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Nitin Kumar, CMC, CMAA
Co-Founder at zblocks
San Francisco, United States
A two-decade veteran in the TMT sector, hands-on CEO, and former Management Consulting Partner. I have leadership experience in large, multi-billion-dollar organizations and start-ups operating in major markets in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Asia. In 2020, I was recognized by CEO Today magazine as the "Master of the Pivot" and by CIO Bulletin as "Top 10 CEOs to Watch".
My expertise includes strategy development, M&A, general management, business model transformation, rapid pivots, scale-up, ecosystem creation, go-to-market, and P&L management ($2b). I have built and scaled 5 businesses throughout my career.
Currently CEO of Ligl, responsible for all aspects of the business. Ligl is a category-defining product propelling end-to-end impact on Legal Operations.
As a Fellow of the Aspen Institute, I focus on the future of cities solving issues around autonomous driving and VTOL.
My consulting career with firms like Deloitte, PwC and FTI focused on helping CEOs, Boards, PE investors, and business leaders transform businesses for growth; Led and created value from >1000 M&A transactions; commercial, operational, technical due diligence, 75 M&A Integrations, 25 Divestitures (spin-offs/carve-outs). I pioneered many new approaches in M&A, authored numerous articles, won many innovation awards, and continue contributions through my articles. I have held large P/Ls during consulting and I still mentor people on becoming a Partner and succeeding as one. In 2018, named amongst the “Top 50 Consultants” globally.
Prior roles include building cyber security product/services businesses from the scratch at HP and Deloitte to $multi-hundred million scale. I managed >2000 people with full P/L responsibility during these years and continue to maintain deep relationships with the cyber community.
I am passionate about disruptive tech, having hands-on experience with SaaS/IaaS, IoT/Edge, AR/VR, AI, Blockchain, OTT, Cybersecurity, Autonomous Driving, and Platforms (Two Sided).
Considered by my network as a strategist, business builder with high work capacity and ability to execute at high speed. Success and failures have taught me the importance of a professional network, constantly learning and helping others succeed.
I serve on boards, providing expertise, and access to my network. I am also affiliated with VC/PE funds as an advisor.
In 2019, I was recognized as one of the "Magnificent Four"- the most networked executives.
Available For: Advising, Authoring, Consulting, Influencing, Speaking Travels From: New Yok, San Francisco Speaking Topics: Disruptive Technologies, New Business Models, Mergers and Acquisitions
Nitin Kumar, CMC, CMAA
Points
Academic
245
Author
537
Influencer
456
Speaker
56
Entrepreneur
390
Total
1684
Points based upon Thinkers360 patent-pending algorithm.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
Web 3.0: The Go-to-Market Inversion
LinkedIn
April 13, 2022
The hype around Web 3.0 is astounding nowadays and most of us agree that neither definitions nor standards are clear yet. However, a lot of its critics come from the linear era where they built products, used sales teams to sell them, and centralized revenue and profits. It has been harder for many folks attuned to the linear thought process to understand the exponential technologies, decentralization, or network effects on steroids such as Web 3.0. I have tried to outline the counterintuitive aspects of Web 3.0 which cause resistance within the old economy mind.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
Legal AI: An Automated Versus Autonomous Future
Forbes
July 27, 2021
Corporate legal departments have historically been resistant to automation and technology adoption, but the effects of the pandemic forced many to shift gears and pursue, or at least actively consider, more automation for legal activities. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been the cornerstone of this strategy, and mapping key investments to business outcomes remains a challenge.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
Decoding the Uniswap Controversy
LinkedIn
July 26, 2021
The decentralized exchange, Uniswap shocked the crypto community last week when it unilaterally announced the delisting of certain tokens from trading. This is against the ethos of blockchain and cryptocurrencies i.e., centralized power and concentration of influence. A prominent DeFi player doing this activated thousands of people protesting on social media and upheaval in Telegram groups.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
Common Crypto Manipulation Techniques
LinkedIn
July 21, 2021
Market manipulation has existed for as long as tradable assets have existed and cryptocurrencies are no exceptions to it. The cryptocurrency space is also immature with nascent regulations making it vulnerable to market manipulations not easily possible with mature markets. In this article, I will dive into some of the common market manipulation techniques, identify patterns around it and equip people to spot abusive behavior.
Spotting the 5 Common Crypto Price Manipulation Patterns
LinkedIn
July 21, 2021
Market manipulation has existed for as long as tradable assets have existed and cryptocurrencies are no exceptions to it. The cryptocurrency space is also immature with nascent regulations making it vulnerable to market manipulations not easily possible with mature markets. In this article, I will dive into some of the common market manipulation techniques, identify patterns around it and equip people to spot abusive behavior.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
Stablecoin Quality Analysis
LinkedIn
July 05, 2021
Old economy minds consistently toot the volatility of cryptocurrencies making it the biggest point of criticism. Stablecoins challenge that argument by providing consistency in value, they are “collateralized” i.e., the total value of stablecoins is backed by assets held in reserve. More often they are pegged to the value of fiat currencies like USD, Euro, Yen, etc., but they can also be pegged to values of other commodity assets like oil, gold, etc.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Mergers and Acquisitions
The Shitcoin Phenomenon: The New Bane of Crypto
LinkedIn
June 26, 2021
Welcome to the era of “Shitcoins,” where new investors who missed out on getting rich with Bitcoin are being taken for rides by online jokesters pushing coins with ultra-creative names and no clear value proposition. The FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) psychology is exploited to the hilt.
