Building for the Buyout: How Manta Engineered Its Exit to IBM

Some founders build for IPOs. Others build for freedom. In this fireside chat, Tomas Kratky, founder and former CEO of Manta, shares how he intentionally designed his startup’s path toward a strategic acquisition rather than a public listing—culminating in Manta’s successful exit to IBM in 2023.

Tomas will unpack how a deliberate partnership strategy turned competitors into suitors, including how his team “grew on the back of” enterprise giants like Informatica, SAP, IBM, and Collibra by targeting their customers and exposing their weaknesses in the process.

He’ll also dive into the realities of selling as a small startup to Fortune 500 clients—how a handful of large enterprise contracts can both accelerate and endanger growth, and the hard lessons learned in balancing customer demands with long-term product vision.

Expect candid insights on go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and optimizing for a strategic exit from a founder who’s lived it.

Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT

Join us for opening remarks with Dina Wagner, Head of Member Success at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.

Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT

Tomas Kratky is the founder and former CEO of Manta, a leading data lineage platform that helps enterprises gain transparency and trust in their data environments. Tomas led Manta from its roots as a consulting project in Prague to a global enterprise software company backed by Bessemer Venture Partners and Credo Ventures, culminating in its acquisition by IBM in 2023.

Over more than a decade as a founder, Tomas has navigated the full entrepreneurial journey—from bootstrapping and raising venture capital to scaling internationally and achieving a successful strategic exit. Now based between Prague and San Francisco, he serves as an angel investor and mentor, helping founders master go-to-market strategy and enterprise expansion.

Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT

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