Things I Learned Not to Do When You Sell a Business
This is a talk I gave to the Vancouver Chapter of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) on February 19, 2009.
Highlights of Part 1:
- This is the first time I’ve had the courage to describe all of the things I did wrong during my first business sale.
- It’s also the story of the first time I lost several million dollars.
- I compare my first business sale to a more recent one where everything was perfectly planned and executed.
- My story begins with the launch of my first company, Nexus Engineering, while I was still in university.
- Nexus grew to be the second largest manufacturer of cable TV headend equipment in the world.
- We got into trouble when the debt bubble burst in mid 1990 – a similar downturn to the one we are experiencing now.
- Every day I came into work, I lost about $10,000 personally.
Part 2 of How Not to Sell a Business is online here.
Many of the lessons I’ve learned are described in my new book on exit strategies for entrepreneurs and angel investors – www.Early-Exits.com.
