I am looking at a target in the Atlassian ecosystem - plugin producer with a solid growth and EBITDA margin. I would appreciate an opportunity to chat to people experienced in platform play and/or Atlassian platform specifically. I would like to understand:
1. How to evaluate attractiveness of this target vs. stand-alone software,
2. How to think about platform risk/reward profile (e.g., platform costs and change of direction vs. wide audience etc.), and
3. Any other elements I should keep in mind when evaluating attractiveness of this deal vs. others in the pipeline
Many thanks.
Monika
Atlassian platform experts
by a searcher from INSEAD
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Similarly to any other deal - how comfortable you can get with the story - how long has it been around for, how has it evolved/been developed, who is supporting it, how are they getting customers / retention rates / growth rates / NDR/ any partners/vendors/channel relationships? Then you have to be comfortable with the platform itself and where that is going - that's likely the largest hurdle (other than the silly questions of 'why don't they build/develop that feature'), you still need to explain how it works and why it'll stick around to lenders or equity investors.
Depending on your technical capabilities - I'd ensure that you had some further diligence around that and how you'd address the next few years. Not sure where your multiple is and the level of comfort with price/timeline but with some growth and continued high margins, maybe you can get comfortable with a shorter timeline - lenders may not see it that way.