In a rapidly consolidating industry where you have personal relationships with every potential buyer's CEO, hiring an industry-specialist banker is still critical. The banker acts as a necessary intermediary to navigate complex 'frenemy' dynamics, professionally manage a competitive process, and put pressure on buyers in a way you cannot.

A successful exit is a highly choreographed dance, not an abrupt decision. Founders should spend years building relationships with line-of-business leaders—not just Corp Dev—at potential acquiring companies. The goal is to 'incept' the idea of an acquisition long before it's needed.

Many M&A teams focus solely on closing the deal, a critical execution task. The best acquirers succeed by designing a parallel process where integration planning and value creation strategies are developed simultaneously with due diligence, ensuring post-close success.

Before a formal M&A process launches, bankers arrange 'Fireside Chats' (FSCs)—informal meetings between the CEO and a select few potential buyers. This warms up the market, gives highly interested firms a head start on their research, and helps orchestrate the pace of the subsequent formal process.

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.

Contrary to the common buyer preference for proprietary deals, CPC views investment bankers as a healthy part of the M&A process. They believe an banker-led process helps sellers mentally and emotionally prepare for the significant decision of selling their business, ultimately leading to a smoother, more successful transaction.

Founders who wait until they need to sell have already failed. A successful exit requires a multi-year 'background process' of building relationships. The key is to engage with SVPs and business unit leaders at potential acquirers—the people who will champion the deal internally—not just the Corp Dev team who merely execute transactions.

The value creation process begins long before the deal closes. The 3-6 month due diligence period is used for weakness identification, strategic planning, and recruiting key personnel. This makes the post-acquisition 100-day plan a seamless continuation of pre-close work, rather than a fresh start.

Instead of a linear process, treat M&A as a spiral. Constantly revisit and adjust deal structure, diligence findings, and integration plans. A discovery in one area (e.g., diligence) should trigger a reassessment of the others (e.g., deal structure), ensuring a cohesive and de-risked outcome.