Dealmakers

Doing deals can be one of the most energizing events in one’s professional career. From the initial indication of interest to the final document signing, you really get a full perspective of what drives each player and how the deal is going to make things even better.

The most frustrating thing, however, is trying to do a deal with the right company through the wrong people. Anyone who has ever done a deal has experienced this, because it happens nearly every time, and if you’ve ever completed a deal, you probably initiated several others that broke down along the way.

Finding the right people at the right level in the organization and with the right motivations is always tricky. You either go through the process several times until you’re talking to the right people, or you pretend to have no understanding of the decision-making process, suggest that the person you’re currently talking to is only part of the picture, and ask to involve the right people.

What would happen if an organization chose one or a few dealmakers who had a good sense of the entire organization and what would happen? They could pull retired company veterans who know the ecosystem and make them the designated dealmakers. Then, anyone who wanted to do a deal would immediately identify this person, meet with them first to quickly vet a deal, and then involve the analysts, etc. when the deal already made strategic sense. In a nutshell, you remove the gatekeepers completely and backfill the analysis after you knew the deal made sense.