Most corp dev teams let the banker inbox set the agenda. Michael Guptan, who has led or contributed to 120+ transactions worth over $100B across Dell, Walmart, DXC, and now The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD), says that's backward. Strategy drives M&A.

His approach starts long before a deal. Define where the company needs to be in three to five years, find the gaps, then build relationships with likely targets 12 to 18 months before any deal talk, so culture is clear before the LOI.

Michael and Kison cover:

The red flags that signal a culture mismatch
When to buy instead of build (time to market usually decides it)
Negotiating the whole package: speed, certainty of close, retention, and org structure
Budgeting 5 to 10% of deal value for integration on smaller deals, with the integration lead in diligence
Why he avoids compressed auctions, and the judgment calls he won't hand to AI

Kison also puts DealRoom's own strategy on the table for a live role play.

Tracking targets 12 to 18 months out only works if your pipeline lives somewhere other than inboxes and spreadsheets. DealRoom is the AI-powered operating system for Buyer-Led M&A™, with one source of truth for targets, notes, and emails, and diligence findings that feed straight into the integration plan. Customers cut person-hours per deal by ~50%: bit.ly/4eYoRjW

Michael and Kison cover:

The red flags that signal a culture mismatch
When to buy instead of build (time to market usually decides it)
Negotiating the whole package: speed, certainty of close, retention, and org structure
Budgeting 5 to 10% of deal value for integration on smaller deals, with the integration lead in diligence
Why he avoids compressed auctions, and the judgment calls he won't hand to AI

Kison also puts DealRoom's own strategy on the table for a live role play.

Strategy Drives M&A, Not the Other Way A...