Stefan Williams, Vice President of Corporate Development and Snowflake Ventures at Snowflake, leads the company's acquisition strategy, corporate venture capital, and startup accelerator programs. In this episode, Stefan takes us inside Snowflake's disciplined, culture-first approach to M&A—from building the corporate development function from scratch to executing 20+ acquisitions while maintaining breakneck organic growth. He shares hard-won lessons on integration accountability, why relationships matter more than auctions, and how to balance proactive deal-making with the realities of a fast-moving AI landscape.

Things You'll Learn

• Start small and build M&A muscle – Why Snowflake began with sub-50 person acquisitions to prove integration capabilities before scaling to larger, more complex deals

• Integration accountability drives success – The critical importance of assigning DRIs (Directly Responsible Individuals) with clear timelines at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days post-close

• Buyer-led beats reactive – How investing time in proactive CEO relationships and strategic alignment dramatically improves deal outcomes versus responding to banker processes
  
  

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The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.

📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual

Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.

____________________

Join us for the 3rd M&A Science Fair IN PERSON

Get pure, off-the-record collaboration between corporate development, private equity, and integration leaders. Instead of passive listening, you’ll be sharing real frameworks, trading ideas, and testing what actually works in modern deal execution. Everything’s practitioner-led, and every topic is surfaced by the attendees themselves.

October 16th — NYC
8AM-7:30PM
Request an invite here: https://luma.com/khkuh6yw

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[00:02:30] From Banking to Building – Stefan's journey from investment banking to building corporate development teams at ServiceNow and Snowflake

[00:04:30] How the "amp it up" mentality shapes every aspect of operations, including M&A strategy

[00:07:00] Why high-growth companies must begin with digestible acquisitions to develop integration capabilities

[00:10:00] Week One Playbook – How to build a corporate development function from scratch by interviewing product leaders and aligning on strategy

[00:14:00] Managing internal relationships across product, engineering, and go-to-market to maintain strategic clarity

[00:21:00] Strategic Ventures, Not Financial Bets

[00:27:00] Integration DRIs and the Marriage Analogy

[00:37:30] Managing Three Concurrent Deals

[00:42:00] Why nearly all 20 Snowflake acquisitions involved prior relationships and how buyer-led strategy wins

[00:48:30] Navigating the AI Explosion – Staying current in a landscape where companies scale from zero to $100M in years, not decades

Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.

Hilary Shirazi, Head of Corporate Development at Notion, brings over a decade of M&A experience from LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Zendesk to discuss building corporate development strategy at high-growth tech companies. She shares her proven deal thesis methodology, the "Four T's" framework for categorizing acquisitions, and why integration without an IMO might be the better approach for agile teams.

Things you will learn:

• The Deal Thesis Framework – How to crystallize strategy before identifying targets using Hilary's proven document template

• The Four T's of M&A – Talent, Tech, Traction, and Terrain categories that determine your acquisition approach and integration strategy

• Integration Without IMO – Why embedding integration throughout the process beats traditional handoff models for most deals

___________________

The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.

📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual

Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.

____________________

Join us for the 3rd M&A Science Fair IN PERSON

Get pure, off-the-record collaboration between corporate development, private equity, and integration leaders. Instead of passive listening, you’ll be sharing real frameworks, trading ideas, and testing what actually works in modern deal execution. Everything’s practitioner-led, and every topic is surfaced by the attendees themselves.

October 16th — NYC
8AM-7:30PM
Request an invite here: https://luma.com/khkuh6yw

____________________

[00:02:00] Hilary's career evolution and why in-house M&A beats advisory work

[00:05:00] Building M&A Best Practices – Why starting at a mature organization teaches critical fundamentals before going solo

[00:08:30] Getting to know executives' M&A fears and biases before sourcing deals

[00:11:00] The Deal Thesis Methodology – Creating strategy documents before naming targets to avoid "solution shopping"

[00:16:00] Deal Sponsor Selection

[00:20:00] Front-Loading Vision Alignment

[00:30:00] The Four T's Framework – Categorizing acquisitions as Talent, Tech, Traction, or Terrain deals

[00:35:00] Integration Without IMO – Why Corp Dev should own integration instead of handing off to separate teams

[00:42:00] Using Notion for M&A

[00:51:00] AI in Corporate Development

Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.

Jennifer Miller, Senior Director of Corporate Development at Oshkosh Corporation, brings over 24 years of M&A experience spanning investment banking, boutique advisory, and corporate development. In this episode, she reveals how Oshkosh evolved their corporate venture capital approach from CVC 1.0's financial focus to CVC 2.0's strategic innovation partnerships. Jennifer shares practical insights on managing 400+ deal flow annually, structuring IP agreements, and balancing minority investments with traditional M&A within a single corporate development function.

Things You'll Learn

• CVC 2.0 Framework: How to evolve from pure financial returns to strategic innovation partnerships that accelerate technology adoption

• Deal Flow Management: Systematic approach to evaluate 400+ companies annually using thematic prioritization and rapid technical diligence

• IP Structuring: Strategic methods for negotiating exclusivity, co-development agreements, and future acquisition rights without limiting startup growth
  
  

____________________

The Buyer-Led M&A™ Summit is back.
The virtual event built for dealmakers who want to eliminate chaos and take control from sourcing through integration.

📅 October 30, 2025
🕚 11:00 AM – 2:30 PM ET
💻 Free & Virtual

Learn from leaders who’ve built scalable, repeatable strategies that keep deals on track - Register now.

____________________
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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[00:02:30] Corporate Development Evolution – Jennifer's 24-year journey from investment banking to strategic partnerships

[00:05:00] CVC 2.0 Philosophy – Shifting from financial investments to innovation-first partnerships

[00:10:00] Balancing M&A and CVC – Managing traditional acquisitions alongside minority investments in one team

[00:16:00] Proof of Concept Budget – How Oshkosh funds cross-business unit technology pilots

[00:20:30] Deal Flow Sourcing – Processing 400+ companies annually through thematic prioritization

[00:24:00] IP and Acquisition Rights – Structuring exclusivity and information rights without limiting startup exits

[00:31:00] Strategic Value Proposition – What startups gain from corporate investors beyond capital

[00:36:00] Integration Management – Preventing startup overwhelm while ensuring technology adoption

[00:41:30] Startup Positioning Advice – How entrepreneurs should approach strategic versus financial investors

Questions, comments, concerns?
Follow Kison Patel for behind-the-scenes insights on modern M&A.