Strategy
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Why M&A Fails Without Strategy
Byron Lichtenstein, Managing Director at Insight Partners, reveals how to execute strategic M&A at scale, supporting 500+ portfolio companies with buyer-led deals.
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Byron Lichtenstein, Managing Director at Insight Partners

Byron Lichtenstein, Managing Director at Insight Partners, brings over a decade of experience scaling M&A operations across one of the world's leading software investors. In this episode, Byron breaks down how Insight executes buyer-led M&A at scale, supporting CEOs across their 500+ portfolio companies from sourcing through integration. He shares frameworks for strategic pStrategic M&A at Scale: Insight Partners' Buyer-Led Approachositioning, the critical difference between types of M&A deals, and why strategy must drive every acquisition decision. M&A professionals will learn how to build repeatable M&A processes and avoid the common trap of unfocused deal-making.


Things you will learn:

  • Strategic positioning framework: How to "write the S-1 on day one" and create a clear 5-year vision that guides every M&A decision
  • M&A categorization strategy: The three core types of M&A (market consolidation, product expansion, geographic expansion) and how to execute each differently
  • Integration execution: Why integration must be 100% of someone's job and how to build flexible 100-day plans that actually get executed

Byron Lichtenstein

Byron Lichtenstein is a Managing Director at Insight Partners, where he leads the diligence and growth strategy team across the firm's 500+ portfolio companies. With over 10 years at Insight, Byron has scaled the portfolio support function from 6 to 50 people, helping portfolio companies execute strategic M&A, optimize operations, and accelerate growth. He brings a unique blend of engineering background, management consulting experience from Bain, and deep operational expertise in software M&A

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