Anand Profile picture
Man between atoms and stars. Currently immersed in powerpoint and excel.
Mar 26, 2022 22 tweets 6 min read
Found a gem of a story from the annuls of M&A history. In Jan 19, @Qualtrics, a user engagement SaaS co, was going public at a ~$4bn valuation. Along came @SAP & offered $8bn in cash.

How did the CEO @RyanQualtrics negotiate this deal? And how did it pan out for everyone? A🧵.. 1/ Let's set the stage with Qualtrics's funding history.

They got top-quality VC firms -- @sequoia, @Accel, and @insightpartners -- to back them.

Sequoia & Accel wrote the first $70mm Series A check, all the way back in 2012.
May 25, 2021 25 tweets 5 min read
Met a fascinating 77-y old serial entrepreneur who has an eye for identifying, buying,& turning around distressed small and medium businesses (<$25M in annual sales).

Here's a glimpse of his playbook, from his most recent acquisition of a specialty coffee co. in Hawaii.

A🧵.. A lender in his network reached out to him ~4-years ago asking him to go check this struggling business out and to give his opinion on whether it should be liquidated (asset sell-off) or potentially turned around (give the biz another shot with a new team)
Apr 8, 2021 11 tweets 4 min read
Learnt about the fascinating comeback of Maggi Noodles in India today.

Many of u may remember the ban on Maggi in May '15 on account of high lead content. I for sure thought it was the end for the brand. 6 years later, it's back at the top.

Here's how the turnaround happened. Nestle's initial response -- that the regulator's testing processes might have been incorrect -- dug a deeper hole for the company.

Nestle came across as aloof, insensitive, and projected itself as a company that was willing to poison people and have the gall to defend itself.