How to sell your startup for millions

When and how should you sell your startup? M&A (mergers & acquisitions) are always a high stress process, and there are a lot of things you have to consider when you are trying to get a startup exit executed in the right way.
Read Paul Graham's essay on Default Alive vs Default Dead here: www.paulgraham.com/aord.html
Garry's startup Posterous was sold to Twitter for $20M and Andrew Lee's startup was sold to Zynga too. As venture capitalists today we work with more than a hundred startups from the earliest possible stage to now a total market value of over $36 billion. We've seen nearly every kind of startup exit and regularly try to help founders as they navigate these problems.
This short video encompasses a lot of the advice we end up giving frequently to our community.

Пікірлер: 90

  • @queuebit
    @queuebit4 жыл бұрын

    2:21 - Strategic acquisitions 3:24 - Revenue acquisitions 3:48 - Talent acquisitions 4:20 - "Startups are bought, not sold" 4:36 - Why Posterous sold 5:40 - Why JamLegend sold 8:55 - When should you consider M&A? - Early stage and have money? --> Focus on getting product market fit - Early? Still have runway? --> Work on M&A when you think you might die 11:48 - Ask the right questions to orient yourself - Atul Gawande's "Being Mortal" 12:04 - 1/ What is your understanding of the situation and its impact? 12:16 - 2/ What are your hopes and fears? 12:37 - 3/ What are the tradeoffs you're willing to make, and not willing to make? 13:10 - 4/ What is the course of action? 13:33 - Levelsetting with your team 14:27 - You want to sell, now how do you do it? 14:38 - Tip #1 - Cultivate Strategic Partnerships 14:55 - Tip #2 - Go through product, if you can, not corp dev 15:23 - Tip #3 - Extend runway: Get revenue & decrease burn 15:59 - Tip #4 - Have leadership interview first 16:39 - Tip #5 - Check references while you get more BATNAs 17:18 - What is the #1 thing that kills deals? - Don't treat corp dev like a fundraise process - Always have a BATNA in place

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for doing this!!!

  • @eric_9565
    @eric_95653 жыл бұрын

    “Companies are not sold, they are bought”. I like that

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Pithy and true

  • @solomonschwartz4483

    @solomonschwartz4483

    3 жыл бұрын

    Tbh, I don’t get it

  • @felixpotter6420

    @felixpotter6420

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@solomonschwartz4483 bruh, me too

  • @baflabies

    @baflabies

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@solomonschwartz4483 me 2

  • @628sonu

    @628sonu

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@solomonschwartz4483 we are assuming the company is growing progressively, then founder/owner may not consider heavily on selling, rather the invester approaches and deicides to gamble and buy it for the value of it today, estimating it's growth of value

  • @KevinGChiu
    @KevinGChiu4 жыл бұрын

    Your HQ is really nice. So zen.

  • @waltondornisch7662
    @waltondornisch76623 жыл бұрын

    Love how you reference PG essays - it enhances your videos.

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoy it!

  • @khalidsoubra2780
    @khalidsoubra27804 жыл бұрын

    This is so underrated. Keep going Garry!

  • @queuebit
    @queuebit4 жыл бұрын

    Great "dense" Q&A. Much appreciated.

  • @hamiltonrucker6182
    @hamiltonrucker61824 жыл бұрын

    Great content guys. Thanks for the candid interview.

  • @ToySeeker
    @ToySeeker Жыл бұрын

    Brilliant! Thank you for the four questions! It really made me think deep about my startup.

  • @mislavjuric5338
    @mislavjuric53384 жыл бұрын

    Hey Garry, great video. I have a question for you - what resources (books etc.) do you recommend so that I can start "seeing opportunities" on the market for a potential product-market fit? I am just about to graduate with a Computer Science masters degree and will most likely get a job after I graduate. However, I would like to start my own startup at some point (preferably me being the only employee), with the specific purpose of later selling it, but I wouldn't mind working hard on the startup for 3-5 years. I honestly wouldn't care if it is a SaaS company or something else - I would most likely enjoy the process of navigating the business world, meaning coding + sales and negotiation and other stuff. I don't see the opportunity yet. In the meantime, I'll keep "sharpening my blade", meaning brushing up my coding skills. Thank you for all the value you are bringing!

  • @MikeWilliamsYoroomie
    @MikeWilliamsYoroomie4 жыл бұрын

    Would love to see more vids on the real stories behind some acquisitions & aquihires!

  • @YoannBuzenet

    @YoannBuzenet

    4 жыл бұрын

    +1

  • @danielboaitey8016

    @danielboaitey8016

    4 жыл бұрын

    Check out the acquired podcast! Some really great stories and insight about different acquisitions

  • @filippolivorno155
    @filippolivorno1553 жыл бұрын

    "Also think about potentially having more competing offers from other acquirers" --> Unless the LOI grants exclusive negotiations to your potential buyer, who will try to weaken your BATNAs. Thanks for the video, great content!

  • @YoannBuzenet
    @YoannBuzenet4 жыл бұрын

    Please do more of this. Really great !

