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Podcast: M&A Science
Episode:

Founder Exit Strategy: Xavier Gury on M&A Deal Terms vs Valuation
Category: Business
Duration: 01:06:13
Publish Date: 2025-08-18 12:00:00
Description:

Xavier Gury, Founding Partner at Wind Xavier Gury, founding partner at Wind venture capital firm, brings a unique triple perspective to M&A: serial entrepreneur, acquisition target, and now investor. In this episode, Xavier unpacks the critical lessons from his three successful exits, including one transformative deal with Publicis, where he structured a performance-based earnout that prioritized terms over upfront valuation. The conversation reveals why 90% of the deal value came through earnout performance, how to align teams during integration, and the strategic mistakes buyers make when acquiring founder-led companies. M&A professionals will learn practical frameworks for structuring deals that actually work post-close. Things You'll Learn

  • Why deal terms matter more than valuation – and how Xavier structured an earnout where only 10% was paid upfront
  • The "yin yang" principle for balanced M&A deals that create value for both buyer and seller
  • How to incentivize key employees during earnout periods to ensure alignment and execution success

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Today’s episode of the M&A Science Podcast is brought to you by Grata!

Grata is the leading private market dealmaking platform. With its best-in-class AI workflows and investment-grade data, Grata helps investors, advisors, and strategic acquirers effortlessly discover, research, and connect with potential targets — all in one sleek, user-friendly interface. Visit grata.com to learn more.

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