Hilary Shirazi, Head of Corporate Development at Notion, brings over a decade of M&A experience from LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Zendesk to discuss building corporate development strategy at high-growth tech companies. She shares her proven deal thesis methodology, the "Four T's" framework for categorizing acquisitions, and why integration without an IMO might be the better approach for agile teams.
Things you will learn:
The Deal Thesis Framework – How to crystallize strategy before identifying targets using Hilary's proven document template
The Four T's of M&A – Talent, Tech, Traction, and Terrain categories that determine your acquisition approach and integration strategy
Integration Without IMO – Why embedding integration throughout the process beats traditional handoff models for most deals
___________________
The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.
📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual
Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.
____________________
Join us for the 3rd M&A Science Fair IN PERSON
Get pure, off-the-record collaboration between corporate development, private equity, and integration leaders. Instead of passive listening, you’ll be sharing real frameworks, trading ideas, and testing what actually works in modern deal execution. Everything’s practitioner-led, and every topic is surfaced by the attendees themselves.
October 16th — NYC
8AM-7:30PM
Request an invite here: https://luma.com/khkuh6yw
____________________
[00:02:00] Hilary's career evolution and why in-house M&A beats advisory work
[00:05:00] Building M&A Best Practices – Why starting at a mature organization teaches critical fundamentals before going solo
[00:08:30] Getting to know executives' M&A fears and biases before sourcing deals
[00:11:00] The Deal Thesis Methodology – Creating strategy documents before naming targets to avoid "solution shopping"
[00:16:00] Deal Sponsor Selection
[00:20:00] Front-Loading Vision Alignment
[00:30:00] The Four T's Framework – Categorizing acquisitions as Talent, Tech, Traction, or Terrain deals
[00:35:00] Integration Without IMO – Why Corp Dev should own integration instead of handing off to separate teams
[00:42:00] Using Notion for M&A
[00:51:00] AI in Corporate Development
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.
Jennifer Miller, Senior Director of Corporate Development at Oshkosh Corporation, brings over 24 years of M&A experience spanning investment banking, boutique advisory, and corporate development. In this episode, she reveals how Oshkosh evolved their corporate venture capital approach from CVC 1.0's financial focus to CVC 2.0's strategic innovation partnerships. Jennifer shares practical insights on managing 400+ deal flow annually, structuring IP agreements, and balancing minority investments with traditional M&A within a single corporate development function.
Things You'll Learn
CVC 2.0 Framework: How to evolve from pure financial returns to strategic innovation partnerships that accelerate technology adoption
Deal Flow Management: Systematic approach to evaluate 400+ companies annually using thematic prioritization and rapid technical diligence
IP Structuring: Strategic methods for negotiating exclusivity, co-development agreements, and future acquisition rights without limiting startup growth
____________________
The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.
📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual
Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.
____________________
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.
Visit grata.com to learn more.
__________________
[00:02:30] Corporate Development Evolution – Jennifer's 24-year journey from investment banking to strategic partnerships
[00:05:00] CVC 2.0 Philosophy – Shifting from financial investments to innovation-first partnerships
[00:10:00] Balancing M&A and CVC – Managing traditional acquisitions alongside minority investments in one team
[00:16:00] Proof of Concept Budget – How Oshkosh funds cross-business unit technology pilots
[00:20:30] Deal Flow Sourcing – Processing 400+ companies annually through thematic prioritization
[00:24:00] IP and Acquisition Rights – Structuring exclusivity and information rights without limiting startup exits
[00:31:00] Strategic Value Proposition – What startups gain from corporate investors beyond capital
[00:36:00] Integration Management – Preventing startup overwhelm while ensuring technology adoption
[00:41:30] Startup Positioning Advice – How entrepreneurs should approach strategic versus financial investors
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.
Nicole Markowski - Former Director of Business Integration and Operations, Wipfli
Join Nicole as she shares unvarnished truths from managing 30+ transactions. Nicole reveals how integration-led diligence prevents value destruction, why traditional deal economics often miss critical human factors, and practical strategies for maintaining the human touch while scaling M&A programs from 3 to 16 concurrent deals.
____________________
The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.
📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual
Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.
____________________
Join us for the 3rd M&A Science Fair IN PERSON
Get pure, off-the-record collaboration between corporate development, private equity, and integration leaders. Instead of passive listening, you’ll be sharing real frameworks, trading ideas, and testing what actually works in modern deal execution. Everything’s practitioner-led, and every topic is surfaced by the attendees themselves.
October 16th — NYC
8AM-7:30PM
Request an invite here: https://luma.com/khkuh6yw
____________________
[00:02:00] Engineering an M&A Career – From Accenture consultant to integration expert
[00:04:00] Tale of Two Velocities – Contrasting measured vs high-volume M&A approaches
[00:07:00] Why cost pool analysis can destroy deal value
[00:17:00] When Sellers Walk Away – The Mac vs PC deal breaker story
[00:22:00] Integration-Led Diligence – Why integration leaders should quarterback due diligence
[00:32:00] Keeping It Human at Scale
[00:37:00] Bridging cultural gaps in professional services
[00:47:00] Beyond Project Management – What makes a true integration leader
[00:53:00] When IT Walks Out – Crisis management
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.
Byron Lichtenstein, Managing Director at Insight Partners
Byron brings over a decade of experience scaling M&A operations across one of the world's leading software investors. In this episode, Byron breaks down how Insight executes buyer-led M&A at scale, supporting CEOs across their 500+ portfolio companies from sourcing through integration. He shares frameworks for strategic positioning, the critical difference between types of M&A deals, and why strategy must drive every acquisition decision. M&A professionals will learn how to build repeatable M&A processes and avoid the common trap of unfocused deal-making.
Things You'll Learn
____________________
The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.
📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual
Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.
____________________
M&A Doesn't Have to Be So Painful 💔🥀
Get Optimized with DealRoom
DealRoom helps corporate development teams take control—streamlining diligence, syncing integration, and eliminating the back-and-forth.
👉 Learn how you can run a repeatable, buyer-led process
____________________
Episode Timestamps:
[00:02:00] Building M&A at Scale – Byron's journey scaling Insight's portfolio support from 6 to 120 people across 500+ companies
[00:06:30] The Evolution of Software Roll-Ups – How the market shifted from simple consolidation plays to product-focused strategic acquisitions
[00:10:30] The NMI Case Study – Real example of product expansion M&A strategy in the payments infrastructure space
[00:14:00] Focus vs. Expansion Dilemma – When to stay focused on core customers versus expanding to new segments and markets
[00:28:30] Strategic Positioning Framework – The "write the S-1 on day one" approach to creating long-term M&A vision
[00:35:00] Founder-Led But Not Founder-Limited – Key qualities that determine which founders scale successfully through M&A
[00:38:00] Integration Planning and 100-Day Plans – Why someone needs to own integration full-time and how to build flexible execution plans
[00:48:30] AI and the Future of M&A – How AI is changing software M&A and the Optimizely orchestration layer case study
[00:52:30] Market Sophistication – Why software buyers are becoming more discerning and what this means for deal strategy
Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.