Lenny's Podcast: Product | Growth | Career

M&A, competition, pricing, and investing | Julia Schottenstein (dbt Labs)

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Jul 13, 2023

Julia Schottenstein, Product lead at dbt Labs and an angel investor, shares her journey from venture capital to product management. She provides invaluable advice for founders on improving M&A outcomes and assessing competition. Julia dives into the significance of aligning product features with customer needs and discusses the challenges of open source versus proprietary elements. With insights on effective pricing strategies and the importance of networking, she emphasizes that building strong relationships can lead to better acquisition deals.

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INSIGHT

Evaluating Early-Stage Companies

Evaluate early-stage companies based on people, market, product, and distribution.
Focus on the founder's vision, market growth, product uniqueness, and distribution advantages.

ADVICE

M&A Strategy

Focus on building a strong company first, making M&A a plan B, not the goal.
Inflict "pain" on potential buyers by showcasing your competitive advantage, but stay friendly and open to maintain optionality.

ANECDOTE

Transform's Acquisition

Transform, acquired by dbt Labs, effectively used this "pain" strategy.
They highlighted their strong semantic layer product, which dbt Labs lacked, while maintaining a friendly partnership appearance.

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