As we approach the 20th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto, I have become more interested in pieces that talk about the state of Agile in today’s environment. I am a historian by training and firmly believe in the adage that “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Product Managers can benefit […]
John Mecke
About John Mecke
http://developmentcorporate.com
John Mecke is the Managing Director of DevelopmentCorporate, a consultancy focused on mid-market and enterprise scale software firms. We specialize in product management and corporate development.
He has over 20 years of experience in leading product management organizations for mid-market and enterprise software firms. His background covers both traditional licensed software as well as SaaS applications. While he has experience in startup and early stage companies, he primarily focuses on established firms and the challenges they face in growing revenues, profits, and enterprise value.
He has significant experience in corporate development. John has led four major acquisitions with a total value of $175M. Conducted eight divestitures which generated $24.5M in cash. Played a critical role in producing a $115M dividend for investors, a 2.8x return on the investment in less than three years. He has evaluated over 500 companies for acquisition and conducted over 50 due diligence projects. John has served public companies, private companies, and companies backed by private equity investors.
Posts by John Mecke:
How I Got Fred Wilson’s Advice Totally Wrong
By John Mecke in Product Management, Uncategorized No Comments
“I believe that marketing is what you do when your product or service suck” Fred Wilson, Union Square Ventures AVC Blog When Fred Wilson posted this quote on his blog in 2011 I was taken back a bit. I had been in enterprise software marketing for almost 15 years at the time having served as […]
A 36 Page Tear Down of Google’s Strategy
By John Mecke in Uncategorized No Comments
CBInsights recently published a deep dive of Google’s current strategy. At 90% share of the search market, Google dominates today – but what about tomorrow? This piece does a great job of describing Google’s current strategies based on published materials, execs speeches, earnings calls, and public filings. The post includes: Alphabet’s structure and background Google’s […]
PE Multiple Expansion 2000-2018
By John Mecke in Corporate Development, Private Equity No Comments
Private equity EV/Revenue multiples have increased 70% since 2000. They averaged 10.3x for the first three quarters of 2018 versus 6.6x in 2000. AS a result of these higher valuation expectations, the traditional private equity playbook of acquire, cost restructuring, and flip based on financial engineering are being disrupted by growth equity PE players like Vista who demonstrated the success of this model through the acquisition and sale of Marketo. Vista acquired a struggling Marketo in 2016 for $1.75B, improved it, and sold to Adobe a little more than two years later for $4.75B.
Marketo: A Growth PE Success Story
By John Mecke in Uncategorized No Comments
A post about how Vista Equity’s $1.79 billion purchase of Marketo turned into a $4.75 billion exit to Adobe in a little more than two years. They didn’t use the tradition tech private equity playbook.
Dear Agile, I’m Tired of Pretending
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
Charles Lambdin recently published a piece on Medium titled “Dear Agile, I’m Tired of Pretending”. In the post Charles talks about his frustrations with the current state of Agile practice.
I Made My Shed the Top-Rated Restaurant on TripAdvisor . . . And then served customers frozen dinners on its opening night.
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
The story of the infamous Shed at Dulwich is a great example of how Internet marketing techniques can scam the unsuspecting public. The Shed at Dulwich was a fake restaurant created by Oobah Butler to prove the gullibility of today’s Internet user. I have been involved in technology marketing and sales for almost 20 years. […]
Features vs Technical Debt: An Agile Product Management Balancing Act
By John Mecke in Uncategorized No Comments
Product Managers and Product Owners face a constant challenge of balancing priorities. New features or technical debt elimination? The priorities between feature creation and technical debt elimination change as a product moves through its’ evolution.. This post talks about technical debt and some best practices to help teams manage it.
Software Equity Group 3Q18 SaaS M&A Update
By John Mecke in Uncategorized No Comments
The Software Equity Group has published their 3Q18 SaaS M&A Update. SEG regularly publishes comprehensive free research on the state of M&A in the tech space. It is invaluable resource in tracing the key trends and development in the market. A few of the key findings include: Aggregate software industry M&A deal volume (including SaaS, […]
VendorBumper.com
By John Mecke in Private Equity, Product Management No Comments
I am launching a new side gig today vendorbumper.com. We provide research reports on software companies for buyers looking to build a basic profile of a firm or for marketers looking to update their competitive analysis. Gartner notes that buyers complete 70% of their buying journey before contacting sales. Unfortunately buyers often need to provide […]