User Interviews' marketing team plans 2-3 "bangers" (tentpole campaigns) per quarter. This creates a predictable operating rhythm for the entire company, ensuring a steady drumbeat of marketing moments that are independent of the product roadmap and can be planned in advance.

Leaking a pending M&A deal is a direct negotiation tactic, not just a rumor. It forces other potential acquirers with the target on their list into an urgent 'deal mode.' This creates immediate pressure, forcing a rapid decision and potentially generating a competing paper offer within days, which gives the seller significant leverage.

When an acquisition supplants an internal project, the messaging is crucial for morale. Position the internal team's work as a successful R&D phase that validated the market need and informed the "buy" decision. This celebrates their contribution and frames the acquisition as an acceleration of their validated strategy.

Don't wait until you want to sell to think about acquirers. A key strategy is to treat potential buyers as a target audience. Actively market your company's narrative and successes to the specific people who could eventually buy you, drastically speeding up a future M&A process.

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.

TBPN positioned itself for its OpenAI acquisition by becoming a "contrarian supporter." They launched viral marketing stunts and advocated for controversial OpenAI strategies (like ads in ChatGPT) that OpenAI couldn't publicly champion itself, effectively auditioning their marketing value.

Framing M&A like a marriage, rather than a transaction, fosters a long-term perspective. Sourcing is dating to find value alignment, the Letter of Intent is the engagement, and post-close integration is the marriage itself—the phase where the real, hard work of building a successful union begins.

When acquiring a business, don't rely on a single outcome like achieving a growth target. Instead, seek assets that offer multiple ways to win. Even if the primary goal is missed, the acquired data, technology, or talent could create significant value for other business units, providing built-in insurance for the deal.

Amplitude's acquisition of Kraftful was re-initiated after their CPO personally used the product for hours, triggering an internal "power user" flag. This shows how deep, organic product engagement from a strategic buyer's leadership can be a direct M&A catalyst.