Originally published in Zafar, N. (2012). Quickturns acquisition of SpeedSim (B): "Doomed from the start." The Berkeley-Haas Case Series. University of California, Berkeley. Haas School of Business.

The SpeedSim case study focuses on how mergers and acquisitions work in startup and entrepreneurial environments. It describes how an intelligent East Coast engineer built an extremely frugal company with a goal for acquisition and how the SpeedSim team masterfully executed and maximized their return by starting, growing, and selling a company. The case analyzes the process of how small companies position themselves to be acquired and how an acquirer assesses a company. The case can be used for mergers and acquisition and exit discussions, as well as for culture and organizational behavior discussions for entrepreneurship curriculums. The A case discusses how SpeedSim was built and what process they went through to get acquired. The B case addresses what happened after the acquisition and deals with the perspectives of the players and the challenges of the integration.Students are asked to evaluate how a company should go about establishing itself to be acquired and what decisions should be made in the earlier days of the startup. Students will also discuss how to create a successful acquisition and what factors contribute to the success of such an acquisition.

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