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  • January 13, 2023: Learn from this companies surprising turnaround

January 13, 2023: Learn from this companies surprising turnaround

plus: Meet the CEO of DealMaker, learn from a fallen acquisition, and get to know more of the opportunities to level up your career

Quick Takes: When acquisitions fall through

What is the news?

News recently broke that Coinsquare was backing out of the CoinSmart Acquisition deal. So, what exactly happened here, and what can we learn from this?

How usual is it to see an announced acquisition fall apart?

Publicly announced deals do fall apart but usually, the circumstances are very different. It usually happens when one or both of the companies are publicly traded. The deal has to be announced and shareholders have to approve it. In this case, there is always a chance that shareholders do not approve the deal. It is far rarer though that an announcement involving two private companies will fall apart. By the time the announcement has been made, it should have been approved by both parties shareholders.

Why is this deal falling apart?

No reason has been given publicly, so these are simply assumptions.

We could imagine that the continued decline in Web3 activity has played a part. Both companies involved in this deal are smaller Canadian-focused crypto exchanges. They were combining to increase volume and market share in Canada, presumably, to get better economies of scale. It could be that with declining transaction volumes that one or two of the exchanges have seen shrinking market shares and declining revenues making the merger not as meaningful. It is also possible that one of the exchanges has been impacted by the crypto contagion or a security breach.

These are just guesses as neither party has provided a reason. 

What does this mean for each company?

Once again, it's not clear the reasoning, but there must have been a sound reason for the original acquisition. Nevertheless, it will be demoralizing and most likely financially bad for CoinSmart which was planning on getting acquired. They may have let go of employees they will now need to backfill, or they may have paused marketing and seen customers depart.

At the minimum, they have lost 4 months of leadership and momentum on growth.

What can we learn from this?

A deal is not done until all the signatures are obtained and the exchange of shares and/or money has happened.

I have seen so many founders celebrate financing or acquisition before it closes to only be disappointed when it doesn't.

A deal is not a deal until it is done.

The Canadian crypto exchange market is highly fragmented and seeing incredible headwinds.

Expect it to get worst before it improves.

This should not be confused with the general Web3 ecosystem which is facing headwinds but they should not be as drastic.

Our top takeaways:

  • Nothing is certain until the deal is not only signed, but delivered

  • There is always a chance shareholders don't approve a deal

  • A deal is not a deal until it's done

*Reply to this email and let us know your takes on the news from the ecosystem and what you'd like to hear us cover on the show

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What is DealMaker?

DealMaker is transforming the process of raising capital to simple eCommerce. Its innovative technology was designed to enable organizations to own and control exempt market raises to get the money they need, faster.

With DealMaker, brands, and founders are back in control to run streamlined, successful capital raises. To date, DealMaker has processed over $1.7B in transactions and over 650,000 investments.

What insight led you to start DealMaker?

The pain points of the capital raise process. How antiquated it was and how many founders were frustrated at how complicated it was for them to raise the capital they needed to grow their businesses.

What should people know about DealMaker? 

As Canada’s 3rd Fastest Growing Company, DealMaker has taken major market share in the US and landed clients like the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.

To date, DealMaker has processed over $1.7B in transactions and over 650,000 investments - more than any counterparts or competitor in North America.

What is the best advice you wish you gave yourself when you were starting out?

Seek feedback.

We’re hyper-focused on having meaningful conversations with our current and potential customers and system users to acquire critical feedback, which helps us improve our product, tech, and ourselves, in real-time.

*You can catch an in-depth conversation with Rebecca of DealMaker at next week's TechTO: Together Event at OneEleven on January 16!

If you haven't yet registered, grab your tickets while they last!

Headlines and Content

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  • CONTENT: TechTO's Founders Journey series is back with a brand new episode - LISTEN HERE

TechTO Talent

Sales Director, EvenUp (Fully Remote)

Why is this cool? EvenUp is a venture-backed SaaS startup that ensures injury victims are awarded the full value of their claims, expanding the $100B+ in awards granted to injury victims every year. Over the past year, they have scaled their customer base 5x for a SaaS product with a sales team of 3. They’re now looking for a sales leader that can close large customer accounts, train new and existing AEs, and broadly help fuel our next stage of growth. APPLY HERE

Intermediate Software Developer, Clio (Calgary, AB)

Why is this cool? Clio is more than just a tech company–we are a global leader that is transforming the legal experience for all by bettering the lives of legal professionals while increasing access to justice. As a member of their engineering team, you will support them by building innovative solutions and gain exposure to new challenges and technologies while making an impact on the entire business. APPLY HERE

Director of Shareholder Services Operations, DealMaker (Remote)

Why is this cool? DealMaker is a fast-growing Fintech organization​ revolutionizing the capital market ecosystem across North America and globally. As a member of their team, you will drive the vision and day-to-day management of a cutting-edge, technology-forward Transfer Agent of the future and have direct managerial responsibility for client managers, profit and loss, all sales and service, and other internal business operations. APPLY HERE

Events and Links

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