The Software Equity Group (SEG) has published their 2019 Annual Report that analyzes 2018 software M&A transactions. SEG consistently publishes comprehensive, free, analytical research on M&A transactions. The 93 page report is chockfull of stats and trends including EV/Revenue, EV/EBITDA multiples, revenue growth, margin growth, and EBITDA growth and trends over the past three years. […]
Are Product Managers the CEO of Their Product or Not?
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
The Great Debate In 1998 Ben Horowitz, of Opsware and Andreessen Horowitz fame, penned a piece entitled “Good Product Manager/Bad Product Manager” where he asserted: “A good product manager is the CEO of the product. A good product manager takes full responsibility and measures themselves in terms of the success of the product. They are […]
Pitchbook-NVCA 2018 US VC Trends
By John Mecke in Corporate Development, Private Equity No Comments
Pitchbook and the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) collaborated on a recently published study on VC and PE activity in 2018. The highlights cover 18 key trends. Here are a couple illustrative findings: Private Equity involvement in VC deals has risen to a 10 year high $25M+ Deals Now Represent the Majority of Early Stage […]
Why Product Managers Should Care About Goodwill
By John Mecke in Corporate Development, Private Equity, Product Management, Uncategorized 2 Comments
Accounting Goodwill has to be one of the more boring and esoteric financial topics. There are situations where product managers can benefit from having a basic working knowledge of it. Goodwill could impact their future bonuses and level of funding for their product lines. Goodwill Basics Investopedia defines goodwill as: “Goodwill is an intangible asset […]
Agile Stories and Product Management
By John Mecke in Product Management No Comments
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 […]
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.