Oracle Crypto Assets: A Quick Primer
LinkedIn
June 25, 2021
As the DeFi movement accelerates, decentralized applications and smart contracts require a lot of real-world information which they cannot access independently given restrictions imposed by Blockchains. Specifically, on DeFi, derivatives, insurance, and trading all require external inputs to function in an accessible format, the accuracy and relevance determine the value of a smart contract. Any errors will make the smart contract lose value and if the data trail is not auditable, sources not transparent or not reversible, the immutability of the blockchain further exacerbates the problem.
How Crypto Whales Move Markets
LinkedIn
June 22, 2021
Investing in cryptocurrencies is a relatively new trend, it requires looking at these assets through multiple lenses. We must analyze technical chart indicators like support levels, resistance, bull flags, Bollinger bands, and RSI, etc. When everyone, including seasoned institutional investors, uses the same indicators and tools to take profits ahead of time, leaving average retail investors high and dry. While investing in an array of tools and an arsenal of sharp minds are things beyond an average retail investor, there are small things one can do like going beyond basic technical analysis, understanding crypto fundamentals deeper, analyze the coordinated media FUD quickly for its content, timing, and intent, etc.
Bitcoin Bull Markets, 5 Key Metrics
LinkedIn
June 20, 2021
There has been a lot of news on Bitcoin lately with a ton of panic due to media FUD and bull’s euphoria. The market capitulation of May 19th dumped a lot of coins, they do get time to get picked up, and eventually, we will be fine in a few weeks as accumulations complete. The stock-to-flow model still shows a fair price of $57,000 for a bitcoin and this has not gone wrong even if they're delayed catchup, the catch-up always completes. But emotions apart, let us take a dispassionate view based on fact, data, and metrics.
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Digital Transformation, Leadership
10 Insights from Cryptocurrency 2.0
LinkedIn
June 15, 2021
Crypto is not for the faint-hearted. I will not go into all the popular stuff you are reading and observing e.g., this is institutional investor play, the cycle is different, regulators are getting more comfortable, etc. Instead, let me provide observations from my own vantage point and insights gained from the network.
Tokenomics: Measuring Quality of Crypto Assets
LinkedIn
June 13, 2021
The coming of age for the entire crypto market has occurred in this cycle with the asset class attaining its age of adolescence. This is the only value-creating asset class outside the traditional, inefficient, and old financial system. Crypto assets have unparalleled user privacy, decentralization, no intermediaries, and they cannot be censored or shut down.
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Digital Disruption, Innovation
Demystifying Cryptocurrencies: Exploring the 5 Distinct Asset Classes
LinkedIn
June 06, 2021
Cryptocurrencies are a true product of the digital age, they are not managed or governed by central authorities like banks, governments, or middlemen and can operate efficiently without them. This asset class has evolved so rapidly that it has created confusion amongst many others. The very use of the term “altcoin” has outlived its use as crypto assets have evolved into roles where they are not alternatives to Bitcoin, nor will they ever be.
A Perspective on Complexity Reduction
LinkedIn
June 04, 2021
Almost every executive today, be it a CEO of a global multinational firm, a CEO of a startup, or a business leader speaks about the complex environment they operate in today making their jobs more stressful than 10 years ago. This so-called complexity is only going on rising with globalization, multiple regulations, disruptive business models, new competitors, changing customer preferences, and a plethora of technologies, etc.
4 Pillars of Modern M&A Integration
LinkedIn
May 31, 2021
Over the last few years, the rules of business have changed a lot. Technological shifts have been exponential spawning out new business models, older incumbents have been left behind or are trying to acquire themselves into the modern era.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Management, Mergers and Acquisitions
CBDC: Triggering the End of the Old Economy Banking Industry
LinkedIn
May 30, 2021
Traditional banks have been core drivers of the economic machinery for over two centuries, they are now under serious existential threat from multiple attack vectors such as Technology giants, FinTech startups, decentralized ecosystems, and last but not least central banks themselves.
Bitcoin Crash: Analyzing the May 19th Mayhem
LinkedIn
May 23, 2021
There is a lot of panic in the market nowadays with Bitcoin bulls and bears tearing all sentiments to extremes. Having seen all these cycles closely and been through all the FUD, FOMO, and HODL games, some observations on the crash event occurred on May 19th, 2021.
Tags: Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Digital Transformation
Bitcoin: Price, ROI, and Bull Run Patterns
LinkedIn
May 16, 2021
There is a lot of euphoria in the market nowadays with Bitcoin bulls and bears tearing the sentiments to extremes. Having seen all these cycles closely and been through all the FUD, FOMO, and HODL games, I have some observations.
8 M&A Trends and Practices for the Decade
LinkedIn
May 01, 2021
The rules of business continue to be redefined by disruptive technologies, and at a global scale altering business models, value propositions, customer needs, interaction models, the economic logic for underlying profits, and the evolution of new, interconnected ecosystems.
Tags: Innovation, Leadership, Mergers and Acquisitions
4 Kinds of People for a Start-up Advisory Board
LinkedIn
April 09, 2021
Board of Advisors or Advisory Boards as some call them are often very misunderstood from a terminology, purpose, and execution perspective. Having had a lot of experience in working in the Silicon Valley ecosystem, let me shed some light on how I believe this should work.
4 M&A Integration Strategies for Marketing
Medium
April 01, 2021
Creating Value from the Marketing Function during M&A
The search for revenue growth is now becoming a core driver behind M&A making revenue synergies or GTM synergies as a very important part of deal value.
