ECI Software Solutions transitioned from letting acquisitions operate independently to a "fully absorbed" model. This change was driven by the operational difficulties and lack of scalability from having disparate ERP and HRIS systems, which hindered reporting and efficiency.

Unlike PE firms that buy to sell within 5 years, Bending Spoons holds assets forever. They conduct deep operational transformations, rebuilding technology and integrating businesses onto a shared platform. This tight integration makes a future sale structurally difficult.

Zayo gained a significant M&A integration advantage by building its entire operational stack—from sales to billing and provisioning—within a single Salesforce instance. This eliminated complex system migrations and streamlined data consolidation for acquired companies.

RealDefense grows by acquiring distressed or flat consumer tech companies. Instead of running them as separate entities, it absorbs their products and customers into its own centralized billing, marketing, and AI stacks to create cross-sell opportunities and operational synergies.

Bending Spoons' M&A strategy came from realizing that creating a startup from scratch (zero-to-one) is heavily luck-dependent. In contrast, scaling an existing business (one-to-N) relies on functional skills like engineering and marketing that can be systematically mastered and applied across acquisitions.

Unlike PE firms that flip companies, Bending Spoons acquires digital businesses to own permanently. Their model focuses on deep operational overhauls—rebuilding software, redesigning UI, and restructuring organizations—rather than making shallow management changes, creating long-term value through operational excellence.

Post-acquisition, Bending Spoons intentionally creates smaller, high-talent-density teams. This "startup mode" eliminates bureaucracy and increases ownership, proving that a small, elite team can achieve more than a larger one. They argue the correlation between team size and quality is "mild at best."

Single-product companies struggle to align R&D team size with fluctuating opportunities. Bending Spoons uses a centralized pool of flexible R&D talent that can be rapidly deployed to different portfolio companies, maximizing efficiency and capturing short-lived windows of opportunity that others miss.

Bending Spoons' acquisitions of Miro and Airtable signal a strategic shift. Previously known for buying standalone brands with strong cash flow, the company now appears to be assembling a portfolio of modern productivity tools, potentially creating a bundled offering to compete with suites like Google Workspace.