Walker Deibel

Acquisition Entrepreneur, Founder, Investor, WSJ Bestselling Author, M&A Advisor

Walker Deibel is a serial acquisition entrepreneur, WSJ & USA Today bestselling author, an Emmy-nominated film producer, and an award-winning M&A advisor. He is the creator of Acquisition Lab, the premier business buying accelerator for entrepreneurs.

Walker acquired seven companies over ten years and co-founded several startups. His bestselling book, Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game, released to critical acclaim including being recognized by Forbes as “one of the top 7 books all entrepreneurs must read,” and is currently being used in many universities.

His book and educational company share experiences and frameworks to help entrepreneurs learn why buying an existing company is often a better route for entrepreneurs, and how to do it. Their flagship program, the Acquisition Lab, offers buy-side M&A services for first time financial buyers in a do-it-with-you service; providing world class education, coaching, tools, and a vetted community.

Walker is a partner at Quiet Light where he helps online-based businesses exit. He is a Certified M&A Advisor, Certified M&A Professional, former SEC licensed stockbroker, and recipient of the Middle Market Thought Leader of the Year, awarded by the private market Alliance of M&A Advisors. He was recognized as a lower middle market thought leader by Axial, and his writing has been featured in Inc, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fast Company, & Harvard Business Review.

Walker is currently the owner of the premiere aluminum railing manufacturer in Missouri and a portfolio of online-based businesses. Historically, he has owned and operated in many industries, including manufacturing, fulfillment, software, education, and eCommerce.

Walker is an Emmy-nominated producer having worked on almost a dozen films with premieres at some of the world’s most prestigious festivals, including Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto International Film Festival.

He holds an MBA from the Olin School of Business at Washington University in St. Louis where he received the Declaration of Accomplishment in Entrepreneurship from the Skandalaris Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is a Pipeline Entrepreneurs fellow, and is an adjunct professor at Olin where he launched the acquisition entrepreneurship class to the MBA program.

He lives in St. Louis, Missouri with his wife and their three children.