M&A Fundamentals Certificate

Lesson Plan

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The Deal Machine

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~70 min · 4 modules · 9 artifacts

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M&A moves fast, and the people who struggle most in their first deal are the ones who never got the fundamentals. This course covers why companies buy and sell, the difference between corporate development and private equity, the eight types of transactions, and the 12 terms and concepts that trip up even experienced practitioners. You'll also build a working understanding of deal math — not so you can build models, but so you can have informed conversations at the table.

• Module 1.1: Why M&A Exists — why companies buy and sell, seller types, and types of transactions
• Module 1.2: Two Worlds of M&A — corp dev vs. private equity, how each model works, and where they're converging
• Module 1.3: The Language of Deals — the 12 concepts that cause the most confusion, taught through context and common misunderstandings
• Module 1.4: Deal Math Basics — enterprise value, EBITDA multiples, working capital, and value capture

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The Buy-Side Lifecycle

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~60 min · 7 stages · 24 artifacts

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Knowing M&A vocabulary is one thing. Watching a deal move from strategy through integration, stage by stage, is another. This course walks every stage of buying a company — investment thesis and target sourcing, preliminary and confirmatory diligence, negotiation, signing, closing, and post-merger integration. At each stage, you'll see how the traditional approach works against the buyer and what Buyer-Led M&A™ looks like in practice. Deal killers and red flags are embedded throughout.

• Module 2.1: Investment Thesis and Strategy — building criteria before a single target is identified
• Module 2.2: Target Sourcing — pipeline management, advisor relationships, and how Buyer-Led deals get sourced
• Module 2.3: Preliminary Diligence — screening targets, IOI, NDA, and what to look for before committing
• Module 2.4: Confirmatory Diligence — workstream management, QoE, and the red flags most buyers miss
• Module 2.5: Negotiation and LOI — structuring the deal and the terms that matter most
• Module 2.6: Signing and Closing — closing conditions, definitive agreement, and what can go wrong late
• Module 2.7: Post-Merger Integration — Day One readiness, integration planning, and value realization

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The Sell-Side Lifecycle

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~50 min · 5 modules · 14 artifacts

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Even if you spend your career entirely on the buy-side, understanding how sellers think will make you a sharper acquirer. This course covers the full sell-side journey: preparation and self-diligence, CIM creation and going to market, managing IOIs and LOIs, running the business through buyer diligence, and closing and post-close transition. A Reactive vs. Prepared Seller comparison runs through every stage, showing the decisions that create leverage and the ones that give it away.

• Module 3.1: Preparation — self-diligence, fixing gaps before buyers find them, and the 6–12 month prep window
• Module 3.2: Listing and Marketing — going to market, CIM creation, and when to hire a banker
• Module 3.3: IOI, NDA, and LOI — managing buyers, NDA terms, and evaluating offers
• Module 3.4: Due Diligence (Seller's Perspective) — managing the data room, responding to requests, running the business simultaneously
• Module 3.5: Closing and Post-Close — final conditions, transition, and what good sellers do differently

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Deal Execution Toolkit

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~75 min · 5 modules · 9 artifacts

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The first three courses taught you what happens and why. This one teaches you how to actually do the work. Deal execution is where most junior practitioners struggle — not because the concepts are hard, but because nobody explains the day-to-day mechanics. This is the course practitioners come back to most on their first live deal.

• Module 4.1: Your First 90 Days on a Deal — what you'll be doing by stage, daily rhythms, and what "good" looks like
• Module 4.2: Tracker Mastery — diligence trackers, issue trackers, version control, and why messy trackers kill deal momentum
• Module 4.3: Data Room Navigation — standard structure, how to move fast, and building a sell-side room that doesn't slow buyers down
• Module 4.4: Note-Taking and Documentation — the format that builds institutional memory, action item capture, and distribution discipline
• Module 4.5: Deal Communication and Coordination — escalation frameworks, status updates that don't create noise, and managing across teams

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Introduction to Buyer-Led M&A™

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~65 min · 4 modules · 5 artifacts

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Since Course 2, every comparison between the traditional approach and a better one has been Buyer-Led M&A™ in practice. This course puts the full framework around it. You'll understand the Tradition Trap, the structural reasons why the default M&A process works against buyers, and the five pillars that define a better approach — with real company case studies showing what it looks like in practice.

• Module 5.1: The Tradition Trap — the systemic failure patterns in conventional M&A and why they persist
• Module 5.2: The Five Pillars of Buyer-Led M&A™ — strategy before sourcing, unified process and data, synchronized diligence and integration, scalability, and win-win execution
• Module 5.3: Buyer-Led M&A™ in Practice — case studies from Unilever, Visma, Lippert, and State Street showing real implementation
• Module 5.4: What This Means for You — the Own the Outcome principle, patterns to recognize, and the path to Buyer-Led M&A™ Certification

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