Learn all about Creative and Hybrid Deal Structures from M&A Experts Kris Jones and Ed Button.
Valuation gaps don’t kill deals because people are irrational. They kill deals because buyers and sellers are optimizing for different risks. Founders focus on what they’ve built, the momentum they see, and the upside they …
Special Purpose Vehicles—SPVs—are one of those deal terms that tend to surface quietly, usually after the headline economics feel “mostly agreed.” Founders hear the phrase, nod along, and assume it’s a technical detail best left …
For founders who aren’t ready—or willing—to sell outright, minority recapitalizations with growth equity can feel like the best of both worlds. You get liquidity. You keep control. You bring in a sophisticated partner. And, in …
Hybrid cash-equity deals live in the gray area between certainty and conviction. They’re not clean exits. They’re not pure roll-the-dice bets either. Instead, they’re attempts—sometimes thoughtful, sometimes opportunistic—to balance immediate liquidity with continued upside. For …
Royalty structures sit on the fringe of most M&A conversations. They’re not standard. They’re not intuitive. And they’re often misunderstood by founders the first time they appear in a term sheet. That’s exactly why they …
Bootstrapped founders tend to think differently about exits—and for good reason. When you’ve built a company without venture capital, every dollar of revenue matters. Cash flow isn’t just a metric; it’s oxygen. So when a …
Convertible notes tend to show up early in a company’s life—seed rounds, bridge financing, moments when valuation feels premature. Most founders don’t expect to see them resurface when discussing a strategic acquisition. And yet, they …
Leveraged buyouts sit at the center of modern M&A, yet they’re still widely misunderstood by founders. When most entrepreneurs hear “LBO,” they picture aggressive leverage, financial engineering, and private equity firms squeezing value out of …
Phantom equity rarely shows up in founder exit plans. That’s a mistake. When structured thoughtfully, phantom equity can do far more than retain executives or incentivize managers. It can quietly shape behavior, align outcomes, and—under …
When founders think about exits, they usually think in binaries. You either sell the company—or you don’t. You either cash out—or you keep grinding. Joint ventures live in the uncomfortable middle. And because they don’t …