There’s a difference between building a profitable business and building a strategically attractive business. I’ve seen both — as an operator, investor, and now as a partner at Button Holdings and cohost of the Legacy Advisors Podcast. The truth is, not every successful company is acquirable. And not every growing business commands a premium.
Strategic acquirers — unlike financial buyers — are not just buying EBITDA. They’re buying synergy, positioning, and upside. If you want your company to stand out in their M&A pipeline, you need to do more than grow. You need to pull the right growth levers — the ones that map directly to acquirer value creation.
This article unpacks the specific growth levers that matter most to strategic acquirers — and how to pull them intentionally as part of your long-term exit strategy.
What Strategic Acquirers Are Really Looking For
Before we break down the levers, it’s important to understand how strategic buyers think. These aren’t PE firms chasing yield or turnaround stories. Strategic acquirers are often:
- Public companies seeking growth through acquisition
- Venture-backed platforms looking to consolidate market share
- Vertical SaaS or service firms aiming to expand capabilities
- Global companies entering new regions or verticals
What do they care about most?
- Product fit: Does your solution complement or extend theirs?
- Revenue synergy: Can they cross-sell your offering to their customer base?
- Cost synergy: Will they reduce overhead or improve margin post-integration?
- Market entry: Can they use your footprint to enter a new region or segment?
- Competitive advantage: Will acquiring you weaken their rivals?
If your growth levers align with those goals, you’re not just a good company — you’re a strategic asset.
Growth Lever 1: Vertical Dominance
One of the most compelling growth levers is deep specialization in a profitable vertical. Strategic buyers don’t want to buy horizontal — they want to own depth. If you dominate a niche, you become the fastest way for them to own that customer base without building from scratch.
In a recent deal we evaluated at Button Holdings, the target had only $9M in revenue — but they had 75% market share in an obscure but lucrative B2B compliance segment. Their customer list was like a who’s who of targets for one of our portfolio companies. That’s strategic value.
How to activate it:
- Build product features tailored to your vertical’s needs
- Collect customer logos and case studies specific to the niche
- Create content and IP that positions you as the authority in that space
Growth Lever 2: API-First Architecture
Strategic acquirers love companies they can plug in quickly. If your product integrates cleanly with existing platforms — or better yet, extends their core offering — you become a natural acquisition target.
This is especially true in SaaS. If you’ve built a robust API layer, documented workflows, and partner integrations, acquirers can visualize how they’d incorporate your tech into their stack.
How to activate it:
- Invest in developer-friendly API documentation
- Launch native integrations with popular tools in your space
- Prioritize modular builds that can be embedded into larger ecosystems
Growth Lever 3: Geographic Expansion
If you’ve built traction in a region where your acquirer is underrepresented, you offer distribution leverage. For example, a North American firm may buy a European startup simply to establish a local presence — especially if that startup has customers, localization, and channel partners in place.
In my experience, regional dominance — even at modest scale — can significantly enhance your strategic appeal if the buyer sees your footprint as their launchpad.
How to activate it:
- Localize your offering (languages, currencies, regulations)
- Develop regional sales partnerships
- Document expansion frameworks that show replicability
Growth Lever 4: Data Network Effects
Buyers want moats. And few moats are more strategic than proprietary data.
If your product creates or aggregates unique data — especially if it improves over time or fuels AI — you become more than a tool. You become a data asset. We’ve worked with companies where the buyer didn’t care as much about revenue as they did about the dataset — it was the missing layer in their analytics strategy.
How to activate it:
- Capture and structure usage data
- Highlight how data improves product performance
- Build reporting dashboards as a value-add for customers
- If applicable, offer benchmarks or market insights based on your data
Growth Lever 5: Recurring Revenue & Retention
It might seem obvious, but it’s worth reinforcing: strategic acquirers love predictability. If your revenue is mostly recurring — and your customers stick around — you reduce acquisition risk.
More importantly, high retention and upsell metrics tell buyers that your customers find value — which means their customers likely will, too. We’ve had deals where NRR (Net Revenue Retention) > 120% was the single most persuasive metric in diligence.
How to activate it:
- Move from transactional to subscription models where feasible
- Launch tiered pricing or bundled features to increase ARPU
- Track and improve retention cohorts
- Document CS (Customer Success) practices and customer journey
Growth Lever 6: Strategic Partnerships
Relationships can be assets — especially when they offer indirect access to an acquirer’s market. If you’ve built distribution, tech, or channel partnerships with companies adjacent to your target acquirer, you reduce their time to market.
I’ve seen buyers pursue acquisitions simply because the seller had access to a partner account they couldn’t get otherwise. Distribution leverage is real.
How to activate it:
- Formalize referral or channel agreements
- Create co-branded campaigns with larger partners
- Highlight revenue attributed to each partnership
- Identify partners your target acquirers already work with — or want to
Growth Lever 7: Strategic Brand Positioning
Brand doesn’t always show up on a spreadsheet — but it shows up in acquisition committee meetings. If you’re seen as a thought leader, category creator, or media darling, that awareness can fast-track deal interest.
Your goal is not mass recognition — it’s category relevance. When your brand shows up in competitor decks or industry analyst reports, you’re on the radar.
