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M&A Science

by Kison Patel
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Latest episodes

  • Strategy Drives M&A, Not the Other Way Around

    October 29, 2026 · 49 min

    Most corp dev teams let the banker inbox set the agenda. Michael Guptan, who has led or contributed to 120+ transactions worth over $100B across Dell, Walmart, DXC, and now The Trade Desk (NASDAQ: TTD), says that's backward. Strategy…

  • How to Get to Yes

    October 22, 2026 · 54 min

    Most people assume the hard part of an M&A deal is getting the contract signed. However, Meg Cavanaugh, SVP of Legal at Commvault (NASDAQ: CVLT), has spent her career proving otherwise. Meg worked in-house at three public companies…

  • M&A Horror Stories

    October 15, 2026 · 26 min

    A partner's spouse joined a call two weeks from closing. One background check later, a PE deal was dead, along with every dollar spent on diligence and attorney fees. Kison gathered the deal stories practitioners leave out of case…

  • The Vendor Trap That Derails Carve-Outs

    October 8, 2026 · 51 min

    Days before closing a carve-out, Danielle Fortier's team found the seller's vendor list was off by dozens of vendors. Danielle, a partner at Cooley with four corporate carve-outs closed this year, explains why: back-office vendors are…

  • How to Build Trust and Leverage in M&A

    October 1, 2026 · 41 min

    "Never use the word 'trust me.' It's those people you can't trust." Jerry Cedicci, Kison Patel's boss from twenty years ago, built hundreds of millions of dollars in real estate, cafes, hotels, and restaurants. This is his playbook. For…

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  • The Man Who Taught Kison Patel to See M&A Opportunities

    September 24, 2026 · 52 min

    "At the closing table, I left with a check of $10 million." Jerry Cedicci bought a run-down Chicago hotel for $14 million and sold it for $24 million within a year. Jerry grew up in a French orphanage and arrived in the US in 1981 barely…

  • Why PE Rollups Fail the People Who Built the Business

    September 17, 2026 · 48 min

    A $100 million preferred equity check with a 15% compounding floor needs $200 million back in five years, and all of it sits ahead of the producers holding common equity. Bill Johnson grew Liberty to $250 million in revenue in seven and a…

  • Why M&A Integration Fails Without Leadership Enablement

    September 10, 2026 · 54 min

    Kim Jones, HR Director of M&A One acquired CEO slowed his own deal by a month or two to lock down customer commitments and build relationships with buyer leadership. At announcement, employees clapped. Kim Jones has spent over a decade…

  • The Seller's Power Shift: How to Defend Valuation After the LOI

    September 3, 2026 · 57 min

    Praveen Ghanta, Founder and CEO of DevHawk Twenty-four hours before diligence expired, the buyer's board came back and cut the offer by almost 50%. Praveen Ghanta bootstrapped HiddenLevers to over $8M ARR at 52% EBITDA and signed an LOI…

  • The Discount Is the Wrong Question in Private Equity Secondaries

    August 27, 2026 · 55 min

    Richard Chow, Partner at PJT Partners (NYSE: PJT) Everyone asks the same first question in a secondaries deal: what's the discount. Richard Chow, a partner at PJT Partners who has sat on every side of this market as an LP, a buyer, a…

  • How to Finance Acquisitions Without Giving Up Equity

    August 20, 2026 · 58 min

    Bill Stone, Founder and CEO of SS&C How do you keep buying companies without eventually losing control of the company you built?  SS&C Technologies founder and CEO Bill Stone has spent four decades avoiding exactly that. Rather than…

  • Where AI Actually Helps and Fails in M&A Legal Work

    August 13, 2026 · 47 min

    Aaron Binstock, Partner, Co-Head of Private Equity Practice at Cooley LLP Aaron walks Kison Patel through where AI earns its keep in M&A legal work. It drafts well on a single provision, struggles with a full 80-page markup, catches…

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About the show

M&A Science, hosted by Kison Patel (Founder & CEO of DealRoom), is your go-to podcast for mastering the art of mergers and acquisitions. Each week, Kison and his expert guests from leading brands like Xerox, FastLap, and Cisco dig deep into real-world M&A strategies, offering actionable insights to optimize your M&A practice. Whether you're an experienced practitioner or new to the field, M&A Science provides practical advice on key topics like sourcing, due diligence, integration, divestitures, and more. With over 300 episodes, this podcast is the premier thought leadership resource designed to streamline your deal-making process. Start listening today and visit mascience.com/podcast to access over 300 episodes. Brought to you by DealRoom, the leading M&A optimization platform used by the best M&A teams around the world