Start at the End Your Exit Strategy Part 1

Start at the End – Your Exit Strategy – Part 1

Your exit is the culmination of all the hard work you do as an entrepreneur.
First – why are you doing this? Why have you chosen to be an entrepreneur?
Entrepreneurs have complex motivations.
Investors are easy to understand – we think of your company as a simple black box.
The truth about investors – we are a pain in the a__s!
Why you need a good exit strategy before you contact your first investors.
There is lots of doom and gloom in the media about exits – but they always focus on the really big transactions.
It’s true that the big exits aren’t happening very often.
The big new story is the large number of smaller transactions – that did not drop off during the economic downturn.
The median price of private company M&A transactions is probably under $15 million – much smaller than you’d think.
The companies that are being bought for those prices will surprise you.
How big companies think and grow. Why this is exceptionally good news for entrepreneurs.
M&A exits are happening earlier than ever before.
You don’t need to grow your company to any specific size before you sell it – it doesn’t even have to be profitable.
All you need to do before you can sell is to ‘prove the model’.
The best time to sell is probably earlier than you think.
Please don’t make the mistake I did – Don’t “ride it over the top.” Don’t wait too long to start your exit.

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.