The Corp Dev Podcast

On this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with CNBC journalist Alex Sherman. We cover all things media & entertainment M&A to include:The Streaming WarsAmazon's MGM acquisitionAT&T/Dish partnershipThe $900 million sale of Reese Witherspoon's production companyThe future business model of media & entertainmentCheck out Alex's Twitter here https://twitter.com/sherman4949?s=20Alex's CNBC articles here https://www.cnbc.com/alex-sherman/

I really enjoyed this conversation with Aarin Yu over at Gimbal. It is fascinating to learn about the ins and outs of a location technology platform like Gimbal. In this episode we chat about:What Gimbal does.Why Gimbal is a location technology platform and not a location marketing company.How Aarin and his team closed a large acquisition from Disney in the middle of The Pandemic.How Aarin and his team identify acquisition targets .Aarin's unique approach for valuing tech assets.Links:https://gimbal.com/

Description: On this episode I had the pleasure of speaking with David Lax. David is an incredibly gifted dealmaker who has achieved hundred million dollar plus outcomes for his clients. He began his career as a professor at Harvard Business School and currently serves as Distinguished Fellow of the Harvard Negotiation Project. David also the co-author of the book 3D Negotiation: Powerful Tools to Change the Game in Your Most Important Deals.Time stamps:•3:15 – David's background and how he got in to negotiation.•9:59 – What makes 3D Negotiation so much more effective than traditional negotiating styles.•18:27 – How David salvaged a previously failed joint venture in Mexico.•25:39 – The often-overlooked keys to preparing for a negotiation.•27:52 – An example from of the importance of mapping out the players in a negotiation.•31:42 – The importance of “sequencing” and how that affects the other party's BATNA.•35:59 - Marty Lipton's surprising take on the ROI of tactics at the table vs setup moves away from the table. •37:03 – How David turned a distribution deal from a $3 million loss to an $8 million gain.•40:24 – How David took a divestiture from a $10 million to a $35 million sale price.•45:48 – How David helped resolve a civil war in Nepal.•57:14 – Some interesting and pioneering work David and his colleagues are working on regarding the interaction between social media and negotiation.•59:17 – Interesting findings regarding the Amazon HQ2 deal and how social media affected it.•1:05:13 - UEFA and ESL. How Aleksander Čeferin of the UEFA harnessed the power of social media to influence the setup of a deal and achieve the outcome he wanted.•1:09:12 – The importance of tying together the social listening arm of a company and strategy.Links:https://hbr.org/2021/04/a-playbook-for-negotiators-in-the-social-media-erahttps://www.negotiate.com/David Lax full bio - https://www.negotiate.com/david-lax/3D Negotiation - Link

On today's episode I had an opportunity to chat with Mason Wilder about corporate fraud. We focus on some extreme examples like Luckin Coffee as well as red flags to look for in the due diligence process.

On today's show I have the pleasure of speaking with Bill Sanders. Bill is a negotiating expert and co-author of the book Creative Conflict: A Practical Guide for Business Negotiators which releases on June 15th. The book is published in conjunction with the Harvard Business Review Press. We chat about why conflict is ok in negotiations, going beyond win/lose deals, how to build trust with the other side, and much more. Bill is incredibly experienced on this subject and gives some great examples of how to navigate tough negotiations. Enjoy!Links:Mobus Inc. - https://www.mobusinc.com/The book - https://www.mobusinc.com/bookThe new eCourse - https://www.mobusinc.com/new-ecourseBill's article in Fast Company - https://www.fastcompany.com/90642212/4-ways-negotiating-has-changed-in-recent-yearsBill's article in CEO World Magazine - https://ceoworld.biz/2021/05/14/5-bargaining-strategies-for-success/

On today's show I had the pleasure of speaking with Paul Resch. Paul is a former investment banker turned FinTech founder. He gives some great insight in to the current state of M&A and its ongoing recovery. We also talk about the pros and cons of SPACs versus IPOs and the three factors driving tech valuations right now. We close with Paul's story of how he made the move from investment banker to founder. I really enjoyed speaking with Paul, and I am very grateful that he took some time away from his CEO duties to chat with me.

I really enjoyed this conversation with Chase Wimberly. Chase definitely has both a very entrepreneurial and strategic mind. He has had an impressive career with 80+ transactions under his belt. He is now the co-founder of both Future Media Holdings and Studio Smokescreen. At Future Media they believe in empowering the most influential creators to reach and inspire millions of fans globally. Studio Smokescreen is a Black-owned animation studio that can tackle everything from writing to vis dev and storyboards to editorial.futuremedia.tvhttps://www.studiosmokescreen.com/

I had the pleasure of speaking with Ankur Patel of Splice. He is the VP of Corporate Development and Strategy there. We talk about how and why he made the move from KPMG to Splice. At the time, Splice was in true startup mode with about 15 employees. Then we speak about how Splice is changing the way that music gets made and the new business model they are pioneering in their industry. We finish up with some shop talk about how Ankur evaluates deals and how Splice partners with the right money. 

This week I chat with Mathieu Guerville of Valutico. We start off with a brief introduction to what Mathieu is doing at Valutico. Valutico is a leading provider of web-based company valuation tools. I highly recommend you take a look for yourself. www.Valutico.com. We talk about Mathieu's time at UL where he grew a new business unit from 0 to 40 million+ in revenue and eventually founded the corporate venture capital arm of UL. Additionally, we talk about some of the details around how Mathieu sourced deals and set UL apart from the competition. Stay tuned until the end for an interesting story about a deal that fell through at the last minute, and how he bounced back from it. 

Quick 30 second intro on what The Corp Dev Podcast is all about and how to submit guest recommendations. A lot of people have been asking about being on the show. The best way to reach out is to e-mail recommendations to darryl@corpdevpodcast.com.