If you’re a founder eyeing a future acquisition, the best thing you can do is think like a buyer.
At TechExit.io, we’ve heard from industry veterans who’ve sat on both sides of the table—people like Matt Diederichs (Hootsuite, Invoca), Austin Johnsen (Zapier), and Stuart Lombard (ecobee). Their advice? Relationships, readiness, and a clear value story can make all the difference.
Key takeaways:
- As a buyer, you need to have a clear picture of how this acquisition will help your company grow—and follow up on it thoroughly and thoughtfully.
- As a seller, focus on building relationships first, and incorporate some light-touch ways to stay in connected and prove your value.
- Vision alignment and transparency are key for both parties, as is having a strong internal communication strategy and change management plan for the board and employees.
It’s not just about having strong financials or flashy growth metrics. The founders who land great outcomes know how to play the long game—building trust, staying top of mind, and aligning with a buyer’s bigger picture. They understand that timing, positioning, and preparation matter just as much as performance.
Whether you’re actively exploring a sale or just starting to think about what an exit could look like, the steps you take now will shape the opportunities available to you later. These seasoned founders and acquirers have been through it—and they’re sharing exactly what you should focus on to make your company not just sellable, but sought-after.
1. Build The Relationship Before You Need It
An acquisition doesn’t start with a deal—it starts with a connection.
According to Austin Johnsen, most successful M&A outcomes are the result of long-term relationships, not cold outreach.
“Usually, if I get a cold outreach and you’re like, ‘Hey, my company’s for sale. I need to make a decision in the next couple weeks. Are you interested?’ We’re going to pass.”
Light-Touch Ways To Stay On The Radar:
- Reach out early just to introduce yourself.
- Add corp dev contacts to your investor updates (with permission).
- Set recurring check-ins every 6–9 months
- Track potential buyers via Google Alerts to understand their evolving needs.
“So much of this is timing and, frankly, a bit of luck,” said Austin. “You need to have a relationship in place, be patient, and have flexibility to be ready when we’re ready.”
2. Sell A Vision, Not Just A Company
It’s not enough to show what your company has done—buyers want to understand what acquiring you will enable them to do. That means having a clear and strategic reason why the deal makes sense from their perspective.
Matt Diederichs calls this the “value thesis”—a compelling story about how the acquisition will unlock growth.
“I view it as ‘we have a thesis on what we think is going to create value,’” he said.
That thesis should guide everything from the first conversation to post-deal integration.
“The executive team are really the ones that should be the stewards of that story the whole way through—from conception of a thesis, to talking to a company, to doing a deal, to the first 30, 60, 90 days of integration, to a longer-term value play. It should have the same thread the whole way through.”
When founders understand how their business fits into a buyer’s bigger picture—whether it’s about accelerating growth, expanding into new markets, or deepening product capabilities—they’re not just easier to acquire. They’re more desirable.
3. Get Ahead Of Diligence Questions
Be ready to answer the questions buyers will ask before they ask them:
- How is your team structured? What IP is in-house vs. outsourced?
- What’s your cap table like? Bootstrapped or VC-backed?
- How stable is your growth? Can you show how you’ll perform in changing markets?
As Austin noted, staying on top of these elements helps founders be ready when timing lines up.
4. Be Crystal Clear With Your Team
Buyers aren’t the only audience you need to consider. How you talk to your employees during the acquisition process matters just as much.
Stuart Lombard learned this when ecobee was acquired by Generac. Although the deal was vision-aligned, he wishes he’d communicated more clearly that:
“People hear the word acquisition, think it’s an ‘exit,’ and wonder if they should move on too,” said Stuart. “They get concerned about whether everyone will be fired, if their job is safe, and other issues that weren’t the case, but we didn’t communicate as clearly as we should have.”
His advice: explain the path forward—not just for the business, but for the individuals within it.
5. Language & Culture Shape The Outcome
Even small things—like the words you use—can shape how your team feels about the change.
Matt shared how thoughtful messaging during Invoca’s integration helped unify teams:
“Gregg Johnson, the CEO of Invoca, very consciously referred to both teams as ‘legacy.’ One was ‘legacy’ of the old company, and the other was ‘legacy Invoca.’”
“It really helped to break down this ‘us versus them’ thing,” said Matt. “It seems small, but I think it’s one of those things where being thoughtful about culture all the way down to the language that we use when we talk to each other on a day-to-day basis has been really powerful.”
If you want to get acquired, don’t wait until you need to sell. Start building relationships, clarify your value, and think like a buyer now—so when the timing is right, you’re ready.
TechExit.io is the M&A ready event for tech entrepreneurs. Learn from the biggest acquisition success stories and connect with the players that made them happen at TechExit.io.