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Summary

After making 45 acquisitions at SureSwift, Kevin McArdle is really flexing his CEO muscles this time. Now, he's embarking on a new adventure as CEO of Big Band Software with $100 Million to spend and his sights set exclusively on the B2B SaaS software acquisition market. It's definitely not easy but he seems to have mastered the art of buying great companies - now with massive war chest, It looks like Kevin is about to set off on another exciting journey and we are eager to observe his success!

SHOW NOTES:
00:00 Intro to Kevin McArdle
02:08 Financing Acquisitions at SureSwift
04:15 First Deal Financing
05:15 When he realized he had momentum
08:11 How big were the companies ($Rev)
08:43 Did investors start knocking on doors?
09:45 Raising a Fund
10:45 Tenets to operating a a great company
12:55 Example of "Taking Care of People" - Culture
19:50 What Kevin reads - Mark Leonard
22:10 Big Band Software Vision - Types of Companies they buy
23:10 Why no dividends - Name of the Game is...
25:10 Backed by 2 PE firms
27:53 If PE turns fund 5-7 years, how are you doing a buy and hold?
29:08 Are you competing on Constellation's turf?
32:55 Disruptive technology - Adding the AI question to checklist
37:08 What are you looking for in growth criteria - valuation challenge
42:06 Valuation - the tough conversation with sellers
45:52 Red Flags on SaaS businesses - Don't think you are smarter than seller
49:05 Acquisition opportunity Example
51:06 Deal Flow Status - No such thing as too much deal flow

LINKS to Kevin McArdle
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevin-mcardle-6bbb296/
https://bigbandsoftware.com/

$100 Million to Buy Software Companies: Kevin McArdle from Big Band Software