Thoughts on Building an Exit Game Plan

Just like every other business issue, company acquisitions also have straightforward and logical aspects. If you listened to Acquired podcast in the past and gave some thought into the company exits, you will know what I’m talking about. In this article, I’ll try to share the framework we’ve developed when we were trying to build an exit strategy.

In 2018, we were talking about a potential acquisition of Twentify. What would the primary motivation of the acquirer be, and which acquirer types are there? Let’s think about it for Twentify, a technology-backed market research company. Giving it some thought, we came up with five ideas.

1. Traditional Market Research Companies

The first group is the most straightforward one. Traditional market research companies like IPSOS, Nielsen, or GfK would consider acquiring Twentify since they are in the same field. Even though these companies are much bigger than Twentify in terms of market share and validation, Twentify has a unique way of collecting data. Compared with them, the idea of implementing this technology across the countries they’re operating or expanding to other countries with this technology would be logical for them

Benefits? Twentify will allow them to;

  • Reduce their data collection costs,
  • Have a cheaper way to operate in other countries,
  • Expand their solution set with technological advancements,
  • Increase revenue and market share in conflicting markets.

2. Private Equities

When you talk about an acquisition, this is always an option. Private Equities would purchase Twentify, because (1) the company was profitable (or near) and growing, and (2) it had a strong growth potential within the local market. In addition to these points, the market research industry is growing every year.

Benefits? Twentify can be bought, get improved in terms of operations and growth, and then can be sold at a higher price.

3. Technology-backed Market Research Companies

The area of company acquisitions has seen many companies acquired their direct competitors. Since Twentify is the dominant player within its field in Turkey and has an active community, it would make sense for a direct competitor to acquire Twentify.

Benefits? Twentify will allow these companies to;

  • Expand their solution set with technological advancements,
  • Increase revenue absorbing the revenue and marketing to the customer base,
  • Increase their geographical reach,
  • Increase their userbase.

4. B2B Technology Marketplaces

This is an exciting aspect, and I think all MarTech, heck, all SaaS companies should take this option seriously. Just like we saw the sequential acquisitions big players made on the Business Intelligence industry, B2B technology giants like Salesforce, HubSpot, Marketo, or Hootsuite are extending their reach by acquiring companies that fit their existing solution set. Twentify would be a good fit within that equation because of its data collection ability from communities and its mobile feature set.

Benefits? Twentify would allow these companies to expand their solutions (duh!) and maybe curate new offerings mixing different solutions.

5. B2B VAS Providers and Agencies

This field has its unique aspects. Acquiring Twentify allows these companies to be more data-driven, connect Twentify’s services with other services and improve their revenue channels, and create new opportunities to cross-sell to Twentify’s existing customers.

So, what’s the point?

Making this analysis shows a pattern between the types of companies and the benefits they’ll have out of the acquisition.

Coming up with these insights, it seems that within the B2B area, for almost all SaaS companies, this table will be relevant when they look for an acquisition strategy. Just like we’ve mentioned above, the main benefits are vertical and horizontal expansion, optimization, and opportunity.

Considering this table, I think companies trying to figure out their exit strategy can have a broader view. If there is anything that I’ve missed (probably lots of things), let me know.


Thanks for reading! 🙌
Have questions? Comment below, DM me at @ThisIsCaglar, or e-mail to me at tokiyashi@gmail.com. What I’m writing about? I’m writing about start-ups, product design, tech-related observations, and marketing. If you want to subscribe to my adventures, subscribe here.


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