getting paid only for a successful transaction aligns interests ... if the relationship is transactional and the role of the banker is to get the deal done.<p>Wouldn&#x27;t have helped in the Dragon case which was presumably also done that way, the interest of the banker is in making sure a transaction gets completed even if it doesn&#x27;t align with the client.<p>It&#x27;s a terrible outcome, but the dot-com bubble was on fire and Dragon founders apparently wanted to cash out. You would really think they would understand their competitors better. I wonder if they were that naïve  or they kind of outsmarted themselves, they knew the valuation was too good to be true and took the risk of being able to unload the stock on greater fools.