Tags: Marketing, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration, the Art and Science of Decision Making
Medium
March 29, 2021
M&A Integration is an extraordinarily complex activity attributed to multiple functions, personnel, products, geographies, customers, unique nuances, dependencies, risks, and the sheer volume of tasks to be executed. Brining all this together requires several decisions to be made in quick order. Decision making is part art and part science, seasoned M&A integration professionals understand the four Vs surrounding good decision making i.e., volume, velocity, value, and variety. How, when and where these integration related decisions are made can affect the end state of the integration and value creation from the transaction.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
9 IT Services Mindsets Destroying Product Value
Medium.com
March 23, 2021
One of the most underestimated problems in the Software Product business is how an “IT Services Mindset” can erode product value and eventually crush a business. The authors have spent their careers in both product and service organizations playing a variety of roles from running product businesses, operating service businesses, investing in products, consulting to product teams and fixing broken organizations.
9 IT Services Mindsets Destroying Product Value
Medium.com
January 08, 2021
One of the most underestimated problems in the Software Product business is how an “IT Services Mindset” can erode product value and eventually crush a business. The authors have spent their careers in both product and service organizations playing a variety of roles from running product businesses, operating service businesses, investing in products, consulting to product teams and fixing broken organizations.
Four Pivot Zones for Start-Ups
Medium
December 27, 2020
The unintended consequences of optimizing for valuation versus optimizing for cashflow
Introduction
Pivots are more than just a fashionable word, many start-ups use the terminology just for the sake of it and rarely understand its anatomy, mechanics, and their own ability to execute a good pivot. While there are many different reasons to pivot, and ways to holistically achieve it — this article will examine the pivot zones created by two choices i.e., optimizing for cashflow vs optimizing for valuation. Many start-ups fall into these traps very early on in their evolution. These decisions have intended and unintended consequences, landing the business in a place which will need a pivot. Some of these pivots are practical, others difficult and a few paths lead to nowhere.
7 Business Models for Autonomous Driving
Medium
December 22, 2020
Understanding business models in autonomous driving
Introduction
Autonomous driving is one of the most disruptive developments witnessed. It will change the way we think of cities, roads, parking, commuting, leisure and ownership, and it will spawn new kinds of jobs as the business models unfold. Many open questions have answers when it comes to business models, infrastructure, technology direction and development.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Innovation, Autonomous Vehicles
12 Technologies Enabling Autonomous Driving Business Models
Medium
December 21, 2020
Understanding the disruptive technologies propelling autonomous driving
In my previous article, we discussed various drivers of business models and the way it will change cities, roads, parking, commuting, leisure and ownership while creating new jobs. In this follow-up piece to part one, we will explore a few more business models enabled by specific technologies.
Tags: Digital Disruption, Innovation, Autonomous Vehicles
5 Sales Styles for the Modern Era
Medium
December 20, 2020
Modern-Day Sales: A Value-Based Approach
In the last 10 years, business has changed a lot. Even many companies and industries have come as we have fundamentally changed the way we sell products or services, interact with customers, and deliver value. Having said that we still use legacy cells approaches which do not work or produce suboptimal results. In this article we are going to examine the modern day, value based selling approach.
4 Disruptive Strategies to Attack the Stack
Medium
December 17, 2020
Major technologies shift every 2–3 years, with new platforms building on prior generation capabilities. These shifts are propelled by new technologies or new software stacks. Software stacks are also called “technology stacks” and provide a complete platform to run applications to process complex computing environments.
Autonomous Driving: Why Big Data Value is a Myth
Medium.com
December 15, 2020
Today, there is a ton of data generated from people, devices and about many things e.g., weather, location, demographics, purchase patterns etc. Moreover, we are shifting from an era of user generated data/content to an era of machine generated data/content increasing the volumes exponentially
7 Data Challenges in Autonomous Driving
Medium
December 15, 2020
Automotive data is of high interest due to the diverse and complex nature of data, its multiple sources as well as high volume of the data continually generated. Within an autonomous driving context, real-time requirements around navigation, safety and revenue models create new challenges.
4 Adoption Waves for Edge Computing
Medium
December 12, 2020
Edge computing sounds very mystical, but it has been around for a while in some form. Edge computing architectures are designed to spend most of their useful life near to its consumption rather than the cloud. The shift in the era from user generated to machine generated data and the advent of technologies like IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, High Definition Gaming and Streaming etc. have created volumes of data at galactic scales needing a decentralized internet; much more data created, processed and stored at the edge.
Configurations, Implications and Insights- the Autonomous Driving Technology Stack
Medium
December 12, 2020
How Autonomous Driving Tech stack choices impact business models
Autonomous driving is coming of age and many companies are racing to find a place in the value chain. Each of them has a different approach implementing their technology stack — these approaches have profound strategic implications for costs, business models and use cases
7 Distinct Go-to-Market Motions for Software Products
Medium
December 11, 2020
What every Technology Product CEO must Understand
The efficiency and effectiveness of go-to-market motions is complex and generally not well understood. If years of management consulting, senior line management experience and two CEO stints have taught me anything, it is that go-to-market motion is not one simple thing. It must be applied in the right context, timing and in tandem with other variables.
Tags: Digital Disruption, Marketing, Business Strategy
10 Customer Personalities Every Sales Executive Must Understand
Medium
December 08, 2020
In this article, I combine all my experience in sales, marketing, and delivery to take you through an effective approach to inform your prospecting styles through pattern recognition based on customer personalities.
5 Cultural Antibodies Which Resist Organizational Change Efforts
Medium
December 05, 2020
Technological advance has been accelerating change at a furious pace in the past decade and things are only going to accelerate exponentially in the coming decade.
