Reading M&A market signals and rumors

In this episode, Corey and Joe sit down with Jake Vachal, Managing Director at Raine — a leading banker with a practice focused on Adtech. Jake discusses what's really driving M&A activity right now: a more deal-friendly regulatory environment, PE firms pushing hard for liquidity, and boards grappling with existential questions about their equity story in a world being rapidly reshaped by agentic AI. He shares what he actually looks for when deciding to represent a company, why profitable growth now trumps revenue multiples, why private markets currently offer better outcomes than an IPO, and how AI compressed a typical two-to-three-year market cycle into just three months in 2025.