Buyer-Led vs. Seller-Led M&A with Matthew Person

Mathew Person, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Quikbase

In this episode of the M&A Science Podcast, Kison Patel interviews Mathew Person, Senior Vice President of Corporate Development at Quickbase. Mathew brings a unique blend of operator, banker, and corp dev experience, making him a strategic leader in buyer-led M&A. Together, they dive deep into how to proactively structure acquisitions, align internal stakeholders, avoid over-rationalization, and ensure integration success.

Things You Will Learn:

• How to design and align around a box of preference (quant + qual criteria)

• Tactics for proactively sourcing and assessing cultural fit

• How to structure your corp dev team for scale and deal velocity

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Episode Timestamps

[00:01:30] Mathew's unique background: sports operator, banker, corp dev

[00:03:30] Quickbase's carveout history and PE backing

[00:04:00] What buyer-led M&A means and why it matters

[00:05:00] Box of preference: building deal criteria with stakeholders

[00:07:30] Market mapping and capability-driven strategy

[00:09:30] Scorecards, deal screening, and qualitative diligence

[00:15:30] Identifying and quantifying culture fit

[00:19:30] Modeling dis-synergies and avoiding over-rationalization

[00:23:30] Structuring corp dev teams for stakeholder alignment

[00:30:00] Managing negotiations and bid-ask spread with trust

[00:33:30] The ROI of being known as a "good home"

[00:42:30] Integration success: same team from diligence to execution

[00:47:00] Culture as a deal breaker or driver

[00:52:30] Why stakeholder consensus is the hardest part of M&A

Questions, comments, concerns?
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