Disruptors and disruption are both inevitable and gaining acceptance as a business reality today. There is a radical shift across customer needs, buying behaviors, consumption patterns, cost structure, competition, and many other business dimensions. In today’s world, disruptors attack an incumbent’s competitive advantage and neutralize it and leave them in a reactive posture with limited alternatives other than rapid response, change and adaptation.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Digital Disruption, Innovation
The Anatomy of a Pivot
Medium
December 02, 2020
In Silicon Valley speak, a “pivot” is commonplace and refers to a change in business trajectory. Usually pivots help unlock exponential growth, stress on the existing business model and create a change in velocity or product position. It is an alternative plan activated by the CEO, creating moderate to drastic changes on the horizon. Pivots are not always conceived and executed from a state of weakness; many companies pivot even when they are on a solid revenue, sales velocity and delivering good business KPIs. It can be looked at as reconfiguring the alignment between core assets and capital, talent, product, channels, customers or the brand.
A Crash Course on Hostile Takeovers in M&A
Medium
December 02, 2020
The anatomy of a hostile takeover, offense and defense strategies
Hostile M&A has been part of the transaction space for decades and was especially popular in the late 1900s. In fact, perhaps you have heard the sometimes soap-opera- like stories behind the AOL-Time Warner hostile takeover, or the InBev and Anheuser-Busch hostile takeover, or more recently the Sanofi-Aventis takeover of Genzyme Corp.
3 Point Framework to Evaluate Blockchain Business Models
Medium
December 02, 2020
Over the last few years, I have evaluated many blockchain technologies from an M&A and valuation standpoint. I’ve also been in the blockchain and crypto ecosystem for many years, have acquired a few credentials in this space, and have developed my own framework on how to evaluate some of the intrinsic value within blockchain technologies.
Anatomy of the Software Graveyard
Medium
December 01, 2020
Every software product has a finite lifespan, some products die soon while others last for several years. Products are ultimately outcompeted, replaced, discontinued, disrupted, merged into other products, become financially unviable or just succumbed to lawsuits or structural shifts in the market.
Product Management — the Art & Science of Hiring
Medium
December 01, 2020
While bad product manager traits are abundantly clear, good product manager traits are always set in context of the organization, industry, type of product, stage of product and go-to-market motion.
Divestitures: Key Questions for Separating the “Service” Function(s)
Medium
December 01, 2020
Given the recent evolution of the consumption economy everything from technology to car rides are being offered as a “Service”, traditional product companies are in transition to service based business models. In additions, several product and service business units are not separating out as different companies by engaging in carve-outs, asset sales or even pure spin-offs. Service is a very customer facing function, often having varying definitions across industries and sectors e.g., Support, Training /Education Services, Professional Services and Product as a Service etc.
Tags: Management, Leadership, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration, Creating Value from a “Carve-in” Transaction
Medium
November 30, 2020
Most people have heard of conventional M&A integration and Divestitures (be it carve-outs or spin-offs). However, the rare cases of carve-in transactions exist as well, albeit less prevalent than the former deal types. It does have its own triggers, rationale, transaction process, nuances and approach to integration which marginally differ from conventional M&A integration. Having had the good fortune of executing two of these during my career (both public companies), I thought I would share my thoughts on this topic.
M&A: 10 Key Questions for Integrating the “Services” Function
Medium
November 29, 2020
In the digital age, we are transitioning into business models where traditional products are now delivered as services. Mainstream trends such as cloud, IoT etc. have altered consumption mechanisms, evolution of social and mobile have created new channels for customers to interact and consume support in real time. 80% of the customers use at least 3 channels expecting immediate and cohesive experience across all of them. Service (or support) functions always touch the customer and is a critical ingredient of customer experience. In the M&A integration world, services are moving from being a value driver of cost synergy towards creating revenue synergies. …
10 Details About Voice-Activated Tech Every User Should Know
Forbes
March 30, 2020
Between Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, the world seems to have a lot of voice-activated assistants these days. Voice recognition has grown immensely from its early days and is now being integrated into an ever-growing number of devices and applications...
Tags: Digital Disruption, Emerging Technology, IoT
Six Operational Challenges That Come With IoT
Forbes
March 27, 2020
IoT is now widely regarded as a transformative force. According to Juniper Research, by the end of 2020, there will be 38.5 billion devices connected to the internet — a growth rate of 285% since 2015...
Tags: Digital Transformation, Leadership, Management
Understanding Political Risk in M&A Transactions
Import from medium.com
January 05, 2020
We are living in very interesting times today, the M&A activity over the past two years has been on record high and a very high number of them have been international transactions. In parallel to this unprecedented deal activity runs an era of protectionism, trade wars, currency battles, tariffs
Tags: Risk Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Creating Value From Loyalty Programs
Innovation Enterprise
November 29, 2019
The core purpose of a loyalty program is to instill repeat buying behavior from customers through incentivizing them to stay and measure buying patterns. This is not just applicable to B2C business but B2B needs to do this to enhance their relationship with their end customers. During an M&A Integration, one needs to increase the rigor towards this aspect given the compelling need to retain key customers during a time of flux and change within the organization. Enhanced focus on customer loyalty programs or even creating one (should it not exist) during M&A integration created increased customer intelligence, ability to design engagement, promotion strategies, profitability shifts, customer retention and acquisition when cross selling teams are ready. Success with this requires a strategic and thoughtful approach with multiple areas of focus:
Tags: Customer Experience, Mergers and Acquisitions, Customer Loyalty
M&A Integration: Creating Value From 'Acqui-Hires'
Innovation Enterprise
November 17, 2019
Acqui-hire - The process of acquiring a company to recruit its employees, without necessarily showing an interest in its products and services (or their continued operation).
Acqui-hires has entered the vocabulary of M&A professionals in the recent past. There are many stories of organizations translating the art of such deals into science and seeing success with it, but there are also horror stories about such transactions. Although, the advent of 'digital' business models has taken the acqui-hire concept outside of technology companies, the bulk of these deals are still entrenched in the TMT (Tech, Media and Telecom - in that order) sectors.
