Practical, actionable guides that walk you through specific processes. From evaluating acquisitions to building sales pipelines to making reversible decisions—these guides give you the framework and discipline to execute with confidence.
Before looking at any numbers, clarify what you're actually trying to achieve. Are you buying revenue? Market access? Talent? A customer base? This determines everything that follows. Too many acquisitions fail because the buyer never answered this question clearly.
Go beyond the headline numbers. Understand revenue quality, customer concentration, unit economics, and cash flow. Look for red flags: declining customers, seasonal volatility, one-time revenue boosts, or unsustainable margins.
Visit the company. Talk to customers and employees. Understand their processes, systems, and constraints. Financial statements don't tell you if operations are actually working or barely held together by key people.
This is where most acquirers stumble. Assess the leadership team's capability, the company culture, and whether your integration approach will work. Cultural misalignment kills more deals than financial problems.
Use a framework. Don't let emotion or FOMO drive the decision. Have clear criteria for walk-away points. The best acquisition is sometimes the one you don't make.
Not all leads are equal. Define the characteristics of customers who are most likely to buy, stay, and expand. This focuses your efforts and improves conversion rates dramatically.
Identify where your ICPs spend time and how to reach them. Mix inbound (content, SEO, referrals) and outbound (direct outreach, partnerships). Don't rely on a single source.
Not every lead belongs in your pipeline. Use consistent criteria to qualify leads early. This prevents wasted time and keeps your pipeline healthy and predictable.
Define clear stages from first contact to close. Each stage should have specific criteria for advancement. This creates visibility and accountability.
Track metrics religiously: conversion rates between stages, average deal size, sales cycle length. Use this data to identify bottlenecks and improve execution.
Use historical data to forecast revenue. Compare forecasts to actuals. Adjust your approach based on what's working and what isn't.
Ask: Can I undo this decision if it goes wrong? If yes, it's reversible. If no, it's irreversible. This classification determines your entire decision-making approach.
Gather 70% of the information you'd like to have. Make a decision. Implement. Learn from the results. Speed and learning matter more than perfect information.
Build in checkpoints to assess whether the decision is working. Be willing to change course quickly if data suggests you should.
Gather as much information as reasonably possible. Stress-test your assumptions. Get input from trusted advisors. The cost of being wrong is too high to move fast.
Write down the key assumptions, the decision criteria, and why you chose this path. This helps you learn from the decision regardless of outcome.
After the decision plays out, review what happened. Did your assumptions hold? What would you do differently? This builds judgment over time.
Accountability requires clarity. What are you trying to achieve? Make it specific, measurable, and time-bound. Vague goals lead to vague accountability.
One person owns each outcome. Not a committee. Not shared responsibility. One person. This creates clarity and prevents diffusion of responsibility.
Weekly or bi-weekly, review progress against outcomes. Make it a routine. This prevents surprises and allows for course correction early.
Accountability without consequences is just conversation. Define what happens when someone hits their targets and what happens when they don't. Make it real.
When someone hits their targets, acknowledge it. When they miss, dig into why. Was it execution? Assumptions? External factors? Learn from both.
Accountability systems need to evolve as the business changes. Review quarterly whether your system is still working. Be willing to adjust.
Understand the other side's interests, constraints, and alternatives. Know your own walk-away point. Preparation is 80% of negotiation success.
Negotiations are about people, not just positions. Spend time understanding the other side. Build trust. This makes everything that follows easier.
Ask good questions and listen carefully to the answers. The person who talks the least often has the most power because they understand the other side better.
Attack the problem, not the person. Focus on interests, not positions. This keeps the negotiation collaborative rather than adversarial.
The best negotiations create value for both sides. Look for trades: what matters most to you might matter least to them and vice versa.
If the deal doesn't meet your criteria, walk away. The best negotiating position is being willing to walk. This actually makes you more likely to get a good deal.