胃一阵一阵的疼吃什么药

Featuring Ryan L. Gable , BW Forsyth Partners and Todd Olson , Pendo.io

In M&A, flashy bids and fast closes often get the spotlight. But the real art lies in what happens before and after the deal: sourcing conversations that build trust, integration that respects culture, and deal structures that serve both sides for the long haul.

Two leaders have quietly mastered that art in very different ways.

At BW Forsyth Partners , Ryan L. Gable has built a private equity engine where nearly 90% of deals are sourced outside a process, with zero sales in the firm’s history. At Pendo.io , Todd Olson has led multiple acquisitions that extend product capabilities, improve customer outcomes, and fold into one unified company culture.

In back-to-back episodes of the M&A Science podcast, they each opened the curtain on their playbooks. Together, their insights form a powerful blueprint for modern M&A.

How BW Forsyth Sources Proprietary Deals

BW Forsyth Partners is a different breed of private equity. Backed by Barry-Wehmiller, the firm operates without a fund structure, without LPs, and without pressure to exit. It’s built to hold — not flip.

That model allows Forsyth to focus entirely on building long-term relationships with founders, often over years, before a deal even begins.

“We’re never chasing a calendar. That’s a huge advantage. When we show up, it’s not with urgency — it’s with curiosity.” — Ryan Gable

In their early years, Forsyth followed the typical PE path: reviewing CIMs, attending ACG events, chasing processes. After 200+ missed opportunities and zero deals closed, they made a hard pivot:

• Narrowing focus to just two verticals: capital equipment and insurance services.
• Shifting sourcing to deep, multi-year relationship building — not chasing CIMs.
• Embedding sourcing accountability across the firm — not siloed in biz dev.

What Proprietary Sourcing Looks Like in Practice

Every Forsyth team member is expected to be a source of deals. Their days aren’t filled with banker emails — they’re filled with handwritten letters, plant tours, and follow-ups to founder conversations from years past.

The firm attends niche trade shows to better understand industries and meet potential sellers in neutral, organic environments. They focus on 3–5 targets per year, and they stay in touch for as long as it takes.

“We’ve had deals close after five years of conversations. We’re playing the long game, and people feel that.” — Ryan Gable

Even when an intermediary later gets involved, Forsyth often wins because they were there first. The trust is already built.

Strategic Integration, Not Forced Change

BW Forsyth Partners doesn’t believe in 100-day plans. They reject the idea of blitzing a company with initiatives immediately after close. Instead, they co-develop 2–3 strategic priorities with leadership — and move at the company’s pace.

Integration is pull, not push.

• There’s no standard playbook forced onto founders
• Support is offered — but never imposed
• Shared services are modular and opt-in

And because Forsyth never promises a future exit, they need integration plans that work in perpetuity — not just for 3–5 years.

“If we’re going to own this forever, the focus has to be on sustainable value, not just short-term metrics.” — Ryan Gable

Deal Structure for Founder Alignment

Forsyth’s unique deal model allows founders to roll equity into the parent and monetize gradually, using a share price that’s updated biannually by EY. There’s:

• No put option
• No call option
• No forced liquidity event

After a five-year commitment period, sellers can begin to sell shares at whatever pace works for them. The structure removes pressure from both sides and gives founders full transparency on how value is calculated.

“We’re not optimizing IRR. We’re optimizing EVA — Economic Value Added — and that changes how you operate.” — Ryan Gable

Red Flags They Watch For

Despite their patience, Forsyth knows when to walk away. Common red flags include:

• A seller who’s too focused on price, not partnership
• Founders looking for a clean break, with no successor in place
• Leadership teams that undervalue culture or can’t articulate what makes them different

As Gable put it: “If a founder doesn’t believe their culture is special, they probably haven’t built one that is.”

Pendo’s Approach: Strategic SaaS Acquisitions with a Product-First Lens

Pendo.io has made multiple acquisitions to expand into verticals, enter international markets, and accelerate product capabilities — but Todd Olson is clear:

“We don’t buy companies just to grow. We buy them to solve strategic problems faster than we could build the solution ourselves.” — Todd Olson

That mindset has helped Pendo absorb teams in a way that keeps cultures intact while building a more powerful unified platform.

Criteria for Acquisitions at Pendo

The bar for M&A is high. Olson shared that they often say “no” even after extensive diligence. When they say “yes,” it’s usually because:

• The product fits tightly into Pendo’s existing stack
• There’s technical alignment (e.g., engineering quality, stack compatibility)
• The team is passionate about what comes next
• There’s alignment on company values and customer-first thinking

Unlike typical software acquirers who focus on revenue growth or cost synergies, Pendo starts with capabilities and user experience. The goal is to make the customer experience better post-close — not just the P&L.

“The biggest sign of a good deal is that the team we acquired thrives within Pendo. They stay, they lead, they grow.” — Todd Olson

People First, Then Product

Todd doesn’t believe in fast integrations for the sake of speed. Pendo takes time to absorb each acquired company in phases:

1. Onboard the team into Pendo’s culture and ways of working
2. Build shared understanding around the product roadmap
3. Gradually combine tech stacks if needed — only after customer impact is clear

In some cases, they maintain separate brands or product lines. But in all cases, the integration approach is designed to preserve what made the acquisition valuable in the first place.

One Deal, One Goal

Olson emphasized that M&A at Pendo is not just a leadership decision — it’s a company-wide commitment.

“When we do a deal, it’s not just a slide in our board deck. It’s something we have to execute on every day, across engineering, marketing, sales, customer success.” — Todd Olson

That focus on cross-functional alignment ensures the deals actually drive value — not just press releases.

Real M&A Value Comes from What You Do Before and After the Deal

It’s easy to focus on price, negotiation, and diligence. But as Ryan Gable and Todd Olson show, the most successful M&A strategies are built years before a deal is signed — and play out for years after.

If you want to scale through acquisition, don’t start with the process. Start with the people. Build trust early. Align incentives. Be clear about what you stand for — and why the deal exists.

Because in the end, the best M&A isn’t about closing deals. It’s about making them work.

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