Tags: Change Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Creating Value From The 'Service' Function
Innovation Enterprise
October 17, 2019
In the digital age, we are transitioning into business models where traditional products are starting to be delivered as services. Mainstream trends such as cloud, IoT etc. have altered consumption mechanisms; the evolution of social and mobile has created new channels for customers to interact and consume support in real time. 80% of customers use at least three channels expecting immediate and cohesive experience across all of them. Service (or support) functions always touch the customer and is a critical ingredient of customer experience.
Tags: Customer Experience, Management, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Creating Value From e-Commerce Transactions
Innovation Enterprise
September 29, 2019
Over the past few years, we have seen the advent of the 'pure click' retail industry i.e., a 100% digital business model with no physical presence, some familiar businesses are GILT, Flowers.com etc. Traditional brick and mortar companies are now transitioning to 'brick and click' business models and in some cases completely walking away from the traditional brick model.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Creating Value From A 'Carve-in' Transaction
Innovation Enterprise
July 05, 2019
Most people have heard of conventional M&A integration and also Divestitures (be it carve-outs or spin-offs). However, the rare cases of carve-in transactions exist as well, albeit less prevalent than the former deal types. It does have its own triggers, rationale, transaction process, nuances, and approach to integration which marginally differ from conventional M&A integration. Having had the good fortune of executing two of these during my career (both public companies), I thought I would share my thoughts on this topic.
Tags: Innovation, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
Divestitures : A Strategic Perspective
Innovation Enterprise
June 22, 2019
All views expressed are my own and have do not reflect views of FTI Consulting in any way.
Divestitures are generally not as well understood as acquisitions. Stakeholders use a variety of terminologies, have different expectations from value and the time to value etc. Many people consider divestitures a symmetrical mirror image of acquisition which is not the case when we look at practical considerations around both transaction strategy and execution.
Tags: Innovation, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Customer Experience (CX) As A Value Driver
Innovation Enterprise
April 12, 2019
Over the last few years, M&A has become a top line growth play in many sectors making customers the center of focus during integration between two companies. Acquirers have evolved from defensive plays around customer retention to aggressive customer acquisition, proactive predatory plays on new customer segments leveraging acquired capabilities and enhancing customer experience. While CX (Customer Experience) has in itself evolved into a well-defined body of knowledge, its application in the M&A context is often not well understood. The last few transactions that I have done, my clients have explicitly requested assistance and advice with CX with full work streams swinging into action with the IMO.
Tags: Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Mergers and Acquisitions
Board Of Advisors – An Important Lever in Value Creation
Linkedin
February 01, 2019
Board of Advisors or Advisory Boards as some call them are often very misunderstood from a terminology, purpose and execution perspective. Having had a lot of experience in working in the Silicon Valley ecosystem, let me shed some light on how this should work.
Tags: Cloud, Digital Disruption, Digital Transformation
Crypto Invest Takeaways:2018
Linkedin
November 12, 2018
As Blockchain and the Crypto economy continue to gain momentum and scale, multiple companies are emerging and there is a lot of buzz around blockchain, decentralization, value chain definitions, communities and interesting projects. I happened to attend the Crypto Invest conference in Los Angeles earlier this week and met some fascinating players with great ideas. While crypto and blockchain are here to stay, it is going to be some time before we see a killer app at the scale of Bitcoin. Here are some takeaways :
Creating Value From Brands M&A Integration and how brands need to be managed
Innovation Enterprise
April 11, 2018
Surveys have revealed that more and more organizations are now seeking revenue growth as opposed to cost reduction through M&A; one of the key levers for maximizing revenue synergies is the integration of brands.
Tags: Marketing, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
Technology Sector M&A: Trends and Drivers in 2018
linkedin
January 07, 2018
Should the current political regime pull off the tax proposal, we will see more money with the corporates and hence more M&A is likely. Which also means higher valuations and competition for PE from the strategic buyers. A likely impact on interest expenses deductions will make debt more expensive after tax will tend to draw PE firms away from riskier deals given they involve debt in the portfolio company structure.
Tags: Innovation, Startups, Mergers and Acquisitions
Roku, TiVo, and the Value of Attention Infrastructure
Import from medium.com
November 04, 2017
I watched with more than a little interest as Roku began the process of marketing its IPO a month ago. The company did an excellent job of positioning itself at the center of the technological Big Bang that has seen the entertainment universe simultaneously fragmenting and expanding, sending consume
M&A Integration: selecting the right governance model to unlock value
linkedin
October 31, 2017
We have come a long way from the pure consolidation or diversification types of deals prevalent in the 1980s and 90s, even the first part of the century witnessed some of these deals. In today's world we have a fair share of consolidations and adjacency diversifications, to add to it we have high volumes of technology tuck-ins, acquihires, carve-out integrations and new business model acquisitions. In 2016 and 2017, deal volume, velocity and values attained record levels and there were buyers who did deals falling into all of the aforementioned categories creating a lot more integration complexity.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A corporate development: revenue synergy, the leakage problem
linkedin
October 12, 2017
Several of my corporate development network are not fans of revenue synergies and more than a few have told me that they do not like to pay for it. However, in the era of buying capabilities, market, new business models and customers - the conversation around revenue synergies is unavoidable. Valuations are high, assets are at a premium and shareholders want an enhanced return on equity through M&A.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: The changing mechanics of modern day value creation
linkedin
October 10, 2017
Over the last few years, the rules of business have changed a lot. Technological shifts have been exponential spawning out new business models, older incumbents have been left behind or are trying to acquire themselves into the modern era.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Strategy through Integration: adapting to the new world order of disruptive business models
linkedin
October 04, 2017
The rules of business continue to be redefined by disruptive technologies, and at a global scale altering business models, value propositions, customer needs, interaction models, the economic logic for underlying profits and evolution of new, interconnected ecosystems.