  • @harperjmusic
    @harperjmusic Жыл бұрын

    Thanks so much for a great video! I'm creating a new startup at the moment. I want to be able to build products, prove concept, prove market, sell, and repeat! There's some really helpful advice in this video :)

  • @mariojohnson4695
    @mariojohnson46954 жыл бұрын

    Startups are sold, if they have to sell at a lost or are sold to prevent them from going out of business. The startups that have x’s after them are bought.

  • @MrAlbertSi
    @MrAlbertSi2 жыл бұрын

    This is great. There needs to be more content on acquisitions. It seems like acquisitions by private equity companies were excluded from the discussion.

  • @danielmaggs1048

    @danielmaggs1048

    2 жыл бұрын

    Probably because those aren’t really an exit - management typically gets an earn out clause whereby they receive payouts for achieving certain financial targets in X years. The exit happens when the PE firm sells or IPOs the company.

  • @subijoyacharya3189
    @subijoyacharya31893 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for the video. It was very insightful. Gave me hope during times like these

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    You are so welcome

  • @bephrem
    @bephrem3 жыл бұрын

    Great video! First 30 seconds were real

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Glad you enjoyed!

  • @snookandrew
    @snookandrew4 жыл бұрын

    I really enjoyed this Gary. Well done.

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching!!

  • @readmycomment3157
    @readmycomment31573 жыл бұрын

    This is a fantastic talk, so valuable. Thanks guys

  • @SM-hf3kp
    @SM-hf3kp3 жыл бұрын

    Hey man you are incredibly inspirational.

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for watching!

  • @giogio9854
    @giogio98543 жыл бұрын

    High quality content within the entrepreneurial space, really really good. Subscriped for more. Thanks!

  • @bjornelenfors2039
    @bjornelenfors20393 жыл бұрын

    Thank you. Important topic.

  • @matthewheath7839
    @matthewheath78392 жыл бұрын

    Your HQ is just beautiful!

  • @Npnpnp468
    @Npnpnp4683 жыл бұрын

    Amazing video

  • @dennissavic3734
    @dennissavic37342 жыл бұрын

    Great video gents!

  • @wunder1385
    @wunder13854 жыл бұрын

    I appreciate your content. Is there a possibility you make a video with Peter Thiel in the Future?

  • @georgekariuki8614

    @georgekariuki8614

    4 жыл бұрын

    HELL YEAH!Get Peter! Peter's book and his Gospel of avoiding competition and looking for secrets is the only truth you need to fully grasp when venturing down this treacherous and unforgiving path of entrepreneurship 👊👊

  • @michaelcjakob

    @michaelcjakob

    3 жыл бұрын

    I would love a video with my Frankfurt fella Peter :)

  • @wunder1385

    @wunder1385

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@michaelcjakob Achso kommt er aus Frankfurt?

  • @abusayedmondal7569
    @abusayedmondal75693 жыл бұрын

    Want to get your personal suggestions for my start-up how do I reach to you Love from India❤️

  • @munawaralamnewdelhi
    @munawaralamnewdelhi3 жыл бұрын

    Quite interesting insights into how startup M&A work

  • @SirFoodie1904

    @SirFoodie1904

    2 жыл бұрын

    I like to start an e-commerce, I’ve researched to see if are any competitors or if a business already exists. But there isn’t any business out there yet. But I’m not familiar or how to go about setting the business up. The closest business to what my idea is Fresh and Easy. But mine is different from that. I’m not going to go into details here as you understand why. Do you know how or who I could approach or where I could get more assistance for this? I can be reached at Kheam1904@gmail.com

  • @marketingautomationwithken2971
    @marketingautomationwithken29713 жыл бұрын

    you're a higher quality gary than gary vanderchuck

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Just trying to live my best life! I'd like to make my videos about my lived experience, the ups and the downs together. Gary does amazing work though. I hope to put a new spin on things.

  • @carmelomannino4075
    @carmelomannino40752 жыл бұрын

    Can we see an acquisition pitch deck?

  • @dropbackbrazilianbeachfoot4306
    @dropbackbrazilianbeachfoot43063 жыл бұрын

    Thanks!

  • @anatolycorp.
    @anatolycorp.2 жыл бұрын

    Can you help with a sale of the company? If yes, how can I reach out to you / your team?

  • @50kT
    @50kT4 ай бұрын

    How big of an acquisition is a deal that's very small? Is very small like 3 million? Less than a million, or like 15 million?

  • @krisb-travel
    @krisb-travel3 жыл бұрын

    liked, commented and subscrided... awesome vid!

  • @kaizen2445
    @kaizen24453 жыл бұрын

    But when a company is bought, who is paid? The funds or the person? (I mean if the person gets the money in his bank account)

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    The cap table which is partially the founders and partially the investors.

