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Ma Playbook
by
Alireza Rezvani
· GitHub ↗
· v2.1.1
· MIT-0
376
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0
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Install in OpenClaw
/install ma-playbook
Description
M&A strategy for acquiring companies or being acquired. Due diligence, valuation, integration, and deal structure. Use when evaluating acquisitions, preparin...
README (SKILL.md)
M&A Playbook
Frameworks for both sides of M&A: acquiring companies and being acquired.
Keywords
M&A, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, acquisition, acqui-hire, integration, deal structure, valuation, LOI, term sheet, earnout
Quick Start
Acquiring: Start with strategic rationale → target screening → due diligence → valuation → negotiation → integration.
Being Acquired: Start with readiness assessment → data room prep → advisor selection → negotiation → transition.
When You're Acquiring
Strategic Rationale (answer before anything else)
- Buy vs Build: Can you build this faster/cheaper? If yes, don't acquire.
- Acqui-hire vs Product vs Market: What are you really buying? Talent? Technology? Customers?
- Integration complexity: How hard is it to merge this into your company?
Due Diligence Checklist
| Domain | Key Questions | Red Flags |
|---|---|---|
| Financial | Revenue quality, customer concentration, burn rate | >30% revenue from 1 customer |
| Technical | Code quality, tech debt, architecture fit | Monolith with no tests |
| Legal | IP ownership, pending litigation, contracts | Key IP owned by individuals |
| People | Key person risk, culture fit, retention risk | Founders have no lockup/earnout |
| Market | Market position, competitive threats | Declining market share |
| Customers | Churn rate, NPS, contract terms | High churn, short contracts |
Valuation Approaches
- Revenue multiple: Industry-dependent (2-15x ARR for SaaS)
- Comparable transactions: What similar companies sold for
- DCF: For profitable companies only (most startups: use multiples)
- Acqui-hire: $1-3M per engineer in hot markets
Integration Frameworks
See references/integration-playbook.md for the 100-day integration plan.
When You're Being Acquired
Readiness Signals
- Inbound interest from strategic buyers
- Market consolidation happening around you
- Fundraising becomes harder than operating
- Founder ready for a transition
Preparation (6-12 months before)
- Clean up financials (audited if possible)
- Document all IP and contracts
- Reduce customer concentration
- Lock up key employees
- Build the data room
- Engage an M&A advisor
Negotiation Points
| Term | What to Watch | Your Leverage |
|---|---|---|
| Valuation | Earnout traps (unreachable targets) | Multiple competing offers |
| Earnout | Milestone definitions, measurement period | Cash-heavy vs earnout-heavy split |
| Lockup | Duration, conditions | Your replaceability |
| Rep & warranties | Scope of liability | Escrow vs indemnification cap |
| Employee retention | Who gets offers, at what terms | Key person dependencies |
Red Flags (Both Sides)
- No clear strategic rationale beyond "it's a good deal"
- Culture clash visible during due diligence and ignored
- Key people not locked in before close
- Integration plan doesn't exist or is "we'll figure it out"
- Valuation based on projections, not actuals
Integration with C-Suite Roles
| Role | Contribution to M&A |
|---|---|
| CEO | Strategic rationale, negotiation lead |
| CFO | Valuation, deal structure, financing |
| CTO | Technical due diligence, integration architecture |
| CHRO | People due diligence, retention planning |
| COO | Integration execution, process merge |
| CPO | Product roadmap impact, customer overlap |
Resources
references/integration-playbook.md— 100-day post-acquisition integration planreferences/due-diligence-checklist.md— comprehensive DD checklist by domain
Usage Guidance
This skill is low-risk and purely advisory, but remember: (1) it is a template — validate legal, tax, and financial decisions with qualified advisors; (2) do not paste confidential deal documents or secrets into prompts when using the skill; (3) although it requests no credentials, be cautious about sharing sensitive company data with any agent; (4) if you prefer to prevent autonomous calls, restrict or review skill invocation in your agent settings before enabling it.
Capability Analysis
Type: OpenClaw Skill
Name: ma-playbook
Version: 2.1.1
The 'ma-playbook' skill bundle is a purely informational set of Markdown documents providing frameworks and checklists for Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A). It contains no executable code, scripts, or instructions that could lead to data exfiltration, unauthorized system access, or prompt injection attacks against the OpenClaw agent.
Capability Assessment
Purpose & Capability
Name/description (M&A strategy, due diligence, integration) align with the included SKILL.md and reference files; there are no unrelated binaries, env vars, or config paths requested.
Instruction Scope
Runtime instructions are advisory checklists and process guidance for humans. The files do not instruct the agent to read local files, access external endpoints, or exfiltrate data.
Install Mechanism
No install spec and no code files — this is instruction-only, so nothing is downloaded or written to disk.
Credentials
The skill declares no required environment variables, credentials, or config paths. There are no disproportionate credential requests.
Persistence & Privilege
always is false and the skill is user-invocable. It does not request permanent presence or system-wide configuration changes.
How to Use
- Make sure OpenClaw is installed (local or Docker)
- Run the install command in chat:
/install ma-playbook - After installation, invoke the skill by name or use
/ma-playbook - Provide required inputs per the skill's parameter spec and get structured output
Version History
v2.1.1
v2.1.1: optimization, reference splits
v1.0.0
Initial release.
Metadata
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ma Playbook?
M&A strategy for acquiring companies or being acquired. Due diligence, valuation, integration, and deal structure. Use when evaluating acquisitions, preparin... It is an AI Agent Skill for Claude Code / OpenClaw, with 376 downloads so far.
How do I install Ma Playbook?
Run "/install ma-playbook" in the OpenClaw or Claude Code chat to install it in one step — no extra setup required.
Is Ma Playbook free?
Yes, Ma Playbook is completely free, licensed under MIT-0. You can download, install and use it at no cost.
Which platforms does Ma Playbook support?
Ma Playbook is cross-platform and runs anywhere OpenClaw / Claude Code is available (cross-platform).
Who created Ma Playbook?
It is built and maintained by Alireza Rezvani (@alirezarezvani); the current version is v2.1.1.
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