Tags: Innovation, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
MWC 2018, San Francisco : Themes and Takeaways
linkedin
September 19, 2017
This has been the first time ever that MWC came to the United States, usually synonymous with Barcelona it is now starting to spread its wings across the world. After attending the one in Barcelona and now in San Francisco, I really believe that the conference is much more than just mobile and perhaps needs to rethink its own branding.
M&A Due Diligence: The coming of age for Cyber Security Due Diligence
linkedin
September 17, 2017
Digital has become the new buzzword today, it is rare to see a publication today with no articles on digital every day. Organizations are scrambling to establish or consolidate their positions in the digital world and many are taking the non-organic route i.e., M&A to acquire capabilities and digital assets.
Tags: Cybersecurity, Digital Transformation, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Value Creation through Complexity Reduction
linkedin
September 02, 2017
Almost every executive that I speak to, be it a CEO of a global multi-national firm, a CEO of a startup or a business leader speaks about the incredibly complex environment they operate in today making their jobs more stressful than 10 years ago. I believe that this so-called complexity is only going in rise with globalization, multiple regulations, disruptive business models, new competitors, changing customer preferences, more M&A and a plethora of emerging technologies etc.
Tags: Agile, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Due Diligence: The rise of Customer Due Diligence
linkedin
August 26, 2017
During transactions, we hear various flavors of due diligence i.e., Financial, Legal, Operational, Commercial, Technology at times IT and more recently Customers. So, what took it so long for customer due diligence to become a mainstream area of assessment? The key answer is that companies and investors thought they already did look at customers through the lenses of commercial and financial due diligence, this is now proving to be insufficient. Customer diligence is focused on the customer versus market and industry dynamics often captured in commercial due diligence.
Tags: Customer Experience, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Due Diligence : The growing importance of Tech DD
Import from medium.com
August 21, 2017
When technology is the business and the business is technology. Given the business environments today, the level of disruption and the speed of businesses getting obsolete or changing their business model is incredible. Technology is transforming several industries to opportunities provided by the...
Tags: Digital Disruption, Innovation, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: Creating value from the R&D function
Medium
August 19, 2017
As the M&A landscape shifts from consolidation deals looking to deliver cost synergies from back office functions to more revenue synergies from go-to-market, the role of R&D as function and a source of synergies become more important. It is one of the functions which tends to enable both cost and revenue synergies from a deal.
Tags: Innovation, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
Disruptive Tech: “Blockchaining” the Internet of Things
Import from medium.com
August 18, 2017
Bringing Disruptive Solutions TogetherThe Internet of Things (IoT) opportunity is real today, in fact it is here and now. The economic value created by IoT over the next 2–3 years is expected to touch $3 Trillion with 20–25 Billion devices connected.This growth is explosive, fast paced and somew
Due Diligence : Evaluating ICO (Initial Coin Offerings)
Import from medium.com
August 12, 2017
Conducting Effective DiligenceUnderstanding ICOsInvesting in an ICO is like funding a start-up with just a plan on paper, think more on the lines of crowdfunding and a variant of the Kickstarter model.The Economist describes an ICO as,ICOs are essentially digital coupons, tokens issued on an indeli
M&A Integration: Creating Value from the Marketing Function
linkedin
August 01, 2017
The search for revenue growth is now becoming a core driver behind M&A making revenue synergies or GTM synergies as a very important part of deal value.
Tags: Digital Disruption, Innovation, Business Strategy
The Anatomy of Disruption
linkedin
July 21, 2017
In the last decade or so, we have seen so many iconic companies of the past get disrupted by new technologies and business models. These companies saw the new players as benign, not in the same league as them, not what the market demanded or conducive to the economics of how they made money.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Digital Disruption, Innovation
Disruptive Tech: Impact on Auto Dealers
LinkedIn
July 07, 2017
Numerous reports state varying opinions on the future of car dealers from being indispensable to a dinosaur industry waiting to blow up. The reality might be somewhere in between for the near term at least i.e., 5-7 years. Auto dealers while have undergone some shifts in the last 2-3 decades they have come nowhere close to the modern-day concept of a store that is led by customer experience e.g., think Apple who delivers exceptional customer interaction, highest levels of service quality and in store seamless problem solving setting a new paradigm – this is all customer experience led.
Management Consulting : Understanding client personalities for better prospecting (Part 2)
linkedin
July 05, 2017
Further to my article in Part 1 on how to analyze client personalities and understand them during the targeting cycle. I also got some feedback from readers that these observations scale beyond the management consulting world and are applicable to any services business in general, that makes sense and I would encourage everyone to read this article considering just that in mind.
A Perspective on Complexity Reduction
linkedin
June 25, 2017
Almost every executive that I speak to, be it a CEO of a global multi-national firm, a CEO of a startup or a business leader speaks about the incredibly complex environment they operate in today making their jobs more stressful than 10 years ago. I believe that this so-called complexity is only going in rise with globalization, multiple regulations, disruptive business models, new competitors, changing customer preferences and a plethora of technologies etc.
Tags: Management, Change Management, Sales, Business Strategy
M&A Sales Integration: Creating Value from Channels
linkedin
June 15, 2017
The Sales function encompasses of multiple sub-areas such as account management, field sales, sales operations, inside sales, channels, avoiding channel conflicts etc. Channels help increase market coverage and enable companies to compete globally. There are different kinds of channel partners e.g., direct resellers, distributors, system integrators etc.
