For former Subserveo, Inc. president and CEO Shannon Byrne Susko, making a good business deal is not unlike playing team sports: both come with challenges that, ultimately, ?boil down to your ability to work with and relate to other people.?
As a student at Saint Mary?s University in Halifax and, later, the Technical University of Nova Scotia (TUNS), Byrne Susko participated in no less than four varsity team sports: soccer, basketball, field hockey and track and field.
?My athletic career was as important as my academic career in a number of ways,? said the now-Whistler resident and mother of three.
?I learned about leadership: how to create a team and make it work with people from many different disciplines. I learned how to win and how to lose. These are important lessons for becoming a well-rounded individual.?
They?re also valuable in becoming the kind of businessperson who can build up a company in two short years – then successfully negotiate its sale in just 14 weeks.
On June 20, 2011, Subserveo, a provider of automated brokerage compliance solutions, was acquired by Kansas City-headquartered DST Systems, Inc.
While the financial terms were not disclosed, Byrne Susko, who co-founded Vancouver-based Subserveo in 2009, played a major role in the transaction, earning her a spot in the running for 2011 Dealmaker of the Year.
Brad Newby, a partner with Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy in Vancouver, nominated Byrne Susko for the award.
?I was thoroughly impressed with the deal that Shannon was able to negotiate for Subserveo?s shareholders and the manner in which she conducted herself throughout the negotiations and closing process,? said Newby, who acted as legal counsel.
?Shannon had the trust and respect of Subserveo?s board, employees, customers and advisers, and had earned the trust and respect of her new business partner, DST Systems.
?I have worked with many executives as part of an M&A transaction, and very few have shown the range of skills that Shannon possesses as a motivator, organizer, driver, negotiator, co-ordinator, mentor and leader,? he added. ?To top it all off, she was a pleasure to work with and has a great sense of humour.?
This isn?t the first time Byrne Susko?s worn her dealmaker?s hat.
After graduating from TUNS with a master?s degree in computer science and working with a number of early-stage and startup firms, she relocated to Squamish to co-found Paradata Systems, Inc., launching an innovative Internet payment-processing platform.
?We spent 10 years building the company up in Canada; our first customer, as I recall, was RBC Royal Bank,? she said. ?In January 2006 we were bought by a firm called Payment Processing, Inc. [PPI] in California.?
After leading that sale, Byrne Susko joined PPI as executive vice-president of product and technology, remaining there until 2009. She then spent the next two years developing and commercializing Subserveo?s automated compliance and surveillance software-as-a-solution (SaaS) package for broker-dealers and investment advisers in the United States and Canada.
?Utilizing a pay-as-you-go SaaS model allowed Subserveo to target small-to-medium-sized brokerage firms that could not implement the large-enterprise software solutions being offered by bigger players in the space,? Newby explained.
According to Byrne Susko, her company?s relationship with DST Systems began a year or so prior to Subserveo?s sale.
?We had mutual clients; in understanding our clients? needs we learned a lot about DST,? she said. ?They were learning about us, as well, and why we were in place within their current client base.?
By the time DST started looking for an improved platform to support its customers, it was already well aware that Subserveo had built it.
?It came down to DST saying, ?Do we build it or do we buy it??? Byrne Susko explained. ?They ended up determining a buy scenario.?
As CEO of Subserveo – a small company in comparison with DST – Byrne Susko was ?heavily involved in every aspect of the deal.?
?It was my job to understand not only how are we going to learn more about our mutual clients, but also what are the plusses for Subserveo,? she said. ?I?ve been involved as CEO in two deals now and I find that, no matter what, there are always challenges.
Typical things like working with shareholders, directors, team members, clients, the other company – it?s a matter of managing it all and working with the different stakeholders to find the best deal for all.?
That?s where her athletic background comes in handy.
?You learn leadership on the field; how to work in unison with your teammates,? she said, adding that she remains involved in coaching.
When Byrne Susko learned that her alma mater, St. Mary?s, was considering cutting funding to its varsity women?s hockey team, she worked with other alumni to prevent the cuts.
?We told the administration and president that the opportunities for learning and growth through school sports is unlimited,? she said.
?You really learn to relate to and work with other people, which absolutely translates to the business world. We ended up saving the team.? ?
