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The Story
When two restaurant chain owners decide to merge their operations, the M&A process can take an industry-standard 6 to 9 months. As a software developer, I never understood why M&A and VC deals took so long to finalize. The lengthy process usually begins when third-party lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors get involved. In fact, it's common knowledge that three lawyers are required to change a lightbulb. One is needed to climb the ladder, another to wiggle the bulb, and the last one to bill the client.
The Problem
Every year, companies spend more than $2 trillion on mergers and acquisitions, according to Harvard Business Review. Of these, the transaction failure rate is somewhere between 70-90%. The transaction costs in these failed mergers typically go to large law firms, accounting firms, financial advisors, management consultants and investment bankers.
Why are companies paying so much for failure? Perhaps it's possible to change this. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a lawyer. I had the opportunity to intern at a law firm early on. After completing my internship, I realized that, at the very least, the medical malpractice and worker's compensation practices weren't for me. It's amazing, though, how many billable hours can be politely handed to clients based partially on free internship labor.
When I ventured into the mergers and acquisitions space (after 15 years as a founder and software developer in NYC, Singapore, Seoul, London and now Dubai), I ended up working with quite a few lawyers from just as many places. I found it still takes three lawyers to change a lightbulb, despite the country of origin.
Have you ever felt like law firms might have a vested interest in overbilling and purposefully stalling various activities? Or perhaps you've thought that accounting firms might use confidential financial information in a self-serving capacity to milk clients for financial product sales commissions. The future is more efficient than this. It may sound strange; however, we believe in a world where it only takes one lawyer to change a lightbulb.
I admit that I am currently in law school, studying international law. However, my intentions are to help prevent the outlawry of AI-based robots that can change lightbulbs without contributing to billable hours at legal and financial services firms.
GiveFlag
In all, these are the reasons we created GiveFlag. This new platform was built to automate redundant tasks in business operations and transactions, metaphorically akin to changing a lightbulb. So far, we've solved hundreds of problems buried in financial documents, contracts, spreadsheets, proposals (and even medical research papers) through GiveFlag. These astounding results previously would have required substantial fees from legal, accounting, and/or investment banking firms. Before you sign up and start using it, you can see sample GiveFlag outputs from financial reports of companies like Disney, Goldman Sachs, and Meta. The best part is that once you sign up, you can actually chat with your documents and get relevant real-time information from the web for your document conversation. Furthermore, you have a built-in team that can work 24/7 and provide insights around your business, powered by OpenAI and Google engines. In 2021, I went back to graduate school and earned an MBA in AI. My dissertation was on lowering default rates among small businesses in Kenya using AI efficiency gains. This would eventually lead to GiveFlag.
Giving Desk, the Makers of GiveFlag (Now Available)
Our company, Giving Desk, was founded that same year in 2021. While started in Seoul, we currently call Dubai home. Our goal is to develop automations that make businesses more productive, especially in frontier and emerging markets. However, the tool works just as well regardless of the size or geography of your company.
Team
Our team at Giving Desk is composed of transformational financial analysts, computer scientists, angel investors and logistics professionals from around the world who understand the pain points that your company faces. When you have a problem that ChatGPT, Google, and three lawyers can't solve, GiveFlag is freely available to try.
