M&A Science

Kison Patel

M&A Science, hosted by Kison Patel (Founder & CEO of DealRoom), is your go-to podcast for mastering the art of mergers and acquisitions. Each week, Kison and his expert guests from leading brands like Xerox, FastLap, and Cisco dig deep into real-world M&A strategies, offering actionable insights to optimize your M&A practice.

Whether you're an experienced practitioner or new to the field, M&A Science provides practical advice on key topics like sourcing, due diligence, integration, divestitures, and more. With over 300 episodes, this podcast is the premier thought leadership resource designed to streamline your deal-making process.

Start listening today and visit mascience.com/podcast to access over 300 episodes. Brought to you by DealRoom, the leading M&A optimization platform used by the best M&A teams around the world

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426 episodes
Updated July 29

Episodes426

Newest first

Jul 10, 2019 · 33 min
The Art of Protecting Value Drivers
During this episode, Kison and Jai discuss the best strategies for identifying, extracting and protecting value drivers during the due diligence process and most importantly while conducting integration post-close.
Jun 26, 2019 · 34 min
The Power of Empathy in M&A
Kison speaks with Dr. Mark Goulston on the benefits of practicing empathy for more successful M&A, specifically to improve value creation and productivity post-close.
Jun 12, 2019 · 37 min
The Importance of Conducting Cultural Assessments
On this episode, Kison speaks with Dawn White, an M&A Integration Manager at Corning. Dawn explains the importance of conducting cultural assessments during M&A transactions and explores how these assessments can lead to stronger deal outcomes, increased value creation and an overall happier and more productive workforce.
May 29, 2019 · 41 min
How to Enable a High Performing Deal Team
Harvard instructor, author and speaker, Richard Kasperowski, discusses how to build and maintain high-performing teams in any industry.
May 16, 2019 · 46 min
An Agile Gorilla's Approach to Mergers and Acquisitions
The Founding Partners of the M&A advisory firm, Agile Gorilla, discuss their agile, modern approach to deal and integration management.
May 1, 2019 · 44 min
Integration Strategies Suited for Modern Business Landscapes
Nitin Kumar, a seasoned C-level operating executive and management consultant in the technology, media and telecom (TMT) sector, discusses how to create integration strategies better suited to modern business environments.
Apr 18, 2019 · 36 min
A Guide to Planning Successful Divestitures
Al Ansari, a veteran divestiture and integration advisor currently assisting Cisco with the development of their divestiture methodology, discusses the strategies, decisions and planning behind divestitures.
Apr 3, 2019 · 44 min
How to Implement an Agile Approach into M&A
In this podcast, Kison interviews James Harris, Principal of Corporate Development Integration at Google. They explore the ways in which deal practitioners can implement a more Agile approach to each step of M&A, from due diligence to integration.
Jul 19, 2018 · 33 min
Creating Corporate Development Acquisition Strategies
In this episode, Kison speaks with Joseph Feldman, a corporate development, acquisitions and growth strategies consultant. Joseph discusses acquisition strategies, diligence checklists, company inconsistencies, and post-close surprises.
Jul 12, 2018 · 51 min
Best Ways to Approach Cultural Integration
In this episode, Kison interviews corporate and business development consultant Judah Karkowsky. They discuss the best ways to approach cultural integration, handling ownership issues, the surprises you can find during preliminary due diligence, international entities' approach on diligence, being transparent with employees during an integration, and confidential data protection.
Jun 25, 2018 · 52 min
M&A in the Technology Industry
In this episode, Kison asks Paul Weiskopf, a professional who has worked over 25 years with companies in the technology industry such as Hewlett Packard, Adobe Systems and smaller companies, about his professional experience on M&A. Weiskopf shares his knowledge about strategy common errors that lead companies to failure and about the best ways to build integration plans for acquisition teams.
Jun 12, 2018 · 49 min
M&A, Due Diligence, and Integration from an Attorney's Point of View
In this episode, Kison interviews mergers and acquisitions attorney Luke Fedlam, who shares his knowledge on working with and outside counsel, representing the seller, sending letters of intent, setting up a financial plan, and how to transaction showstoppers beforehand. 00.00 / 05.00 / help from the outside council 05.00 / due diligence and letters of intent, bankers 10.00 / 15.000 timeline and risks, showstoppers 15.00 / 20.00 renegotiating terms 20.00 / 25.00 renegotiation purchase price 25.00 / 30.00 financial leverage 30.00 / 35.00 integration process 35.00 / 40.00 cultural and transparency 40.00 / 47.00 outgoing owners and engagement, CEOS sabotaging transaction
Jun 5, 2018 · 29 min
The Importance of Communication, Due Diligence and Post-Closing Integration
In this episode, Kison interviews Armando Biondi, Co-founder and COO for AdEspresso. Biondi shares his personal experience on the AdEspresso and Hootsuite merger. They discuss selling, communication during the integration process, and negotiating.
May 31, 2018 · 56 min
How to Set Clear M&A Objectives: M&A Advice from a Former Marine
