StartFast Ventures’ Post

https://lnkd.in/djsj3Tux Totango and Catalyst merge. Good luck. How do you see it? Is it a sign of strength? Weakness? Personally I see it as a sign of warning for gainsight. #customersuccess

#CSFam Big moves happening in #customersuccess today. Totango and Catalyst Software are joining forces to provide the most powerful customer growth platform on the market. Looking forward to witnessing the impact it will have on post-sales revenue cycles. Would love to get your thoughts on this. Please share! #merger #announcement #revenuerevolution #customerexperience #customersatisfaction #csm

I'm always on the lookout for interesting M&A deals and M&A strategies others can learn from. Here's one! In this case its a fairly low profile merger of two companies in the "customer success" industry. Totango and Catalyst Software came together with all the investors in both companies rolling into the new company. The rationale? To take on the leader in the industry Gainsight. Whether or not you know the industry it doesn't matter, but it's a worthwhile strategy to consider in any industry. Rather than two competitors fighting it out and trying to finance their businesses separately against a larger rival, why not just come together? Of course any merger isn't so easy, but frankly, they probably have a lot in common. The bottom line, both groups know they'll be better together than apart. Some of the benefits? The valuation discussion should be easier (it's all relative in a merger) and there's no need to raise a ton of cash to get a deal done. Plus you get to take the best of everything and your shared experiences and decide which is best to go forward with. So think about it, could a merger be a helpful in your business? #mergersandacquisitions #strategy https://lnkd.in/gjitTwC5

The Acquisition of Ultimate May Transform #Zendesk. Here’s How. Through the recent acquisitions of Tymeshift, Klaus, and now Ultimate, Zendesk is quickly becoming a contact-center-centric company.

🚨 Big News in the Mail Solutions Industry! 🚨 Quadient has just acquired Frama in a strategic move that strengthens its global presence and enhances its mail and digital communication solutions. This merger promises innovation, expanded services, and greater support for businesses worldwide. We’ve just published a blog diving into the details of this acquisition and what it means for the industry. 📈📬 Whether you're a long-time Quadient user or new to Frama, we’ve got you covered — our company continues to supply franking consumables for both Quadient and Frama machines, ensuring seamless support during this transition. 👉 Read the full blog here https://lnkd.in/e3F5Vy5x #Quadient #Frama #Acquisition #MailSolutions #BusinessGrowth #Innovation #FrankingConsumables #CustomerSupport #DigitalTransformation #GlobalBusiness

Love Jennifer Smith's presentation at SaaS Palooza on the latest trends in PE tech acquisitions and activity. A couple of key points: - 1H ‘24 closed Tech PE deals up 5-10% vs. ’23 - Deals in ‘24 have generally continued to be smaller in size (average deal size only up 8% at ~$150M) and see a lower proportion of buyouts (only ~20% of deals vs. ~25% in 2023) - Tech PE investing continues to be weighted heavily towards horizonal and vertical software deals (~70% of Tech PE deals)