Tags: Sales, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration - the art and science of decision making
linkedin
June 13, 2017
M&A Integration is a very complex activity attributed to multiple functions, personnel, products, geographies, customers, unique nuances and the sheer number of tasks to be executed. Brining all this together requires several decisions to be made in quick order. Decision making is part art and part science, seasoned M&A Integration professionals understand the 4 Vs surrounding good decision making i.e., volume, velocity, value and variety. How, when and where these integration related decisions are made can impact the end state of the integration.
Tags: Risk Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: A PoV on unlocking strategic value from the GTM functions
linkedin
April 09, 2017
M&A Integration surveys have revealed that more organizations are now seeking revenue growth as opposed to cost reduction through M&A. At the heart of revenue growth is the customer and therefore functions that touch customers such as sales, marketing, service, products, customer experience and pricing on the front end and customer service, billing, invoicing and collections at the back end become critical to align and integrate right way in order to maintain stability or develop a sustainable competitive advantage.
Tags: Leadership, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
Disruptive Tech: A Perspective on Drones
linkedin
March 27, 2017
Drones have been a big buzz word off late in the business world and if you look back they have been proliferating into the consumer market at an alarming rate ranging from toys, to cameras to monitoring systems etc. In some cases, also referred to as UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles). Goldman Sachs says $20 b market by 2021, VC investment of $400 m in 2016.
M&A Integration: The right integration strategy for the sales function
linkedin
March 14, 2017
One of the biggest challenges during M&A are integration of Sales forces. Sales (along with Marketing) is the central force driving revenue and profitability while being closest to the customers. Yet, integrating sales forces and retaining personnel ranks amongst the top risks in M&A - a recent survey from FTI Consulting revealed that the Sales function had 3X more turnover than the average.
Tags: Sales, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
M&A Integration: MOE (Merger of Equals), a PoV
linkedin
March 07, 2017
Merger of Equals, a concept that I have never personally agreed with during the course of my M&A career. Yet, we hear this so many times in the media and executive messaging. I have personally experienced that there are no companies created equal, hence this messaging has always been somewhat problematic for me. If you dimension a company by e.g., size, capabilities, market share, brand, products, executive talent, engineering talent, geographic reach, depth of penetration etc., it is clear that companies are not really equal across all (or even some) dimensions.
Tags: Culture, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
MWC (Mobile World Congress) 2017 - Insights and Takeaways
linkedin
March 05, 2017
It has been a few years since I have visited MWC (4 years to be precise) and it has indeed grown and reconfigured itself in several different ways. Like CES, MWC ought to put better definitions to what is mobile while it clear that it has gone way past the device e.g., the people selling room scale VR, space economy pioneers and people playing at the periphery of mobility were all lumped into one big happy family. Perhaps time to rebrand MWC to IoT-WC or something even more creative.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
A Perspective on Open Source Software Business Models
linkedin
January 30, 2017
Open source software, where users have access to source code, has grown exponentially in the past decade and is driving a transformational shift in the software industry. With its origins rooted in the hacker community and free software principles, open source has become mainstream — disrupting existing business models for multi-billion dollar technology companies. Today, technology companies with open source business models are proving they can monetize their products and ancillary services, creating value through cheaper and improved technologies. Open source is here to stay and continues to create myriad opportunities for nontraditional players. Open source changes the way enterprises perceive, purchase, and utilize software. In its early years, enterprises were attracted to open source software (“OSS”) because it was a lower cost alternative to closed source proprietary software. By 2011, however, the price tag was still a key consideration but the primary reason for adopting OSS was to avoid being locked into one software vendor. More recently, quality of software solutions ranked as the primary reason for OSS adoption.
Divestitures : Considerations for Operationally Separating the "Service" Function(s)
linkedin
January 19, 2017
Given the recent evolution of the consumption economy everything from technology to car rides are being offered as a "Service", traditional product companies are in transition to service based business models. In additions, several product and service business units are not separating out as different companies by engaging in carve-outs, asset sales or even pure spin-offs. Service is a very customer facing function, often having varying definitions across industries and sectors e.g., Support, Training /Education Services, Professional Services and Product as a Service etc.
Tags: Customer Experience, Management, Sales, Business Strategy
CES 2017 : Themes and Takeaways
linkedin
January 07, 2017
All views expressed are my own and have do not reflect views of FTI Consulting in any way.
I have been a regular visitor at CES for many years, this one in 2017 was the largest that I have ever attended with attendee numbers claimed to be over 150,000 leaving the infrastructure in Las Vegas very challenged. Needless to the say, the number of exhibitors
Insight Based Selling for Management Consultants
linkedin
January 07, 2017
In today’s world, buyers have a lot of information and choices about products services and brands resulting in starting the sales cycle before you have engaged with them. At times, this information gives them confidence to get a head start on decision making and at times all the information overload confuses them. They need people to share ideas, help them think through problems and solutions yet many consulting firms (and practices within firms) have struggled to adapt to the new age of insightful sales, select few are getting it right and winning.
M&A Integration: not business as usual
linkedin
October 28, 2016
As soon as a company makes a decision to acquire another, it is time to step on the gas and do a few things differently to minimize risks and maximize value. No, the time for integration is not business as usual - a lot is about to change. I have seen executive and management teams often make the mistake of communicating it is business as usual and nothing will change, this statement cannot be more misguided and can create serious credibility issues with all stakeholders.
Tags: Management, Business Strategy, Mergers and Acquisitions
Management Consulting : Understanding client personalities for better prospecting (Part1)
linkedin
July 04, 2016
As a seasoned management consultant with nearly two decades of experience with both sales and delivery, I have really learned to appreciate the value of time when prospecting and quickly identifying what one can convert to an eventual sale and what cannot.
