M&A, competition, pricing, and investing | Julia Schottenstein (dbt Labs)
A Lenny's Podcast conversation with Julia Schottenstein, a product leader at dbt Labs, on how M&A works for startups, how dbt grew, how to think about competition, and the company's values. Sponsors named: Vanta and Superhuman. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the episode runs about 61 minutes and the available caption text is auto-generated, lightly punctuated and cut off near the values discussion, so the final minutes are not covered. Company figures are Schottenstein's own claims and are unverified. This is a summary of her views, not financial or legal advice.

Executive Summary (TL;DR)
A Lenny's Podcast conversation with Julia Schottenstein, a product leader at dbt Labs, on how M&A works for startups, how dbt grew, how to think about competition, and the company's values. Sponsors named: Vanta and Superhuman. PARTIAL COVERAGE: the episode runs about 61 minutes and the available caption text is auto-generated, lightly punctuated and cut off near the values discussion, so the final minutes are not covered. Company figures are Schottenstein's own claims and are unverified. This is a summary of her views, not financial or legal advice.
Key Takeaways
Make potential buyers notice you
She says most companies have only two or three buyers who find them strategic, and you should make it impossible for them not to notice your competitive advantage.