It’s been a while since I first stepped into the M&A space, but I vividly recall that moment. I can still see the colors of the folders in that infinite data room, the endless back-and-forth of emails, and the countless Excel files we relied on to maintain control. It was my first deal, and navigating it felt like being lost in a deep, intricate maze, yet there was a thrill in every twist and turn. Reflecting on how M&A has evolved is remarkable. The core principles—finding opportunities, managing workflows, and connecting with people—remain steadfast. Yet much has changed. What was once a physical room packed with data is now a Virtual Data Room (VDR). Over the past decade, companies have tried to streamline the process by tackling issues one at a time. You’d have a platform for NDA signing, another for managing deals, and another for finding opportunities. This fragmented approach has become the norm, persisting longer than it should have. Looking back at that first deal and the complex maze we call “doing a deal,” a realization hit me. Everyone had focused on fixing isolated parts of the process—signing, CRM, data rooms—without creating something truly comprehensive. No one had dared to dream of a single, centralized platform where you could do it all: find deals, manage data, and connect with the right people, all in one place. This led to AMIVA+, a platform designed to address the challenges I encountered during that first deal and many others since. AMIVA+ isn’t just another tool; it’s a response to the fragmented and frustrating processes that have dominated M&A for too long. It’s about bringing everything together under one roof, making the complex simple, and the overwhelming manageable. Recently, an article in CEO Weekly captured what AMIVA+ represents. It explored how the platform integrates every step of the M&A process, from finding and managing deals to fostering meaningful connections. The article highlighted something I’ve always believed in—M&A is as much about people as it is about numbers and data. And that’s what AMIVA+ honors. Read it below. To further illustrate how AMIVA+ aligns with the market’s evolving needs, we’ve introduced a Buyer Personalized Newsletter. Each edition is thoughtfully curated, offering insights and opportunities tailored to specific buyers. It’s a reflection of how we see the future of M&A—more personalized, more connected. Comment "Buy Side" and I'll reply with the link. We’ve also made it easier for brokers and bankers to showcase their listings without the usual hurdles. The platform offers a straightforward way to put opportunities in front of the right audience, enhancing visibility without unnecessary complexity. Comment “Sell Side” and I’ll help set you up for free. AMIVA+ is a culmination of everything we’ve learned, a step forward in making M&A more accessible and human. It’s not just about changing the process; it’s about evolving with it—and leading it.

Companies that achieve sustainable success with a #ProductLedGrowth model have something in common with top traditional sales organizations: - They ensure company-wide clarity on the value they provide for their customers - They structure themselves in ways that ensure that value is delivered and maintained throughout the lifecycle of the account. We’ve seen this ring true with Segment and Jama Software, who both leveraged enterprise sales strategies to support PLG, leading to big acquisitions. If you’re leading a PLG strategy, check out FM's playbook on generating more revenue: https://hubs.li/Q02YXkdZ0 #PLGSales #ProductLedSales

Acquisition Announcement - Zendesk Acquires Klaus, a WEM Vendor The recent acquisition of Klaus by Zendesk signals a strategic move towards strengthening its CX portfolio. WEM, a critical component of CX strategy, enables organizations to exert better control over their workforce and enhance employee experiences (EX). As Zendesk integrates Klaus's AI-powered quality assurance (QA) capabilities into its suite of solutions, it demonstrates a clear commitment to empowering businesses with tools to optimize their CX efforts. This acquisition bolsters Zendesk's suite of WEM solutions, which already includes Tymeshift, a cutting-edge workforce management tool tailored for Zendesk users. The integration of Klaus into Zendesk's #WEM portfolio, represents a significant advancement in assessing the performance of support teams. This technology enables businesses to automatically and accurately evaluate the quality of customer support interactions across all channels, including those involving both human and digital agents. By automating QA across 100 percent of customer support interactions, Klaus addresses the need to keep up with rising customer expectations in an era where #AI is driving the speed and frequency of #customerengagement. The ability of Klaus to analyze conversations with positive or negative sentiment, identify outliers, churn risk, escalations, and follow-ups, as well as pinpoint knowledge gaps and coaching opportunities, highlishts its value in improving service quality and enriching the #customerexperience. This comprehensive approach to QA is particularly crucial as digital agents handle more service inquiries, necessitating a solution that can assess the performance of both human and digital agents to maintain quality control and deliver best-in-class customer service. Zendesk's approach highlights a fundamental truth: Better control over internal processes translates into superior external #experiences for customers. By prioritizing WEM, Zendesk aims to equip organizations with the resources needed to drive consistent, high-quality #interactions across every touchpoint. Zendesk's strategic focus on complete CX solutions underscores its commitment to #empowering businesses with the tools and insights needed to thrive in today's customer-centric environment.

Growth is essential to an organization, but the success or failure of this growth mostly comes down to how you choose to grow. And sometimes it is better to maximize what you already have. Expanding on existing clients not only works but it also allows your teams to serve buyer needs better. This is especially true in Riskonnect (Formerly Castellan Solutions)'s story. Click the link to learn how Castellan (now Riskonnect) used existing accounts to grow during a merger. https://buff.ly/3VdaMEE #ClientStory #RevenueEnablement #OrganizationalAlignment