In this episode, Kison interviews Ken Marlin, author of The Marine Corps Way to Win on Wall Street. Marlin has a very diverse background going from corporate development to CEO of a company to running an investment bank. They discuss advising buyers, business strategies, and setting clear business objectives.
May 23, 2018 · 41 min
Buy Side and Sell Side M&A Strategies
In this episode, Kison interviews International Strategy and Business Optimization Specialist Abhik Jain. Together they talk through the differences between M&A, PE and investment banking, proprietary and auction deals, and Jain's personal advice on handling negotiations and transactions both from the sell side and the buy side.
Feb 16, 2018 · 46 min
Wargaming for M&A Integration Leaders
This special episode of M&A Science is an audiobook written by Nitin Kumar, a Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting, on the strategy of wargaming. In an era of disruption and uncertainty, developing and executing successful M&A transactions require new strategic approaches. Business wargaming is one such approach, significantly increasing overall M&A effectiveness by providing valuable foresight, stress-testing strategy and maximizing the potential for successful integration. Authored by: Nitin Kumar Narrated by: Conor Mahood Produced by: Kison Patel
Dec 11, 2017 · 42 min
Balancing Legal and Business Concerns in M&A Transactions
"Are you doing things that could be perceived negatively that would create a higher bar for that next acquisition? Those things can come back and haunt you" Scott Hile is an M&A professional with two decades of experience. He also teaches Entrepreneurial Law and Global Business Transactions in Clemson University's MBA Program. 0:00 - 5:05 Prioritizing investment and legal concerns during due diligence 5:00 - 8:40 Focusing on value drivers 8:40 - 10:50 Presenting risks to sellers 11:55 - 15:35 Legal team battles 15:35 - 17:00 Planning for integration during due diligence 17:00 - 19:05 Accounting for integration costs 19:05 - 25:25 International transaction challenges 25:25 - 32:41 Validating for cultural fit 32:41 - 38:30 Score-carding synergies 38:40-end The importance of patience
Sep 15, 2017 · 56 min
How Empathy Makes Mergers and Acquisitions Successful
"This is the first time I've been acquired by a company that felt like it had a soul." That's what John Derusso was told after leading an integration. John is the Director of Corporate Development Integration with Cisco Systems and has been for the past four years. 0:00-0:10 John's background with Cisco and supply chain 0:13-2:12 Successful acquisitions 2:12-6:42 Retaining people 6:42-9:36 Big picture view of integration 9:36-13:30 Excitement and adrenaline in integration (step-by-step process) 13:30-20:21 Planning considerations, diligence, and key indicators of success 24:22-30:20 Taking care of customers 30:20-42:19 Complexity, decision-making, and communication 42:19-46:37 Degree of integration (depth and speed) 46:37-52:25 Difficult aspects of integration 52:25-End Lifetime lessons learned and key traits M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net) DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
Sep 15, 2017 · 29 min
How You Survive an Unprofitable Business
Sean Peace has a captivating story to tell about selling and exiting an unprofitable business in a unique niche: a fintech startup dealing with entertainment in the Southeast. In 2013, he founded Royalty Exchange, an auction marketplace selling music royalty streams as memorabilia to the highest bidding fans. After two years and $100K in revenue, the company landed $2 million in venture capital financing to accelerate their growth – or so they thought. 0:20 – 2:22 Background on SongVest leading up to Royalty Exchange business idea 2:23 – 3:49 Formation of Royalty Exchange and running it for the first 2 years 3:50 – 6:41 Attracting first $2M venture capital injection and how funds were invested 6:42 – 11:10 Pivot point to switch marketing strategy when proven ineffective 12:06 – 16:50 Deciding to exit and splitting sale of company to two buyers 16:51 – 19:13 Finding buyers without hiring an advisor & paying down debts 19:14 – 25:17 Discussing deal surprises and lessons learned 25:18 – 27:01 Sean answering would he start another company and raise from VCs again M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net) DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)
Sep 15, 2017 · 55 min
Advice on Hiring M&A Advisors
As former VP at Huron Capital, Mark Miller is very familiar with the start-to-finish private equity process. He's responsible for transaction teams involved in all aspects of deal sourcing, execution, and portfolio management. Mark has a wealth of experience executing deals on the buy side – managing due diligence, negotiating legal documents, setting the ultimate capital structure, and lining up financial documentation. 0:00 – 2:18 Summary of Mark's background 2:19 – 5:18 Worse thing that could happen during a deal 5:19 – 7:24 Steps to first start planning for an exit 7:25 – 11:14 Setting up strategic initiatives from Day 1 11:15 – 18:49 Selecting advisors for the deal 18:50 – 25:24 Sanity checking valuations 25:25 – 28:02 Where advisors differentiate themselves / customizing their process & outreach 28:03 – 32:45 The important of valuations and certainty to close 32:46 – 35:33 Buyer engagement and deal rooms 35:34 – 37:07 Post-closing transactual obligations 37:08 – 39:43 Biggest challenges of process 39:44 – 42:25 Unburdening management team 42:26 - 46:50 Most important lessons learned 46:51 - 51:43 Tackling deal hiccups, touch decisions, and sell vs. hold scenarios 51:44 – 52:56 Considerations for future process improvements M&A Science by Kison Patel (kison@dealroom.net) DealRoom: Data Science and AI for M&A (www.dealroom.net)