WE SELL TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES
At Strategic Exits, we sell technology businesses. In finance terminology: we work with entrepreneurs and executives of technology companies to structure and execute the optimum exit transaction. Our boutique investment bank sells technology companies for the highest price and on the best terms for the shareholders.
But it’s not all about the money. What we do is often about changing people’s lives. For most founders and executives, selling their company is the culmination of years of hard effort under challenging conditions. The technology industry is unforgiving. Founders are often young and unprepared to make critical decisions quickly with incomplete and conflicting information, with the spectre of running out of money as a constant concern. It is often said that starting a tech company is like climbing Mt. Everest – best to start out on a cloudy day so that you can’t see how far and how hard the climb is. Founders and CEOs need thick skins, supreme self-confidence and an appetite for risk. After years of hard work, often for minimal pay, the exit is the ultimate proof that their years of toil were worth it.
If the M&A advisory team negotiates a lucrative exit, it can change the lives of the founders, executives and major shareholders. It often changes the lives of everyone in the company. Their families’ financial prospects change overnight. They achieve a measure of financial freedom. With success and money, they enjoy more peace of mind, and more options for how they live their lives.
The founders and executives can rightly feel proud of their accomplishment. They have climbed the very significant step from “aspiring tech entrepreneurs” to “successful tech executive” and have earned the accolades that come with their success.
In short, the financial and psychological rewards can be life-changing.
At Strategic Exits Partners, we also take pride in the successes we have helped to crystallize and the lives we have changed for the better. It is also gratifying when the research and publishing we do in our thought leadership projects is confirmed by the success of the business exits we help to consummate. That’s why we do this work.
SELLING YOUR BUSINESS IS A BIG DECISION
Selling your technology company is often the biggest decision in your career. The financial and emotional rewards can be substantial if the exit strategy is well executed. However, a failed exit can damage or even kill the company. An exit cannot be a business process run off the side of the CEO’s desk. It requires months of commitment and hard work to secure a successful exit. It cannot be a standardized, packaged sale process indifferent to the nuances of the technology sector.
Experience counts. Although there are a few “serial founders” who start, grow and sell tech companies several times, the reality is that very few CEOs have been through more than a couple of exits. This lack of experience results in a large percentage of failed transactions, or companies selling for much less than they should have.
Many founders and CEOs attempt to manage both the company and the exit on their own without the help of experienced technology mergers and acquisitions advisors. But the reality is that there are not enough hours in the day to do a superlative job on both mandates, and the result is often a major failure on both.
The company exit strategy is a big decision with big consequences, and that requires a big commitment. Spend the time and money with an experienced technology M&A advisor to do it right. You may not get a second chance.
WE ONLY DO ONE THING – SELL TECHNOLOGY BUSINESSES
Often businesses are sold to a company they have partnered with in the past. Likely the people with whom you are negotiating the business exit are not the same people with whom you partnered on business transactions. The “Corporate Development” or “M&A” people who buy companies have different skills than the “Business Development” people who market products or services. The people that buy companies have a wealth of experience, typically far more than the Founder or CEO doing it for the first time.
Remember: they may be nice people, but the M&A acquisition team on the other side of the table (or zoom call) wants to buy your business for the smallest amount possible, and on the best terms for their company. Most behave honorably, not all, but that doesn’t matter. In the end, it’s just business.
To level the playing field, you need an M&A advisory team that is at least as good as the team buying your technology company.
Your choice of M&A advisors is extremely important. Most investment banking firms, particularly the name-brand large banks, are generalists. They engage in a range of transactions that often include financings, devising and selling creative derivatives and corporate restructurings. At different times, they might work for potential buyers or sellers. They are all things to all people because they simply go where the money is.
Not Strategic Exits Partners. We only do one thing – we advise entrepreneurs on the sale of their technology firms. We specialize only in technology because we are technology executives ourselves. We have walked in your shoes many times and have an affinity for entrepreneurs. We only work on the sell side because we want to see tech entrepreneurs achieve full and fair compensation for the value they have created.
We are the best in the world at what we do. We pride ourselves on:
- maximizing the probability that your business gets sold.
- getting you the optimum price and deal structure
- negotiating the fairest terms and limiting your future liabilities
To get the best result when you sell your technology business, you need the best Technology M&A advisors. At Strategic Exits Partners, we champion our clients. We share our entrepreneurial knowledge and transactional experience to achieve the best exit. This is our passion.
QUESTIONS ON YOUR EXIT?
Do you have a question about exit strategy, your valuation or the current M&A market?
Please contact us here for fast, honest, confidential answers to any exit related question.