The Blockbuster Software M&A Market of 2018

2018 is a blockbuster year for software M&A multiples. The prices companies fetch relative to their revenues surpass any of those in the past 7 years. Billion-dollar plus acquisitions in 2018 have commanded 17x trailing enterprise value to revenue multiple. Nothing in the past se … | Continue reading


@tomtunguz.com | 5 years ago

Seven Strategic Rationales for the Microsoft/GitHub Acquisition

Last week, Microsoft acquired it would acquire Github for $7.5B. It's a massive acquisition at a massive price relative to other software acquisitions. Why is Microsoft willing to pay so much?

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@tomtunguz.com | 5 years ago

An Ode to the OKR

I remember the first time I wrote an OKR (objective and key result) at Google. "You should set your goals so that you attain 70%. That's success," my manager told me. "Even better if you have a moonshot goal in there, with a 5% likelihood of success." I was uneasy with calling 70 … | Continue reading


@tomtunguz.com | 5 years ago

Crypto-Taxi Drivers

At Redpoint's annual investor meeting earlier this year, I quipped, "The day-trading taxi drivers of the dotcom era have been replaced by crypto-trading Uber drivers." But over the weekend, a grizzled Uber driver with a mane of grey hair and wind-and-sunburnt cheeks asked me abou … | Continue reading


@tomtunguz.com | 6 years ago

The Quality of the Outcome and the Quality of the Decision

"Don't be so hard on yourself when things go badly and don't be so proud of yourself when they go well." I think this is one of the hardest pieces of advice to follow. Chance is an important contributor to any outcome. sometimes we just get lucky. That recent crypto trade in whi … | Continue reading


@tomtunguz.com | 6 years ago

The Effect of Flush Private Markets on Software IPOs

The venture capital markets are flush with capital. We're approaching the heady days of the dot com era. In that epoch, despite the record volumes of venture dollars, startups went public quickly, in 4-5 years. Today, that timeframe is no longer realistic. In fact, the surfeit of … | Continue reading


@tomtunguz.com | 6 years ago