Basic, lesson 1 of 3
Building and working a pipeline
Most good deals start years before anyone is for sale. A pipeline is the list of companies the business might buy, and the history of every conversation with them.
8 min, 3 checks
1From a market map to a short list
Corp dev starts from strategy, not from whatever bankers send. The business unit says where it wants to grow; corp dev maps every company in that space and screens them on a few hard criteria before anyone looks at fit.
- Map the space: every company that does the thing, public or private, by size.
- Screen on hard filters: size range, geography, business model, ownership.
- Screen on fit: product overlap, customers, technology, culture signals.
- Tier the result: tier one gets a relationship plan, tier two gets watched, tier three gets dropped.
Check 1
A market map has 400 companies. 10% pass the size and geography screen, and a quarter of those pass the fit screen. How many reach the short list?
2Keeping it warm
A short list is useless if the founders have never heard of you. Corp dev meets tier one companies once or twice a year with no ask: a coffee at a conference, a product partnership, sometimes a small investment. When the owner decides to sell, the buyer who already knows the business and has a relationship often gets a call before the bankers run an auction.
Bankers matter too. They bring inbound opportunities and know who is about to sell. Good corp dev teams tell banks clearly what they want and do not want, so the right teasers arrive.
Check 2
What is the main reason to meet tier one targets when nothing is for sale?
Check 3
A banker sends a teaser for a company outside every area the strategy names. The right first move is:
Terms in this lesson: Teaser.
3 checks in this lesson. Sign in to keep your progress.