Early in my career, I thought culture fit was a nice-to-have. Valuation mattered more.Structure mattered more.Speed mattered more. Culture was something you talked about in management meetings—not something you let influence a transaction. That belief …
One of the most dangerous assumptions founders make is that success in one industry guarantees success in another. It doesn’t. What does travel are principles—how value is created, how risk is perceived, and how buyers …
By the time a founder is building their second, third, or fourth company, something fundamental has changed. It’s not ambition.It’s not capability.It’s perspective. Repeat founders don’t build the same way first-time founders do. They don’t …
When I tell founders that I approach every company with an exit framework, I often see the same reaction. A pause.A raised eyebrow.Sometimes resistance. They assume it means I’m building to sell as fast as …
One of the most consequential decisions founders make during an exit has nothing to do with valuation. It’s who they sell to. On paper, a sale to private equity and a sale to a public …
There’s a noticeable difference between first-time founders who stumble into an exit and those who navigate it with surprising clarity. It’s not intelligence.It’s not pedigree.It’s not even luck. It’s how early—and how honestly—they think about …
Every founder who enters an M&A process brings optimism to the table. You almost have to. Optimism is what allowed you to build in the first place—to take risks, ignore skeptics, and believe something valuable …
Rushing an exit almost always feels rational in the moment. You’re tired.The market looks good.A buyer shows interest.Life pulls in new directions. From the inside, it feels like momentum. From the outside, it often looks …
Founders expect their first exit to feel like relief. And for a moment, it does. The wire hits. The deal closes. The pressure lifts. You finally stop carrying the weight alone. Friends congratulate you. The …
Most first-time founders don’t think about selling their company until they have to. A buyer shows interest.Growth plateaus.Life changes.Burnout creeps in. Only then does the idea of an exit feel real. By that point, most …