Principles

Being Trustworthy

I have developed these principles as part of my advisory activities in order to minimise risks and maximise results.
They have allowed me to attract decision-makers from various geographies, gain their trust, and originate mandates.
The more experience I gain, the more I refine these decision-making principles, as trust is fundamental in deal-making.

The client complies with the law.
I have direct access to the client (e.g., seller, buyer, decision-maker).
I obtain the required information and rights (e.g., mandate, right to information, Client Information Sheet for Know Your Customer/Anti-Money Laundering, Proof of Product, Proof of Funds...).
My compensation covers/includes:
- Capital expenditures (e.g., creating a new company...);
- Operational expenditures (e.g., travel expenses...);
- Fixed compensation (e.g., retainer fees...);
- Variable compensation (e.g., success fees, stock-options, equity shares...).

Motivations:

Be professional:

Protect the client:

Protect confidential information.
Be result-driven (e.g., chutzpah).
Take actions that increase the likelihood of the deal closing:
- Connect the buyer, seller, or decision-makers via corporate emails directly.
- Organise (video) calls between the buyer, seller, or decision-makers.
- Arrange in-person meetings between the buyer, seller, or decision-makers.
In the event of a conflict of interest between the client and a personal relationship representing the counterparty, the priority should be protecting the client (cf. fiduciary duty, variable compensation…).
Should a broker provide exclusivity on their client to a counterparty broker? No, as it goes against the fiduciary duty.

Protect the middlemen (e.g., brokers...):

Additional principles:

Be equitable: the more one takes risks and contributes to collective success, the more one should be rewarded.
Do not seek profit at all costs. For example, friends, business relationships [...] are more important than short-term gains.
Aim for the consensus. If it is not reachable, then exit the project, and leave the involved parties on good terms.

Limitations:

In the end, all the parties have to secure their own interests by themselves. Thus, I do not guarantee anything to anyone.
The “Me, Myself and I” principle can prevail under certain circumstances.

A deal requires significant time to be executed and closed. During the execution process, any party may delay responses, change their mind, or withdraw from the transaction. Therefore, it is always important to maintain leverage over the counterparty. Brokers are well positioned to fulfil this role, which leaves little (if any) incentive to circumvent them.
Companies operate over the long term and execute deals repeatedly. Performing brokers are assets and should be retained.
Companies also face reputational and legal risks.
However, the circumvention risk always exists, which is why no broker should underestimate it.

The LOI should ideally be addressed directly to the seller, decision-maker, great companies, high-profile people...
This is an example of an acceptable corporate email: firstname.lastname@companyname.com
LOIs addressed to middle-men usually do not work.

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