How to Attract a Strategic Acquirer
“Kaelon Egan sold his educational technology business called AccelaSchool to a large strategic buyer named PowerSchool,” shares Sam Thompson a Minneapolis business broker and the president of M&A firm Transitions In Business. “In this episode we’ll cover how to find a strategic buyer, avoiding earn outs and understanding your buyers decision making process.”
In this week’s episode of Built to Sell Radio, John Warrillow interviews Kaelon Egan, the founder of AccelaSchool, who successfully sold his company to PowerSchool—a giant in the K–12 education technology space.
For most founders, the ultimate dream is to sell to a strategic acquirer: a well-funded industry leader with deep pockets. Egan shares exactly how he positioned his company to become a natural acquisition target, avoiding common pitfalls along the way.
You’ll discover how to:
- Position your business to attract a strategic acquirer.
- Sell to large, bureaucratic organizations by understanding their decision-making processes.
- Identify when a partnership discussion is really a veiled acquisition conversation.
- Build your business to fit seamlessly into a suitor’s ecosystem.
- Decide whether to focus on one perfect buyer or broaden your appeal to multiple acquirers.
- Avoid earn-outs while still creating a deal that works for both sides.
If selling your business to an industry powerhouse is part of your long-term vision, this episode offers a practical blueprint for how to get there.