Founder Exit Strategy: Xavier Gury on M&A Deal Terms vs Valuation
Release Date: 08/18/2025
Building Your M&A Reputation: Why Relationships Beat Transactions Every Time with Andrew Cohen
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Andy Cohen, Vice President of Corporate Development at F5 Andy has built a career that proves M&A is fundamentally about relationships, not just transactions. With 30 years of experience and 60 deals closed across high-growth tech companies including Citrix, Acquia, and F5, Andy has cultivated the kind of reputation where every CEO he's worked with will take his call tomorrow. In this conversation, he reveals why zero-sum thinking kills deals, how to convince people to sell without convincing them to sell, and why walking away on principle matters more than closing at any cost. ...
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, Partner and Co-Head of U.S. at 65 Equity Partners shares how his firm is redefining private equity through non-control investments in founder-led businesses. In this conversation, Leon breaks down why the best companies are never for sale, how immigrant adaptability translates to investing success, and why boring, disciplined deal-making consistently outperforms flashy transactions. He also walks through his framework for negotiating term sheets and building relationships that span years before cutting checks north of $200 million. Things You'll Learn Why non-control "partnership capital"...
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Integration Starts with Hiring, Not the Deal with Brandon Batt
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– Chief People and Transformation Officer at Quadient joins us to discuss how successful M&A integration starts long before you sign an LOI. Brandon shares how Quadient built M&A capability across the organization through strategic hiring, created a transformation office that breaks down traditional silos, and executed portfolio transformation through dozens of acquisitions and divestitures. Learn why the secret to integration success isn't just about playbooks—it's about building M&A muscle into your team from day one. Things You'll Learn Why hiring for M&A experience...
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Strategic M&A Framework: IFS's Acquisition Playbook with Rachel Hindley
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, Vice President of Corporate Development, IFS oversees transformative acquisitions for the global leader in industrial AI and enterprise software. In this episode, Rachel shares how IFS navigates the unique dynamics of having three major private equity backers—EQT, HG, and TA Associates—while executing strategic deals that enhance their portfolio. She breaks down IFS's four acquisition archetypes (product bolt-ons, customer migration, market entry, and new platforms), explains why integration and value creation must be separated, and reveals how the company is adapting its...
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Mastering Carve-Out Transactions with Keith Crawford
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, Global Head of Corporate Development and M&A at State Street Corporation , Global Head of Corporate Development and M&A at State Street Corporation, brings over 20 years of expertise executing some of the most intricate custody business carve-outs in financial services. In this episode, Keith breaks down the realities of carve-out transactions—from proactive deal sourcing and dependency mapping to navigating TSAs and post-close integration. He shares hard-won lessons on avoiding common pitfalls like scope creep, third-party contract renegotiations, and employee retention challenges...
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Integration-Led M&A: Cisco's Approach to Deal Success Part 2 with Johanna Jaakola and Tesia Hostetler
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– Integration Lead, Corporate Development Integration Team, Cisco – Leader, Acquisition Integration Practice, Cisco , Integration Lead on Cisco's Corporate Development Integration Team, and , Leader of Cisco's Acquisition Integration Practice, continue their deep dive into Cisco's integration-led M&A framework. In Part 2, they reveal how integration planning shapes diligence, how value drivers guide surgical execution, and what it takes to coordinate a 180-person M&A community. From day one employee experience to go-to-market complexity and the Splunk mega-deal, this episode...
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Integration-Led Diligence: Cisco's M&A Approach with Johanna Jaakola & Tesia Hostetle
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– Integration Lead, Corporate Development Integration Team, Cisco – Leader, Acquisition Integration Practice, Cisco , Integration Lead on Cisco's Corporate Development Integration Team, and , Leader of Cisco's Acquisition Integration Practice, share how one of the world's most prolific acquirers structures deals for success. This episode breaks down Cisco's integration-led diligence model, where integration leads orchestrate due diligence from the deal thesis stage, ensuring strategic alignment and execution readiness before ink hits paper. Learn how Cisco's structured approach to...
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When Integration Beats Roll-Ups with Tim Hall
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- Managing Partner and Founder, brings 29 years of private equity experience to this conversation about what actually works in buy-and-build strategies. After launching Brenton Point in 2024 following a 20-year run at CI Capital Partners, where he completed 200+ acquisitions across 12 platforms, Tim breaks down the independent sponsor model and why integration—not just aggregation—is the real value driver. He walks through building platforms from scratch, the executive-first strategy for fragmented markets, and how standardized integration playbooks turn acquired companies into...
info_outlineXavier Gury, Founding Partner at Wind
Xavier Gury, founding partner at Wind venture capital firm, brings a unique triple perspective to M&A: serial entrepreneur, acquisition target, and now investor. In this episode, Xavier unpacks the critical lessons from his three successful exits, including one transformative deal with Publicis, where he structured a performance-based earnout that prioritized terms over upfront valuation.
The conversation reveals why 90% of the deal value came through earnout performance, how to align teams during integration, and the strategic mistakes buyers make when acquiring founder-led companies. M&A professionals will learn practical frameworks for structuring deals that actually work post-close.
Things You'll Learn
- Why deal terms matter more than valuation – and how Xavier structured an earnout where only 10% was paid upfront
- The "yin yang" principle for balanced M&A deals that create value for both buyer and seller
- How to incentivize key employees during earnout periods to ensure alignment and execution success
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Today’s episode of the M&A Science Podcast is brought to you by Grata!
Grata is the leading private market dealmaking platform. With its best-in-class AI workflows and investment-grade data, Grata helps investors, advisors, and strategic acquirers effortlessly discover, research, and connect with potential targets — all in one sleek, user-friendly interface.
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Episode Chapters
[00:02:00] Xavier's unconventional path from teaching AltaVista to founding startups
[00:08:30] How a 10-person company acquired a 100-person competitor during market consolidation
[00:14:00] Timing the Publicis Exit – Why selling to the "worst" digital player created the biggest value creation opportunity
[00:18:00] How market timing generated 5x vs 12x EBITDA multiples from different buyer types
[00:21:30] Breaking down the deal where upfront payment was only 10% of total value
[00:26:00] The equity strategy that made earnout management effortless
[00:31:00] The Yin Yang M&A Principle – Why balanced deals create 1+1=3 value instead of destroying it
[00:38:00] How VCs navigate the schizophrenic nature of investment lifecycle
[00:43:00] Terms vs Valuation Deep Dive
[00:47:00] The $50 Billion Mistake
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