What’s Different About Selling a High-Growth Company?

About the Episode

How does high-growth private M&A work? What are some of the industries involved, and what is the process? Will Hawthorne, Founder of Avid Capital Advisors, an investment bank, and General Partner at Sugar Capital, a venture capital firm, shares his experience in the high-growth private M&A market. He discusses the major differences in deal structure between private and public deals, recent changes in the market that impact how cash-rich companies grow, how valuation is handled in high-growth M&A, and the influence that trust and honesty can have on a deal.

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In this Episode

1:02 What is high-growth private M&A?
2:30 What are the major differences between traditional M&A companies and high-growth private M&A companies?
4:30 How does the M&A process work differently for high-growth companies compared to everyone else in the industry?
6:00 Who are the buyers involved with high-growth M&A? What are the transaction sizes?
8:19 How is the compensation component structured in a high-growth M&A transaction?
11:07 What value drivers do high-growth buyers look for?
12:24 What do acquirers consider when they make the buy vs. build decision?
21:22 What size team handles a big public M&A transaction? Who is involved?
23:32 How is valuation handled in high-growth M&A?
30:00 Why is honesty under-utilized in M&A?
32:50 What role does trust play in M&A?
35:58 Experiences and mistakes made in M&A
42:16 What are the biggest mistakes sellers make before they go to market?
51:06 What are earnouts?

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Meet Our Guest

Will Hawthorne

Will Hawthorne

Founder of Avid Capital Advisors | San Francisco, California

Will Hawthorne is the Founder of Avid Capital Advisors, an investment bank and General Partner at Sugar Capital, a venture capital firm. Previously, he was a Partner at Code Advisors from 2011 to 2022, and Head of Internet and Digital Media M&A at JPMorgan from 2000 to 2011.

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