A counterintuitive benefit of being acquired by a larger company is improved internal team cohesion. The sudden influx of new partnerships and opportunities from the acquiring entity can compel the smaller team to work more closely together, fostering stronger alignment and mutual support.

Acquired extended its business model by launching a fund that invests exclusively in its private company sponsors. The rigorous process of selecting a brand-aligned sponsor effectively serves as investment diligence, creating a powerful flywheel where business partnerships become financial ones.

Instead of shouldering the full financial and promotional burden of a first-time event, partner with other companies. By splitting costs and co-promoting to a shared target audience, you significantly lower risk and can test the marketing channel more affordably.

Tommy Mello's "Home Service Freedom" event and media brand isn't just a side hustle. It serves as a powerful M&A pipeline, allowing him to build relationships with and identify top operators in adjacent industries. It's a strategic way to "date them before we get married" through acquisition.

Sprout Social amplifies its event presence by sponsoring community-led micro-events and dinners co-hosted with creators during major conferences like INBOUND. This strategy leverages the creator's audience to attract a curated group, piggybacking on existing industry buzz for greater impact.

Successful acquisitions don't just benefit the acquired company's investors. These investors often reinvest their profits into new, earlier-stage ventures, providing crucial capital that fuels the entire biotech ecosystem's growth and innovation.

The acquisition of Weed Week, a one-person newsletter, reveals a smart M&A strategy. The parent company buys brands with excellent core content and audience trust, then leverages its own infrastructure to build a full media stack (events, ads, memberships) around that strong foundation.

Acquired strategically curates guests like Jamie Dimon and Barry Diller for live events, framing it as a 'cinematic universe' of iconic leaders. This narrative transforms a podcast into a larger media property, creating a cohesive brand world for its audience.

In-person events create a powerful, hard-to-replicate competitive moat. While rivals can easily copy your digital products or content with AI, they cannot replicate the unique community, experience, and brand loyalty fostered by well-executed IRL gatherings.