{"id":24462,"global_id":"foundersnetwork.com?id=24462","global_id_lineage":["foundersnetwork.com?id=24462"],"author":"163","status":"publish","date":"2025-10-29 18:26:22","date_utc":"2025-10-30 01:26:22","modified":"2025-10-29 18:44:12","modified_utc":"2025-10-30 01:44:12","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/function\/building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm\/","rest_url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-json\/tribe\/events\/v1\/events\/24462","title":"Building for the Buyout: How Manta Engineered Its Exit to IBM","description":"
Tomas Kratky will share candid insights on go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and optimizing for a strategic exit.<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Some founders build for IPOs. Others build for freedom. In this fireside chat,<\/strong> Tomas Kratky<\/strong><\/a>, founder and former CEO of Manta, shares how he intentionally designed his startup\u2019s path toward a strategic acquisition rather than a public listing\u2014culminating in Manta\u2019s successful exit to IBM in 2023.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tomas will unpack how a deliberate partnership strategy turned competitors into suitors, including how his team \u201cgrew on the back of\u201d enterprise giants like Informatica, SAP, IBM, and Collibra by targeting their customers and exposing their weaknesses in the process.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll also dive into the realities of selling as a small startup to Fortune 500 clients\u2014how 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.<\/p>\n

Expect candid insights on go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and optimizing for a strategic exit from a founder who\u2019s lived it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Opening Remarks @ 9:30am PT<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Join us for opening remarks with Dina Wagner<\/a>, Head of Member Success at Founders Network, to get the latest updates from the Network and opportunities for getting involved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Keynote Speaker @ 9:40am PT<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Tomas Kratky<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Over more than a decade as a founder, Tomas has navigated the full entrepreneurial journey\u2014from 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.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stage-Based Roundtables @ 10:30am PT<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Complimentary Ticket:<\/h2>\n

Are you a full-time tech founder? Be our guest! We\u2019re making our events available to tech founders everywhere. Enjoy a complimentary ticket to come learn from fellow tech founders, partners and investors. Already used your complimentary guest pass? <\/strong>Request an invite<\/strong><\/a> to see if you qualify for membership.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About Founders Network:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 2011, Founders Network<\/a> offers lifelong peer mentorship to over 600 tech startup founders globally. Our platform, programs and high-touch service facilitate authentic experience sharing, warm introductions and long-term professional relationships. Additional benefits include over $500k in startup discounts and promotion to 2,000 newsletter readers. Members are located in San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Toronto, London and other tech hubs. Each month our Membership Committee admits a new cohort of full-time tech founders who are nominated by an existing member. Learn more about us here<\/a><\/p>\n

Confidentiality Policy<\/strong><\/p>\n

All information shared within Founders Network is strictly confidential. We are built on a foundation of trust, and the community takes confidentiality seriously. Investors, members, and staff all share experiences and opinions off the record. In this roundtable forum, we continue to model our fnValues of Reciprocity, Humility, Authenticity and Inclusivity. Read more about our Privacy Policy here.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","excerpt":"","slug":"building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm","image":{"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-scaled.png","id":24464,"extension":"png","width":2048,"height":1024,"filesize":280862,"sizes":{"medium":{"width":300,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":18712,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-300x150.png"},"large":{"width":1024,"height":512,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":110418,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1024x512.png"},"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":150,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":8208,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-150x150.png"},"medium_large":{"width":768,"height":384,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":73403,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-768x384.png"},"1536x1536":{"width":1536,"height":768,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":190184,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1536x768.png"},"2048x2048":{"width":2048,"height":1024,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":280862,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-2048x1024.png"},"mailchimp":{"width":560,"height":280,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":47701,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-560x280.png"},"post-thumbnail":{"width":100,"height":50,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":3629,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-100x50.png"},"entry":{"width":1280,"height":640,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":148140,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1280x640.png"},"entry-cropped":{"width":1280,"height":715,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":161797,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1280x715.png"},"entry-fullwidth":{"width":1280,"height":640,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":148140,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1280x640.png"},"entry-cropped-fullwidth":{"width":1280,"height":715,"mime-type":"image\/png","filesize":161797,"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-1280x715.png"}},"original_image":"12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite.png"},"all_day":false,"start_date":"2025-12-09 09:30:00","start_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"12","day":"09","hour":"09","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"end_date":"2025-12-09 11:00:00","end_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"12","day":"09","hour":"11","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"utc_start_date":"2025-12-09 17:30:00","utc_start_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"12","day":"09","hour":"17","minutes":"30","seconds":"00"},"utc_end_date":"2025-12-09 19:00:00","utc_end_date_details":{"year":"2025","month":"12","day":"09","hour":"19","minutes":"00","seconds":"00"},"timezone":"America\/Los_Angeles","timezone_abbr":"PST","cost":"Free","cost_details":{"currency_symbol":"","currency_code":"","currency_position":"","values":[]},"website":"https:\/\/www.eventbrite.com\/e\/building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm-tickets-1919171667119","show_map":false,"show_map_link":false,"hide_from_listings":false,"sticky":false,"featured":false,"categories":[],"tags":[],"venue":[],"organizer":[{"id":15265,"author":"31","status":"publish","date":"2018-08-22 14:41:33","date_utc":"2018-08-22 21:41:33","modified":"2021-03-27 03:10:19","modified_utc":"2021-03-27 10:10:19","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/organizer\/founders-network-2\/","organizer":"Founders Network","slug":"founders-network-2","image":{"url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network.png","id":17461,"extension":"png","width":400,"height":123,"sizes":{"thumbnail":{"width":150,"height":123,"mime-type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network-150x123.png"},"medium":{"width":300,"height":92,"mime-type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network-300x92.png"},"post-thumbnail":{"width":100,"height":31,"mime-type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network-100x31.png"}}},"website":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/functions","json_ld":{"@type":"Person","name":"Founders Network","description":"","image":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network.png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/functions","telephone":"","email":"","sameAs":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/functions"},"global_id":"foundersnetwork.com?id=15265","global_id_lineage":["foundersnetwork.com?id=15265"]}],"custom_fields":[],"json_ld":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Event","name":"Building for the Buyout: How Manta Engineered Its Exit to IBM","description":"<p>Tomas Kratky will share candid insights on go-to-market strategy, enterprise sales, and optimizing for a strategic exit. Some founders build for IPOs. Others build for freedom. In this fireside chat, ... <\/p>\\n<div><a href="https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/function\/building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm\/" class="more-link">Read More<\/a><\/div>\\n","image":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/12_9-Tomas-Kratky-Eventbrite-scaled.png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/function\/building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm\/","eventAttendanceMode":"https:\/\/schema.org\/OfflineEventAttendanceMode","eventStatus":"https:\/\/schema.org\/EventScheduled","startDate":"2025-12-09T09:30:00-08:00","endDate":"2025-12-09T11:00:00-08:00","organizer":{"@type":"Person","name":"Founders Network","description":"","image":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/FN-Logo-Founders-Network.png","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/functions","telephone":"","email":"","sameAs":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/functions"},"offers":{"@type":"Offer","price":"0","priceCurrency":"USD","url":"https:\/\/foundersnetwork.com\/function\/building-for-the-buyout-how-manta-engineered-its-exit-to-ibm\/","category":"primary","availability":"inStock","validFrom":"2025-10-29T00:00:00+00:00"},"performer":"Organization"},"ticketed":false}