In a non-control deal, an investor cannot fire management. Therefore, the primary diligence focus must shift from the business itself to the founder's character and the potential for a strong partnership, as this relationship is the ultimate determinant of success.

Treat the relationship between the acquiring and target CEOs as essential infrastructure. Investing in this trust early allows you to move faster during diligence and have difficult conversations without derailing the process, as process moves slower than trust.

When Corp Dev runs diligence and hands it off to integration, it creates information gaps. Having the integration leader run diligence provides irreplaceable firsthand context, preventing misinterpretations and avoiding the need to 're-diligence' the deal later.

To avoid a broken handoff, embed key business and integration experts into the core deal team from the start. These members view diligence through an integration lens, validating synergy assumptions and timelines in real-time. This prevents post-signing surprises and ensures the deal model is operationally achievable, creating a seamless transition from deal-making to execution.

Delegating the most critical task—initial contact with a potential acquisition target—to the most junior person in the firm is a mistake. To establish immediate credibility and trust, senior partners with decision-making authority should be the ones making the first outreach to founders.

By the time a strategic acquirer enters due diligence, the desire to do the deal is already high. The process's primary purpose is not to hunt for deal-breakers but to confirm key assumptions and, more importantly, to gather the necessary data to build a robust and successful integration plan.

With a PE-owned target, engage its leadership on operational partnership details while simultaneously discussing the long-term acquisition case and financial horizons with the PE owners. The Corp Dev leader must orchestrate these parallel, distinct conversations.

Before an LOI, share your high-level vision, then have the target's founders pitch back their own 6- and 12-month post-acquisition roadmap. This pre-commitment exercise reveals true alignment and integration potential far more effectively than traditional diligence, creating a joint vision early on.

To avoid post-close surprises and knowledge loss, marry diligence and integration leads before an LOI is even signed. This ensures real-world operational experience informs diligence from the start. The goal is to have a drafted integration thesis by LOI and a near-complete plan by signing, not after closing.