Self-Paced Online Course

Mergers & Acquisitions

How technology companies are bought and sold — how acquisitions are engineered, how the deal is negotiated and structured, and how an acquisition stacks up against every other way for founders to exit.

  • Self-Paced
  • 18 Study Hours
  • 14 Sections
  • Certificate of Completion
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Course Introduction

About This Course

How tech companies get bought — and sold

Mergers and acquisitions are among the most significant transactions in the high-technology sector. This course explains how company acquisitions are engineered, and how the transactions themselves are negotiated and structured — from the first decision to sell, through due diligence, escrow and the final close.

The benefits and costs of an acquisition are weighed and contrasted with the other forms of exit available to company founders, including the IPO and the outright sale of patent and intellectual-property assets. Along the way the course examines hostile takeovers, the defensive traps known as poison pills, the roles played by brokers and private-equity buyers, and the valuation methods that determine what a company is really worth to an acquirer.

A certificate of completion is awarded when you successfully complete the course.

Learning Objectives & Outcomes

What you'll be able to do

  • ✓Recognize the advantages and disadvantages of the various exits open to startup investors, including sale of the company in an M&A transaction and the IPO.
  • ✓Explain how merger and acquisition transactions are structured, and why triangular approaches are often adopted to limit liabilities and minimize tax exposure.
  • ✓Identify the steps in the merger/acquisition process, including preparing a company for sale, due diligence, and the roles of officers, brokers and bankers in the transaction.
  • ✓Identify the various exit routes targeted by startup ventures.
  • ✓Describe how patent and intellectual-property sale transactions are structured.
  • ✓Understand the role of private-equity buyers in the merger/acquisition marketplace.
  • ✓Judge when to sell, recognizing the market and company conditions that make an exit most advantageous for founders and investors.
  • ✓Apply the valuation techniques specific to M&A to assess what a company — or its assets — is truly worth to a strategic or financial buyer.
  • ✓Use escrow arrangements and holdbacks to allocate risk between buyer and seller after a deal closes.
  • ✓Recognize the dynamics of hostile takeovers and the defensive measures companies use to resist an unwanted acquisition.
  • ✓Avoid creating unintentional “poison pills” — contractual or structural traps that can deter acquirers or derail a sale.
  • ✓Work effectively with brokers, intermediaries and investment bankers to source buyers, run a competitive process, and maximize deal value.

Course Sections

Fourteen sections, in sequence

  1. 01Alternative Routes & Exits for Startup Ventures
  2. 02Making the Decision to Sell a Company
  3. 03Acquiring a Company
  4. 04The Merger & Acquisition Process
  5. 05How Mergers & Acquisitions Are Structured
  6. 06Due Diligence in M&A Transactions
  7. 07Escrow & Holdbacks
  8. 08Hostile Takeovers
  9. 09Avoiding Unintentional Poison Pills
  10. 10Valuation for M&A Transactions
  11. 11The Broker / Intermediary
  12. 12Private-Equity Acquirers
  13. 13Case Study of a High-Tech M&A Exit
  14. 14Patent Asset Sale

Goes Well With

The disciplines behind a successful exit

A clean M&A exit draws on valuation, deal structuring, finance and IP. These SVBS courses sharpen the skills that decide what your company is worth — and whether the deal closes:

Sherpa, the SVBS AI startup guide — a husky wearing glasses

Sherpa · Your AI Startup Guide

Take the journey for real, with Sherpa

An acquisition is one of the summits this journey can reach — for many founders, a clean M&A exit is the destination they're climbing toward. Sherpa turns what you learn here into your route. As your AI guide, Sherpa helps you target your destination, plot your milestones, and track your momentum stage by stage, drawing on the same “Zero to IPO” methodology to keep you climbing toward your summit.

Sherpa is included with the Entrepreneur subscription ($50/month), which adds startup guidance and the Milestone Progress tracker on top of the full course library.

Get Sherpa →

Ready When You Are

Start the Mergers & Acquisitions course today

Self-paced, 18 study hours, included with your SVBS subscription alongside the full course library and Prof, your AI course tutor — and you earn a certificate of completion when you finish.

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