Technology, Capital Markets, Corporate Governance, Leadership, Entrepreneurship
Category: M&A
We've tested a number of the P2P apps over the past several weeks and believe Venmo has the best-in-class user experience. A software executive warned me many years ago: "Don't underestimate the power of the GUI" ("GUI": Graphical User Interface). Venmo's near frictionless user experience combined with Facebook's social features give the application a "leg … Continue reading Social Payments or P2P on Steroids
Last week Amazon acquired Canvas Technology, an autonomous robotics company designed to automate fulfillment centers. This is Amazon's second acquisition of a robotics company deployed in fulfillment centers. The first was Amazon's March 2012 $775 million acquisition of Kiva Systems, which we had an opportunity to interact with last year in Boston. Amazon reportedly acquired … Continue reading Amazon’s Autonomous Robotics Acquisition: Canvas Technology
Apple will have a new CEO within 5 years. You may thank Apple CEO Tim Cook and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Microsoft shares flat-lined from 2001 to 2013 during a series of flubs including being late to the Internet, late to mobile, late to the cloud, late to AI, slow to capitalize on the … Continue reading Apple Will Have A New CEO Within 5 YearsPremium
We all want to feel special, to believe we make a difference, that we contribute to society whether it be through job creation, volunteering our time or some other means. M&A is no different. Target company CEOs and management teams want to feel loved. This is especially true of founder CEOs. Should a founder CEO … Continue reading We All Want to Feel Loved. M&A Is No Different.Premium
Amazon is making smart home bundles easy. In the process, Amazon is becoming a CyberSecurity and Data Privacy leader. It was Cable and Software bundles in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s. Today, it’s Smart Home bundles and Amazon is making it easy. For technology vendors it pays to own the “bundle” (a word antitrust regulators … Continue reading Amazon is Making Smart Home Bundles Easy
We pulled a list of the top CEOs from our CEORater platform as measured by our "CRScore". The CRScore is a crowdsourced score based upon user reviews at CEORater.com. CEOs are scored on a scale of 0-100, 100 being the best. Users "review" CEOs by posting comments, allocating a Thumbs Up or Down, and by … Continue reading CEORater’s Top CEOs
Securities Trading and Revenue Cycle Management (“RCM”) may reside in different industries, yet they share enough common elements to be considered cousins. We believe that FinTech companies that play in the Securities Trading area will look to the HealthIT industry - RCM in particular - to capture growth. See our Interactive HealthIT / RCM company … Continue reading Securities Trading & Revenue Cycle Management Are RelatedPremium
Some companies execute smart, strategic acquisitions better than others. Here’s a short list of publicly-traded FinTech & Info Services companies that do M&A well: CoStar Group (tkr: CSGP), Intercontinental Exchange (tkr: ICE), IHS Markit (tkr: INFO) SS&C Technologies (tkr: SSNC) and Verisk (tkr: VRSK). Click Here for Revenue, EBITDA and related metrics. We love FinTech … Continue reading Build. Acquire. Repeat.Premium
BB&T announced that it plans to acquire SunTrust primarily in an effort to scale its technology capability such that it may deliver more on-demand services to customers. This is a corporate governance issue. You simply DO NOT have the luxury to wait for Payments upstarts like Square (tkr: SQ) to capture a $30B-plus valuation ($40B-plus … Continue reading Too Little Too Late. BB&T & SunTrust.Premium
Magna International (tkr: MGA), got its start as a machine tool shop. Today, Magna is automotive supplier to major Auto OEMs, Tier I suppliers, Heavy Equipment manufacturers and Rideshare companies such as Lyft. Humble Beginnings Magna counts BMW, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Tata, Tesla, Toyota, a number of the China-based Auto OEMs as well as a … Continue reading Competition Comes from Below: Part II
