Dan Pollock, Vice President of Corporate Development at SAM Companies, shares his journey in building a robust M&A function. He discusses the balance of disciplined diligence with relationship-first sourcing and how culture and seller alignment are just as crucial as price. Dan highlights the importance of integrating small firms while preserving their legacy and using innovative strategies like earnouts. This conversation provides tactical insights for those looking to refine their corporate development playbook and scale M&A effectively.
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insights INSIGHT
M&A as Strategic Growth Tool
A strong M&A strategy must integrate with the company’s overall strategic plan, not run independently.
M&A acts as a growth tool supplementing organic efforts, guided by business unit strategies.
insights INSIGHT
Earnouts vs Retention Bonuses
Earnouts often cause sellers to focus narrowly on EBITDA targets rather than broader company growth.
Retention bonuses can better align incentives by encouraging sellers to stay without tunnel vision.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Start Conversations With Transparency
Initiate conversations with target companies by highlighting complementary strengths and potential collaboration, not just acquisition intent.
Approach with transparency but avoid aggressive sales pitches to build trust and open dialogue.
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Dan shares how he built SAM Companies’ M&A function from the ground up—executing over 30 deals and transforming M&A into a strategic growth engine. Backed by Peak Rock Capital, SAM Companies focuses on acquiring founder-led geospatial and infrastructure services businesses. Dan dives deep into how he balances disciplined diligence with relationship-first sourcing, how his team integrates small companies into a larger framework, and why culture and seller alignment matter as much as price.
Whether you're building out corp dev from scratch or refining your playbook, this conversation offers tactical insight into how to scale M&A the right way.
Things you will learn:
How to build an in-house M&A engine with a lean corp dev team How to source proprietary deals through trust and local relationships
How to structure earnouts and retention payments to align incentives
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Episode Chapters
00:03:00 – Dan’s background: from audit to M&A leadership at SAM 00:05:00 – Building SAM’s M&A muscle from the ground up 00:08:30 – Creating buy-in and accountability for integration success 00:10:00 – Getting the company ready to integrate acquisitions 00:11:00 – Sourcing: proprietary relationships vs. cold outreach 00:13:30 – Case study: renewable energy firm acquisition 00:15:00 – Thinking through revenue vs. cost synergies 00:16:30 – The psychology of earnouts and why they changed their approach 00:18:30 – How to open conversations with founder-led businesses 00:21:00 – Why founder retention is tied to valuation 00:24:00 – Turning relationships into actionable deals over time 00:29:00 – Competing with PE: how SAM positions better long-term fit 00:33:00 – Retention bonuses vs. earnouts: what's working better 00:39:00 – Why diligence and integration must run in parallel 00:41:30 – Managing team fatigue and repeatability with DealRoom 00:45:00 – Letting sellers speak with past acquired founders 00:47:00 – Private equity partnership governance at SAM 00:51:00 – Diligence red flags and small business surprises
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