http://www.horizonpartners.com/posts HorizonPartners.com Blog http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/things-fall-apart-part-ii This is the second in a series using the blog post describing the recent breakdown of Backblaze's M&A process to explore common mistakes made in M&A for mid-market companies.At this point in the story, the Backblaze team is thin... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/things-fall-apart-part-ii http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/things-fall-apart-part-i All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.--TolstoyTolstoy’s famous quote on families applies to deals.  A busted deal is like an unhappy family.  Every deal that falls apart falls a... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/things-fall-apart-part-i http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/market-size-in-revenue-vs-profit In our last post, we referenced an eMarketer report that forecasts the market size of various online advertising market segments.  Like just about every market size report we have ever seen, the eMarketer report focuses on revenue s... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/market-size-in-revenue-vs-profit http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/search-aint-done-yet We aren't regular readers of TechCrunch.  It's undoubtedly a nice business, but we view it as a glorified PR news wire for Silicon Valley.  It's heavy on description (which often feels scripted by  a PR firm) and rarely ha... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/search-aint-done-yet http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/waiting We aren't professional economic prognosticators.  But there is correlation between macro trends and deal market conditions, so we try to follow economic news. We would love to see robust economic growth in the US, but it looks like ... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/waiting http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-vi-putting-it-all-together Identifying the ‘right’ time to sell a company is never a simple ‘black and white’ process.  Many of the external and internal business factors to be considered are loaded with ambiguity.  There is also a critical personal elem... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-vi-putting-it-all-together http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-v-under-the-microscope As previous posts have discussed, unsolicited interest from potential buyers is a key indication of a good market for selling a company.  Switching perspectives from external factors to internal, we find that an equally critical fac... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-v-under-the-microscope http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-iv-qualifying-buyers Almost every company we talk with has received many calls from potential buyers.  But they might not be what they seem. Before discussing the nature of those calls, let’s first look at the two basic categories of buyers for mid-mark... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-iv-qualifying-buyers http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-iii-if-the-market-talks-listen How do you know if there will be a set of qualified, motivated buyers for your company?There is an old joke that seems fitting here.   There was a man called Jim, who lived near a river. Jim was a very religious man.One day, th... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/timing-ma-part-iii-if-the-market-talks-listen http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/a-few-more-thoughts-on-groupon Who besides Groupon in online customer acquisition for SMB’s doesn’t rely heavily on Google?  I can't think of anyoneIt’s a bit unfair to the YP’s trying to recreate themselves online because the real digital Yellow Pages is Google ... http://www.horizonpartners.com/article/a-few-more-thoughts-on-groupon