Today, I’m breaking down a storyline about mergers and acquisitions from HBO's Succession. We'll unpack intense boardroom scenes, rate their accuracy, and extract valuable lessons for founders. Why? Because for successful startups, acquisition talks are inevitable. Let's dive in.

The scenes from Succession

Celebration (Season 1, Episode 1)

Vaulter (Season 2, Episode 2)

Episode timestamps

(00:00) Coming up on today’s episode

(00:15) Show intro

(00:31) The founder's objection to the deal terms

(01:53) What acquirers don’t do

(02:40) Unrealistic founder dialogue

(03:35) Negotiations shouldn’t be personal

(04:36) Pitching the acquisition to stakeholders

(05:40) Unexpected challenges post-acquisition

(06:52) Gutting the company post-acquisition

(08:41) Breaking promises

(09:38) The importance of empathy in layoffs

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How realistic are the M&A scenes in Succession?