How to activate it:
- Speak at industry events
- Publish high-quality, niche content
- Build LinkedIn influence in your category
- Sponsor relevant newsletters, reports, or podcasts
Growth Lever 8: Product-Led Expansion
If your product is intuitive, self-serve, and expands usage organically, buyers see a low-friction growth engine. This is especially compelling in mid-market and enterprise software — where upsells and cross-sells are traditionally sales-driven.
A product-led growth (PLG) engine offers strategic acquirers a margin lever: grow revenue without growing headcount. That’s gold.
How to activate it:
- Build in-app upgrade paths
- Offer usage-based pricing
- Track PQLs (product qualified leads)
- Launch self-service trials and onboarding
Growth Lever 9: Founder Exit Readiness
This may not sound like a “growth lever,” but it absolutely is. If you, the founder, are ready to transition — and have a leadership bench in place — it accelerates deal timelines and improves terms.
I’ve passed on companies where growth was impressive but founder dependency was too high. Strategic buyers don’t want a six-month transition. They want optionality: the freedom to integrate, absorb, or pivot.
How to activate it:
- Promote functional leaders early
- Remove yourself from sales and product decision-making
- Document key relationships and processes
- Define your post-exit role (if any) and timeline
Telling the Right Growth Story
When you engage with acquirers, remember: they’re not just buying what you’ve done — they’re buying what’s next. Your growth levers should form the backbone of your narrative:
- What trends are you riding?
- What assets have you built?
- How will you unlock value for the buyer post-acquisition?
If your CIM (Confidential Information Memorandum) and pitch deck frame these levers clearly, you shift the discussion from valuation to vision alignment — which is where premium deals happen.
Final Thoughts
If you want to attract strategic acquirers, don’t just chase growth. Engineer leverage. Build a company that strengthens another — one that adds revenue, accelerates roadmap goals, or neutralizes competition.
The right growth levers will do more than drive valuation — they’ll spark inbound interest, create buyer tension, and give you leverage in every conversation.
Remember: in M&A, value isn’t just created — it’s perceived. Shape that perception early, intentionally, and with strategic clarity.
Frequently Asked Questions About Growth Levers That Attract Strategic Acquirers
Why do strategic acquirers value specific growth levers more than just revenue growth?
Strategic acquirers aren’t just looking to buy financial performance — they’re looking to buy strategic fit. Unlike financial buyers, who may focus on cost reduction or yield, strategic buyers want to see how your company accelerates their existing goals. Revenue alone doesn’t answer those questions. They care about how that revenue is generated, who the customers are, and what unique advantages your business holds. Growth levers like proprietary data, API readiness, or vertical specialization allow the acquirer to reduce integration friction, unlock new markets, or deepen customer relationships. These are value multipliers that justify premium offers and better deal structures.
What’s the difference between product-led growth and traditional sales-driven growth in the eyes of an acquirer?
Product-led growth (PLG) refers to a business model where user acquisition, expansion, and retention are primarily driven by the product itself, rather than a sales team. For acquirers, PLG is attractive because it usually signals high gross margins, scalable onboarding, and low customer acquisition costs. A PLG engine can grow with minimal headcount expansion, which boosts post-acquisition profitability. By contrast, sales-driven growth often comes with heavy overhead and longer sales cycles. While both models can be attractive, PLG tends to excite strategic buyers looking to integrate low-touch, high-leverage products into their portfolio with fewer operational dependencies.
How do I know if my growth strategy is appealing to strategic buyers?
The best way to gauge strategic appeal is to map your growth trajectory against a short list of potential acquirers. Ask: does your company solve a gap in their product suite, unlock a region they want to enter, or deliver a customer segment they don’t yet dominate? If the answer is yes, you’re heading in the right direction. You can also test interest by building informal relationships with biz dev or corporate development leaders at likely acquirers. Often, the feedback you get from those conversations will tell you whether your growth is generic or strategic — and give you clues on how to reposition.
What role do partnerships play in attracting strategic acquirers?
Partnerships — especially tech integrations, channel alliances, and distribution deals — serve as strategic signals. They show that you’re not just growing in isolation but embedded in the broader ecosystem. For buyers, this means reduced go-to-market friction and validated product fit. I’ve seen acquirers move quickly on companies that had strategic partnerships with tools they already used or ecosystems they wanted to enter. A solid partnership pipeline can demonstrate ecosystem relevance, hint at expansion potential, and even lead to co-acquisition interest. Smart founders cultivate partnerships not just for growth — but to show potential acquirers exactly how they’d fit in post-deal.
How do I communicate growth levers effectively during the M&A process?
You must make your growth levers clear, measurable, and contextualized. Use your CIM and buyer presentations to showcase which growth levers are in play (e.g., recurring revenue, vertical dominance, product integrations), and why they matter to the buyer. Use graphs, customer stories, and before/after metrics to prove impact. Don’t just say, “We’re integrated with Salesforce.” Instead, say, “This integration drives 25% of new customer ACV and is the top feature requested by mid-market accounts.” Strategic buyers are thinking in terms of synergies — so show how your levers drive those synergies. The more clearly you connect the dots, the more confident buyers will feel.