How Does Salesforce Decide Which Companies to Buy?

John Somorjai says Salesforce follows an internal framework and stays pretty disciplined about following it. The framework looks at three elements. First comes strategic fit and how much customer success a deal can drive. Second comes whether Salesforce can accelerate the business, whether the business will fit the technology stack, and whether the team shows cultural alignment and talent that will work well inside Salesforce. Third, the trickiest part right now, is how a deal can deliver value to shareholders and to customers, what the timeline is for value accretion, and whether the valuation is reasonable.

The last point is the hardest right now because everything is expensive. Salesforce is in a unique moment in time, with a longer chat on valuation still ahead.