SmartBeings is a silicon valley based startup & creator of WooHoo , an award-winning Voice AI Assistant for Enterprises. WooHoo brings the convenience of voice AI technologies to enterprises through its Voice-as-a-Service ( VaaS), Facial Recognition & a Cloud-based AI Platform. WooHoo is the worlds first integrated AI Assistant that combines the power of Voice AI Technologies with IOT, converting voice into actions and delivering the personalized and intuitive user experience.
SmartBeings Inc designs AI-driven IoT products and platforms to solve real-world problems utilizing AI, deep learning, voice-based technologies (incl. NLP & acoustics), facial recognition, security & data encryption, and cloud connectivity.
M&A Due Diligence & Integration: A collection of unique topics and lessons from the trenches
Independently published
March 30, 2021
The business has changed a lot over the last decade, but M&A has largely remained the same without adapting much, there are many new areas, new approaches, and these new scenarios but have no formal literature around them. This book sheds light on some of the new and the different strategic and tactical aspects of M&A.
Tags: Innovation, Management, Mergers and Acquisitions
Getting to the Partner Level: A practical guide for Management Consultants
Independently published
March 30, 2021
Getting to the Partner Level is a practical guide for Management Consultants who are interested in learning how to make it to the Partner level and being successful at that level. This book includes insights into what makes a good consultant, how you can be more effective at work, and tips on how to navigate your career. You will also learn about the different types of Partners out there and how they operate. This book includes a lot of helpful information that will help you along your journey as a consultant from foundations to being successful at the highest levels in the profession.
Tags: Management, Leadership, Mergers and Acquisitions
CEO3.io - Driving Exponential Change: Sell before you have a product, execute agile pivots when required and scale up exponentially
Independently published
March 24, 2021
Too many legacy companies are being disrupted, many iconic brands from the last century have faded into oblivion and many went bankrupt.These failures are mainly attributed to their inability to understand the transformative nature of digital businesses, exponential technologies, understand disruption and pivot at the right time. Both of us have experienced the speed of disruption; from vantage point of working in legacy companies and leading and operating disruptive companies. Nitin also spent time in Management Consulting working with both, the disruptors and the disrupted. Maarten witnessed disruption while at Nokia and recently held an innovation leadership position in a large European insurer. Unless more companies go digital, many industries will be disrupted and will affect many families. We hope to share a few of our experiences, observations an expertise to help executives make the transition.
Tags: Leadership, Entrepreneurship, Mergers and Acquisitions
Co-Founder
zbyte
May 07, 2022
zbyte is creating a new category in the blockchain ecosystem: the decentralized platform (dPlat). dPlat allows dApp developers to build on existing protocols via a low code/no code platform. It enables Web 3.0 ecosystems by removing the complexity for developers and enterprises to build dApps. The zbyte dApp store creates a thriving ecosystem of developers and users by allowing them to upload dPlat enabled dApps that leverage public blockchain.
zbyte Pro has created modules on dPlat to allow Fortune 5000 companies to integrate existing enterprise Web 2.0 ecosystems into Web 3.0. zbyte pro enables enterprises to easily build dApps with the security, immutability, transparency, and privacy offered by blockchain with predictable transaction costs and no cryptocurrency on their balance sheet. zbyte's customizable hybrid blockchain infrastructure leverages all the benefits of a permissionless blockchain while providing privacy and price predictability of a permissioned one to enterprises at a fraction of the cost.
150+ Top Global Cloud Thought Leaders and Next Generation Leaders of 2021
Whizlabs
April 19, 2021
It is loud and clear that Cloud Computing is fundamental to the new wave of digital transformation. In the year of 2020, with everyone working from home, better cloud storage and computing strategies have helped many organizations to grow higher while some were struggling to adapt to the changes. This is where the Cloud Thought Leaders and Next Generation Leaders stepped in. With immense presence in social media and public forums, many of the leaders have shared their views, the struggles they have faced and the ways they have overcome professionally as well as personally.
Tags: Digital Transformation, Emerging Technology, IoT
Top 50 Influencers: Cloud
Thinkers 360
January 10, 2020
Here’s the Thinkers360 leaderboard for the top 50 global thought leaders and influencers on Cloud Computing for January 2020. Congratulations to all our thought leaders and experts who participated!
Tags: Autonomous Vehicles, Big Data, Digital Disruption
The 6th Annual Internet of Things Global Summit
Forum Europe
October 04, 2018
Thank you to the 200+ participants and speakers who have joined us over the two days of The 6th Annual Internet of Things Global Summit.
The Summit returned to Washington D.C on 4 - 5 October. This series of discussions, idea sharing, and networking was an opportunity to join the debate from the inside. For the first year, the event was free to attend to interested parties from the IoT community.
Hostile Takeovers: The Dark Side of M&A
The Growth Academy, Munich
January 25, 2011
A perspective on hostile takeovers. The presentation covers definitions, attack, defense, techniques and best practices. A subject that does not have much literature available in the public domain and a subject rarely talked about.
Why Industrial Automation Security Should Be a Renewed Focus
IoT World
April 27, 2020
As industrial organizations grapple with COVID-19 fallout, automation has become an even hotter topic. Experts fear, however, that the acceleration of automation could drive unforeseen consequences for organizations that don’t focus on security...
US Revisits Immigration Guidelines: COVID-19
The Business Standard
April 21, 2020
The Indian IT services industry is awaiting details of US President Donald Trump’s impending move to suspend immigration, in light of the pandemic.
Though details of the executive order are awaited, the IT industry is not likely to be affected much in the near term, given that mobility is already restricted. However, any sweeping change in regulations could affect moving human resources from India to the US over the medium term, according to industry sources...