  • @dummyyy9092
    @dummyyy90922 жыл бұрын

    do we get all money ourself ? if sold startup

  • @skk5406
    @skk540611 күн бұрын

    So you guys have that money in cash or hiw is it all together? Cause 100million is huge right

  • @kk_3354
    @kk_33543 жыл бұрын

    Hello Garry, interesting topics in the video! Wondering whether you have some experience working with Silicon Valley Bank to get fundings to support your startup? Thanks!

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Well they are a bank, so they do venture debt, but that's about it. Venture debt only comes behind usually a Series A equity fundraise.

  • @kk_3354

    @kk_3354

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@GarryTan Understood. Do you have some first-hand experience with them or do you usually sell your company before Series A? I am asking because I am doing some research on Silicon Valley Bank (i.e. buy their stocks) and would like to learn something about that company from the perspective of startup founders who deal with them directly. Thanks in advance!

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    They are pretty good at what they do.

  • @YoannBuzenet
    @YoannBuzenet4 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Garry, this is great.

  • @shivangraisurana9955
    @shivangraisurana99553 жыл бұрын

    i cant really think of many indian startups that werent eventually bought.... i know so many peopl who just want to start a company for the ultimate purpose of an ultimate sale. which is sad

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Well it's up to the founders and what their motivations are. Making money in tech is easy. Having impact and meaning is the true brass ring.

  • @nathanraymond7525

    @nathanraymond7525

    3 жыл бұрын

    We can create meaning for India!

  • @thebeautiful5712

    @thebeautiful5712

    3 жыл бұрын

    Why is it sad ?

  • @chrisdavey3113

    @chrisdavey3113

    2 жыл бұрын

    Profit over purpose

  • @Heydjcam
    @Heydjcam4 жыл бұрын

    Man I got Startup vocab flash cards now! lol

  • @Adam-cn5ib
    @Adam-cn5ib4 жыл бұрын

    How much can I sell a company for? Is it a good idea to count yearly revenue times 10? It's a SaaS company I am wondering about.

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    4 жыл бұрын

    There’s not a usual. Talent acquisitions are as low as $200K per engineer. They tend to be illiquid markets so it’s more a function of how much does the seller need to sell. If they don’t and the buyer wants it a lot, the price can be a lot higher.

  • @thedynamiclens2007
    @thedynamiclens20073 жыл бұрын

    I have a business model I’d love to pitch to you guys! Would love to collaborate!

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    My IG DM is open

  • @androidgamers6276
    @androidgamers62763 жыл бұрын

    Give offline too

  • @coelhocointech9841
    @coelhocointech98412 жыл бұрын

    I am never selling, it’s not about the money…making money is easy building a dynasty is a different ball game… great startup companies have been bough for no other purposes than to take them out of the game… Microsoft was great at it, think how much better technology we’d have today if not for a Microsoft destroying every new startup that was a threat. I had a competitor buy my company, only to destroy the software that was ahead of its time… unfortunately it was after the Dotcom boom, so funding sources were cut off. Google and FB are now doing the same thing, but now it’s to control the communication information platform… don’t underestimate the evil of some of these Oligarchs to control the narrative.

  • @amorosogombe9650
    @amorosogombe96503 жыл бұрын

    Guys. Does everyone have to sell their company? Does anyone invest to hold on to and just enjoy revenue. Oh. I think you just mentioned it. Because some of us want to build and keep our companies forever. We're not building to sell.

  • @chrisdavey3113

    @chrisdavey3113

    2 жыл бұрын

    Infinite mindset. Love it. Seems very rare in the startup community.

  • @alexzil2142
    @alexzil21423 жыл бұрын

    What's the meaning of M&A??

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Mergers & Acquisitions

  • @peterleng6993
    @peterleng69933 жыл бұрын

    Only millions? I am selling my company for nothing less than BILLIONS!!!!

  • @usjsjdnzjzjzsn6269
    @usjsjdnzjzjzsn62692 жыл бұрын

    Well I'm in a different position I cant seem to find anyone in! Alot of people want it to work! Alot of people mad they couldn't steal it from me! They only hate me, so once it is sold the problem goes away! Didn't realize how many people were involved and sad my family was bribed to facilitate the attacks! It is really funny honestly lol!

  • @waltondornisch7662
    @waltondornisch76623 жыл бұрын

    Tech reminds me so much of Hollywood - which is like a factory of getting Farmed & Fucked. How does someone protect themselves in tech?

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    It’s capitalism. You have to find your tribe. People have always found ways to band together to protect themselves.

  • @waltondornisch7662

    @waltondornisch7662

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@GarryTan You just un-capped the major difference between Tech and Hollywood, and it's greatly appreciated. In Hollywood, your tribe is individually out for themselves. From all the videos and essays, I can definitely see the fraternalism of Tech.

  • @DanielNuske
    @DanielNuske3 жыл бұрын

    Awesome video, I would like to subscribe to your channel if I wasn't already.

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Daniel!

  • @mathildas757
    @mathildas7572 жыл бұрын

    Garry. Is there any Chinese female successful entrepreneurs you can interview?

  • @gvi341984
    @gvi3419843 жыл бұрын

    Just lie about the product

  • @GarryTan

    @GarryTan

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not recommended