#PowerToTheDealmaker — Corp Dev Executives From Technology Leaders Like Databricks, Datadog, Salesforce, Snowflake Join Team CRV and Qatalyst to Discuss the Current M&A Climate
By Murat Bicer, Max Gazor, Reid Christian and Chiraag Deora
Our team thoroughly enjoys connecting stellar groups of peers together. Whether it’s the CISO set, CMOs, journalists or one of our regular AI founder meetups, we know a lot of magic happens when you bring the best and brightest of any professional cohort together. Corporate development executives are one of our favorite groups to gel together because they’re always keeping a keen eye out for opportunities and strategic ways to grow their organizations. The lucky breaks these dealmakers craft are built upon so much more than happenstance. They’re the result of years of hard work, due diligence and incredible networks.
Our firm’s experience guiding over 600 startups over the course of the last 53 years has provided us with ample access to leaders who have repeatedly helped their cutting edge organizations not only keep pace, but thrive across decades of technological shifts. This year we pooled a few dozen masters of strategy, corporate development and operations to chat with us about how this M&A season is shaping up, what’s going on with those sky high valuations and what the future might hold.
During our dining with dealmakers event, which we co-hosted with our friends from Qatalyst Partners, buyers told us that this is a particularly exciting time to be in their position. While M&A has historically been the primary focus of corporate development teams, the aperture has broadened to include strategic investments in companies that have alignment with the parent company’s priorities.
These days the brightest dealmaking minds are on the hunt for interesting companies that can gain distribution through a larger product portfolio and that can achieve operational efficiencies from a larger back office. AI, without a doubt, is also one of the key linchpins. Whether you’re buying, building or investing, having a crisp take on when, how and why your company is pursuing its AI story is paramount to every organization’s success.
The dealmaking doldrums of the past couple of years appears to be rapidly fading in the rearview mirror. Top corporate dealmakers say they are actively seeking to make moves that will benefit their leading organizations’ top and bottom lines. Whether you’re building a business for the long haul or have a startup that’s eager to break through to the movers and shakers, having a team that can help you make the right connections and get you entrenched in the enterprise ecosystem as you grow is key. We specialize in leading Seed and Series A rounds (learn more about our recent investments in exciting companies like Aerodome and LanceDB). At CRV, we’re always eager to connect with founders who want to future proof their businesses, so it’s never too early to reach out and get to know our team.
