Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans. Set specific targets on the sales channels and marketing initiatives you need, including the use of social media, brand building, franchising, trade shows, affiliates, and distributors. Outline a viable exit strategy for you and investors.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 27, 2016

Yet one of the first things a potential equity investor asks about is your exit strategy. Here are three important reasons for the question: Good investment paybacks normally require an exit event. Investors know that the fun of a startup turns into managing production processes, sales processes, and personnel in a few years.

Equity 120

Equity Exit Strategy Private Equity Startup 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 2, 2013

Exit strategy. What’s most realistic these days is an exit via sale to an existing major company for which you solve a meaningful problem. That means merger and acquisition (M&A), not initial public offering (IPO). No exit strategy means no return to investors.

Cram Down 269

Cram Down Angel Investor Intellectual Property Venture Capital 269

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 3, 2021

For example, if you have ever watched the Shark Tank show on TV, they always ask about the cost of customer acquisition. Present a viable exit strategy for investors to cash out. Equity investors realize that they won’t see any real return until an exit occurs, such as a sale, merger, or IPO.

Exit Strategy 406

Exit Strategy Merger Angel Investor IPO 406

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

Depending on the type of business, these may include sales of products/services, referral revenues, advertising sales, licensing/royalty fees, and/or data sales. Provide a clear exit strategy. Be sure to provide comparable examples of firms who have successfully exited. Detail all revenue streams.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

What market are you targeting and how are you going to get sales? Is there an exit strategy? Further Customer Acquisition. You need to improve your customer acquisition process. There are two ways to exit a company. There is a complete process to go for an IPO. Acquisition.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 16, 2011

It has been at least a decade since going public via an Initial Public Offering (IPO) has been considered a credible exit strategy for startups. Usually a small company can sell about 20 percent of its stock in an IPO. In 1999, there were 486 IPOs nationwide; just 10 years later, in 2009, there were only 63.

IPO 223

IPO Social Media Media Exit Strategy 223

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

On top of all this it was considered very bad form not to have at least four additional consecutive quarters of profits after an IPO.) The IPO Bubble – August 1995 – March 2000 In August 1995 Netscape went public, and the world of start ups turned upside down. billion for a company with less than $50 million in sales.

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 225

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2020

If you insist on projecting $100 million in sales the first year, smart investors will likely run for the nearest exit. Define an exit strategy for investors to liquidate their share. Assume margins and prices that are realistic in your target market.

Liquidity Event 308

Liquidity Event Forecast Exit Strategy Bootstrapping 308

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 7, 2016

Despite the fact that the number of IPOs (Initial Public Offerings) for startups have continued to decrease, I still hear it touted often as the preferred exit strategy. In fact, IPOs are down again this year, with just 31 companies going public in the U.S. Everyone dreams of becoming a billionaire overnight.

IPO 120

IPO Initial Public Offering SEC Stock Options 120

Up and Running

JUNE 16, 2014

To demonstrate traction you might recruit a good management team, start making sales, build an advisory board or secure strategic partnerships. This is where the ‘exit strategy’ comes in. An exit strategy is not your plan for when the business fails, but rather, your strategy for returning money to investors.

Exit Strategy 91

Exit Strategy Advisory Board Business Plan Portfolio 91

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

by Christopher Wallace, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Amsterdam Printing. For years, the most desirable exit strategy for startup companies was to go public through an initial public offering. Google reportedly turned down buyout offers from Microsoft shortly before the 2004 IPO. Highly profitable.

IPO 162

IPO Exit Strategy San Francisco Startup 162

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2016

What are your specific marketing and sales plans? You need to identify pricing details, sales channels, strategic partners and a customized marketing plan consistent with your industry and target segment. Technically, this is your exit strategy, usually a merger and acquisition (M&A) or initial public stock offering (IPO).

Sweat Equity 120

Sweat Equity Advisory Board Liquidity Event Startup 120

Gust

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

Depending on the circumstances, they can shape the fundamentals of an exit, redistribute value among stakeholders, or even kill a deal altogether. To be sure, exiting at a 4X valuation in less than a year is not a bad investment, but it’s also not the type of exit that angels, VCs and founders usually have in mind.

Valuation 98

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Merger Vesting 98

discuss.joelonsoftware.com

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

Im confident that this business will be able to compensate these two additional principles along the way, after initial risk of investing their time, and will later reward their vesting with an exit strategy. This isnt really a start-up team-- Ive been doing the business for 14 years. Unethical IMO but some people make money that way.

Sweat Equity 40

Sweat Equity Equity Angel Investor Affiliate 40

www.paulgraham.com

APRIL 28, 2010

In an IPO, it might not merely addexpense, but change the outcome. Those remedial actions can delay, stall or even kill the IPO. Of course the odds of any given startup doing an IPO are small.But not as small as they might seem. Its thesame with acquisitions. The reason is thatinvestors need to get their capital back.

Technical Review 76

Technical Review Startup Software Review Angel Investor 76

BeyondVC

DECEMBER 23, 2003

As with any smart executive who cares about the value of equity, the question I am often asked is, “What is your exit strategy.” In other words, these good exits usually happen when your company is approached by a potential buyer-i.e., Remember, companies are bought and not sold.

Exit Strategy 68

Exit Strategy Balance Sheet IPO Valuation 68