel of sellers have all navigated successful exits — some in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this episode they’re sharing first-hand lessons from their own experience in M&A and first-hand insights from the process.The panel touches on all aspects of the M&A deal process — finding the right partners, working with a trusted advisor, navigating the emotions, and preparing your team once an acquisition goes through.“I didn't go into the process expecting whether we would go down the private equity route or the strategic route. I really was open to both,” David says of getting acquired. “At least I thought I was; you really do some soul searching when you have people at the table.”He continues: “When we had 22 offers, the majority of them were private equity, and there were about five strategic offers. And what made sense was it was very clear that I wanted a platform for the business that would catapult our growth.”When discussing the sale of his consulting firm to Rockwell Automation, George admits being a little “naive” and “narrowly focused” early in the process. He shares how working with 7MA paved the way for a different kind of exit: “I think one of the things that you (7MA) helped us do was not go exclusive. Let's keep this thing open. Let's create the market.”Tune in to the episode to learn more about the acquisition process directly from business owners. 💡 Featured Guest 💡Name: Tripp DavisWhat he does: Tripp is a Partner with over 20 years of investment banking and advisory experience. He joined 7 Mile Advisors from Hyde Park Capital Partners, where he served as head of the Business Services, Technology, and Communications group while advising companies in a variety of industries on M&A and capital raising assignments. Previously, Tripp served as Vice President at DecisionPoint International and began his career with Livingston & Associates.Organization: 7 Mile AdvisorsWords of wisdom: “Strategic points, operational points, transactional points and emotional ones are all part of the transaction cycle.”Connect: LinkedIn 💡 Featured Guest 💡Name: David LewisWhat he does: For more than 20 years, David has been a pioneering innovator in digital marketing, and has overseen marketing for some of Silicon Valley’s leading technology firms. David and his team at DemandGen have been at the forefront of digital transformation. The company was acquired by BDO, one of the nation’s leading accounting and...