If you're a founder on the way to selling your company, there's plenty of capital and a lot of great buyers out there right now. Don't waste precious time trying to make something work with the wrong buyer.

Strategic Buyers are Always Better, Right?

If you're a founder in process of selling your company, and due diligence feels like it's dragging on and on, and you've responded to all of the initial requests, there's a few ways to end the continued requests and get clarity about your buyer in the process.

If you're a founder and headed into Due Diligence with a strategic or financial buyer, watch out for overly complicated or lengthy questions or process...none of that helps you, and plenty of it is used to test or challenge you unfairly.

If you're a founder in the middle of a sale, capital raising process, or negotiation with partners or stakeholders, recognize that WAITING can often be the best active decision. It's not purely intuitive to know when to push and when to wait, so be sure to have at least one member of the deal team with lots of reps at the M&A Gym!!

If you're a founder of a successful company going through a capital event, prepare yourself for the likelihood you'll have at least one hiccup somewhere in the process. Almost every deal has one. They usually don't have to derail your transaction, but they're usually tricky to navigate. Make sure you have the right advisors to help.

If you're a founder and you've received a confusing or disappointing offer from a private equity firm, don't immediately reject it...there might be a workable deal if you follow the maxim; Sellers Price = Buyers Terms, and vice versa. There are tradeoffs that might get you to your WHY in selling your company.

Many Founders ask, should I sell to Private Equity? The answer, paradoxically, may have more to do with your goals than valuation…

Many founders make one or all of these 3 understandable and potentially disastrous mistakes when selling; 1) use advisors without M&A experience, 2) get distracted by the M&A process and let business results suffer, 3) let their employees know they're selling too soon. All well-intentioned, stem from loyalty, familiarity, instinct, or transparency, and each one may lead to disaster.

If you're a founder whose business has unique intellectual property (real secrets to design or process), then protecting your precious IP might need a extra layer in due diligence with a buyer. Consider putting a "Clean Team" protocol in place to keep your secrets safe.

Founders that are in YPO or Vistage, or one of these other wonderful support organizations that help you and your fellow founders and CEOs get together and discuss really tough issues and learnings and best practices.

We highly recommend getting input from your fellow founder/CEO peers! Then, seek the more experienced counsel of a transactional professional to improve your odds of a great outcome with your prospective buyer.

If you're a #founder and moving toward a sale, or even responding to an unsolicited offer, it makes sense to get your financials in order by using an advisor with significant experience in M&A. Missing this simple step is often VERY COSTLY!

Many Founders rush to sign an unsolicited Letter of Intent (LOI) without getting legal or transactional advice. If you're a founder, don't be afraid to get professionals involved to protect your interests and potentially drive the price and terms toward more benefit for you. You won't chase away a serious buyer and you might be leaving a lot on the table by not negotiating before you sign the LOI.

Many #founders make these understandable and potentially disastrous mistakes when selling

if you're a founder, and you're approached by a financial sponsor (#privateequity) or strategic buyer, make sure you get an NDA in place, and share enough information to get an offer, but not so much that you lose important negotiating leverage, deal consideration, or both!

Founders often wonder which advisors are critical and whether some are optional. Here's a quick primer for #founders heading to a sale event.

If you're a founder, and you've started to clarify the difference between private equity and venture capital, some of the ways financial sponsors try to differentiate themselves will be confusing and frustrating. Here's a quick primer!