M&A Playbook

Frameworks for both sides of M&A: acquiring companies and being acquired.

Keywords

M&A, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, acquisition, acqui-hire, integration, deal structure, valuation, LOI, term sheet, earnout

Quick Start

Acquiring: Start with strategic rationale → target screening → due diligence → valuation → negotiation → integration.

Being Acquired: Start with readiness assessment → data room prep → advisor selection → negotiation → transition.

When You're Acquiring

Strategic Rationale (answer before anything else)

• - Buy vs Build: Can you build this faster/cheaper? If yes, don't acquire.
• Acqui-hire vs Product vs Market: What are you really buying? Talent? Technology? Customers?
• Integration complexity: How hard is it to merge this into your company?

Due Diligence Checklist

Domain	Key Questions	Red Flags
Financial	Revenue quality, customer concentration, burn rate	>30% revenue from 1 customer
Technical

Code quality, tech debt, architecture fit | Monolith with no tests |

| Legal | IP ownership, pending litigation, contracts | Key IP owned by individuals | | People | Key person risk, culture fit, retention risk | Founders have no lockup/earnout | | Market | Market position, competitive threats | Declining market share | | Customers | Churn rate, NPS, contract terms | High churn, short contracts |

Valuation Approaches

• - Revenue multiple: Industry-dependent (2-15x ARR for SaaS)
• Comparable transactions: What similar companies sold for
• DCF: For profitable companies only (most startups: use multiples)
• Acqui-hire: $1-3M per engineer in hot markets

Integration Frameworks

See references/integration-playbook.md for the 100-day integration plan.

When You're Being Acquired

Readiness Signals

• - Inbound interest from strategic buyers
• Market consolidation happening around you
• Fundraising becomes harder than operating
• Founder ready for a transition

Preparation (6-12 months before)

1. 1. Clean up financials (audited if possible)
2. Document all IP and contracts
3. Reduce customer concentration
4. Lock up key employees
5. Build the data room
6. Engage an M&A advisor

Negotiation Points

Term	What to Watch	Your Leverage
Valuation	Earnout traps (unreachable targets)	Multiple competing offers
Earnout

Milestone definitions, measurement period | Cash-heavy vs earnout-heavy split |

| Lockup | Duration, conditions | Your replaceability | | Rep & warranties | Scope of liability | Escrow vs indemnification cap | | Employee retention | Who gets offers, at what terms | Key person dependencies |

Red Flags (Both Sides)

• - No clear strategic rationale beyond "it's a good deal"
• Culture clash visible during due diligence and ignored
• Key people not locked in before close
• Integration plan doesn't exist or is "we'll figure it out"
• Valuation based on projections, not actuals

Integration with C-Suite Roles

Role	Contribution to M&A
CEO	Strategic rationale, negotiation lead
CFO

Valuation, deal structure, financing | | CTO | Technical due diligence, integration architecture | | CHRO | People due diligence, retention planning | | COO | Integration execution, process merge | | CPO | Product roadmap impact, customer overlap |

Resources

• - references/integration-playbook.md — 100-day post-acquisition integration plan
• INLINECODE2 — comprehensive DD checklist by domain