Episode 45 of The Investment Banking Leaders Club Podcast: Gábor Szendrői

Welcome to another episode of The Investment Banking Leaders Club Podcast, where we explore the ideas, experiences, and strategies shaping the future of investment banking and entrepreneurship.

In this episode, our host Peter Nieberg speaks with Gábor Szendrői, CO-founder and Co-managing partner at Concorde MB Partners – IMAP Hungary, a boutique advisory firm that pioneered one of the most innovative approaches to mid-market M&A in Central and Eastern Europe: creating buyers through Management Buy-Ins (MBIs).

Throughout the conversation, he shares lessons on entrepreneurship, deal origination, relationship building, and why the future of investment banking may belong to advisors who can build markets rather than simply participate in them.

For investment bankers, founders, and aspiring entrepreneurs, the discussion offers a compelling perspective on how opportunity can be created when traditional solutions no longer work.

The Best Opportunities Often Begin With a Problem

Like many boutique advisory firms, Concorde initially focused on connecting high-quality businesses with international buyers.

Over time, however, the market changed.

As Central and Eastern European economies became more integrated into global supply chains, many international companies no longer needed to acquire local businesses to access products, capabilities, or talent. Commercial relationships became sufficient.

The result was a familiar M&A challenge:

• Strong businesses were available.

• Founders needed succession solutions.

• Traditional buyers became increasingly difficult to find.

The answer was not to search harder for buyers. It was to rethink who could become a buyer.

The buyer universe is not fixed. It can be built.

From Investment Banking to Entrepreneurship

After beginning his career in investment banking in Paris and spending a decade at McKinsey & Company, Gabor made a deliberate decision to build his own advisory firm.

Large corporate transactions often involve professional managers. Mid-market M&A provides something different – the opportunity to work directly with founders who have built businesses from the ground up.

As he explains:

“There is a fundamental difference between building a business and managing one. I’ve always been drawn to the entrepreneurs who create something from nothing.”

That entrepreneurial mindset would ultimately shape the firm’s approach to deal origination.

Management Buy-Ins Create a New Buyer Universe

A Management Buy-In occurs when an external executive acquires a company and assumes responsibility for running it. Unlike a strategic acquisition or private equity investment, an MBI creates a new entrepreneur-operator.

The typical MBI candidate often:

• Has 15 to 25 years of management experience.

• Has served as CEO, managing director, or general manager.

• Has experience leading multiple functions, including operations, sales, and finance.

• Wants to transition from executive leadership into ownership.

The acquisition is usually financed through a combination of:

• Management equity.

• Private investor capital.

• Bank financing.

• Vendor financing arrangements.

After completion, the executive becomes both owner and operator of the business. Sometimes the ideal buyer is not an existing company. Sometimes it is an executive looking for their next chapter.

Origination Is About Creating Possibility

The most important insight behind the MBI model is that advisors can create opportunities that do not yet exist.

Instead of asking: Who wants to buy this company today?

The better question becomes: Who has the skills, ambition, and experience to own and run this company?

That shift changes the entire advisory process. Businesses that previously attracted limited buyer interest suddenly become compelling opportunities for experienced executives seeking entrepreneurship.

The approach solves two problems simultaneously:

• Founder succession.

• Buyer scarcity.

This is origination in its purest form.

Building a Network of Future Entrepreneurs

Creating an MBI platform requires far more than a database. It requires relationships.

Over more than a decade, Concorde MB Partners built its network through thousands of conversations with executives and entrepreneurs.

The process was straightforward but demanding:

• Meet experienced managers.

• Understand their ambitions.

• Introduce them to entrepreneurship opportunities.

• Build trust over time.

Not every executive ultimately pursued an acquisition. Yet those relationships still generated value.

Some became referral sources. Others became future buyers, industry contacts, or trusted members of the firm’s ecosystem.

The best opportunities are often created years before a transaction exists.

Why Long-Term Thinking Creates Competitive Advantage

Building a successful advisory franchise requires patience.

The strongest firms invest consistently in:

• Relationships

• Market insight

• Thought leadership

• Brand development

• Trust

Concorde developed multiple relationship channels, including publications and a large CRM ecosystem, to remain relevant with entrepreneurs and executives long before opportunities emerged.

The philosophy was simple: Stay relevant, provide value, and build relationships before you need them.

M&A Is Ultimately a Human Business

One of the biggest misconceptions in M&A is that transactions are primarily financial exercises.

In reality, successful deals depend on understanding:

• Seller motivations

• Buyer psychology

• Strategic fit

• Entrepreneurial ambition

Financial analysis remains important, but transactions are ultimately driven by people making life-changing decisions. The ability to connect individuals, understand motivations, and build confidence remains one of the most valuable skills in investment banking.

M&A is not only a financial process. It is fundamentally a human process.

Technology Will Improve Efficiency, Not Replace Relationships

Artificial intelligence will continue to transform financial services.

AI can improve:

• Research

• Analysis

• Data processing

• Market intelligence

However, relationship-driven activities remain deeply human. Understanding founders, building trust, and guiding entrepreneurs through significant decisions require empathy, judgment, and experience.

The future investment banker will likely combine technological capability with stronger relationship skills rather than replacing one with the other.

Key Lessons for Investment Banking Leaders

Build markets instead of waiting for them. The best advisors create solutions when traditional processes fail. Treat origination as a long-term investment.

• Relationships built today may create opportunities years later.
• Think beyond traditional buyers.
• A broader buyer universe leads to better outcomes.
• Understand people, not just numbers.
• Transactions are ultimately driven by human decisions.
• Develop a differentiated approach.
• Unique strategies become powerful competitive advantages.

Final Thoughts

What stands out most about the Management Buy-In model is not simply its innovation. It is the mindset behind it.

Rather than accepting buyer scarcity as a market limitation, it treats it as an opportunity to rethink the problem entirely.

The future of investment banking will belong to advisors who can do more than execute transactions. It will belong to those who identify hidden opportunities, create entirely new buyer markets, and build ecosystems founded on relationships.

Management Buy-Ins demonstrate an important shift in M&A thinking:

A buyer is not always something you find. Sometimes, a buyer is something you create.

To hear the full discussion, listen to the complete episode of The Investment Banking Leaders Podcast.