While we don’t often see Canadian buyers in our sellside processes, we ask ourselves in this blog post if our buyside work is an isolated occurrence or is this a pick up in Canadian buyers part of a bigger in trend.
Read MoreGetting into Podcasts but don’t know where to start? Well, hopefully we can help, because we’re podcast addicts!
There’s so many tech podcasts out there and its hard to find the ones with the best content. So, we’ve listed our favorites below and why.
Read MoreWe had a really good response to our recent post about the Rule of 40, with several CEOs reaching out to us to discuss the implications for their business. As a result, we thought it made sense to take a look at the public SaaS companies and see which ones were performing well versus this metric and how their respective valuations compared.
Read MoreGiven that the second quarter earnings season is largely behind us, we wanted to take a look at how the largest technology stocks performed this quarter.
Read MoreIn previous blogs we have talked about the importance of metrics other than just revenue growth. This is particularly important for established software businesses that are looking to pursue M&A. Some buyers (and investors for that matter) use the Rule of 40 when evaluating prospective investments. But what is the Rule of 40 and why should you care?
Read MoreIf you looked at the year-to-date software M&A volume of $64.6bn and compared it to last year’s full year amount of $183bn, you would probably conclude that there has been a dramatic slow down in M&A activity for software companies this year.
Read MoreWe come across numerous examples where CEOs have challenges leading up to the sale of their business – an emotional journey that often comes with any M&A transaction
Read MoreGiven Sampford’s recent achievements in the Canadian tech community, I saw an opportunity to be part of something unique, while further learning more about my interests in various niche tech sectors.
Read MoreIf you listened exclusively to the VC community, this article would be pretty short, as almost all of them would tell you that the only thing that matters for a SaaS company’s valuation is revenue growth, at all costs. However, for the vast majority of mid-cap SaaS companies, this is not the only relevant driver.
Read MoreOn the Let’s Grab Coffee podcast, Sampford Advisor’s George Khalife sat down with Dennis Mortensen who’s the Founder & CEO of x.ai to chat about entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence, and exits.
Read More2018 was a good year for tech, and a particularly great one for Canada with global tech giants like Amazon, Microsoft, Uber, and Google directing their investment dollars to Toronto.
Read MoreAccording to a report by brandwatch, the total worldwide population was 7.7 billion as of January 2019. Of those 7.7 billion people, 44% are active social media users (or 3.397 billion). The average daily time spent on social is 116 minutes a day. That’s significant.
Read MoreAccording to Deloitte’s annual study of M&A activity, technology acquisition became the number one driver of acquisitions in 2018 ahead of expanding customer bases in existing markets, or adding to products/services.
Read MoreStanford? Samford?....Oh Sampford! What does it stand for?
That’s a typical reaction we receive when introducing our firm for the first time to someone. The name stands out, and we’re well aware of it. In fact, we named the firm Sampford Advisors for a reason.
Let us explain.
Read MoreIf you’re in the software & SaaS space, then you’ve probably seen Microsoft’s $7.5 billion acquisition of Github – a great example of how valuations can get amplified in specific situations.
Read MoreMeet Nick Lorraine, a Financial Analyst at Sampford Advisors who started a 4-month co-op term in May. Nick is currently studying for his Bachelor of Commerce Degree with a specialty in Finance at the Telfer School of Management at the University of Ottawa. While in school, Nick is also a Junior Analyst at the Telfer Capital Fund, a 2 year program to give Finance Students in Telfer a chance to gain real world experience managing real money in the Student-Managed fund.
Read MoreIf you’re reading this and you’re a founder of a growing technology startup, you’ve probably been in the challenging situation of figuring out whether you should raise capital or pursue a sale of the business. This dilemma is felt across the board, and one that often doesn’t have clear guidelines. Hopefully through this article, you’ll have some tools to leverage in making the right decision for your business and its future.
Read MoreLet’s rewind all the way back to 1997. Two guys just enrolled at the University of Waterloo to study Computer Science. They became roommates. What eventually took place is a series of exciting and challenging moments, cool experiences, and invaluable lessons that anyone can learn from. Below is the story of Ravin Shah and Tishan Mills and their successful start-up QuickTapSurvey.
Read MoreWith the first quarter of 2018 now firmly behind us, we thought it was about time we revisited how strong the Software M&A markets are in North America. Needless to say, there is still a lot to be happy about and we still expect 2018 to be an extremely strong year for Software/SaaS M&A!
Read MoreThere’s no doubt that the SaaSNorth conference here in Ottawa was a huge success. With hundreds of different SaaS companies in attendance, in addition to many VC and PE firms, the conference fosters a diverse crowd where opinions are shared, challenged, and new insights are gained.
While at SaaSNorth, the Sampford team had the opportunity to sit in on a variety of discussions led by leading executives from various companies and investment funds and we’re pleased to present our key takeaways from the conference.
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