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Exit Right: How to Sell Your Startup, Maximize Your Return and Build Your Legacy Kindle Edition

by Mark Achler (Author), Mert Iseri (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 67 ratings
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Before you sell your company, even the odds.

While a successful entrepreneur may exit a handful of companies in their lifetime, large buyers close deals all the time. Without decades of experience in mergers and acquisitions, founders don’t have the tools they need to get the best results for themselves, their teams, or the new parent company.

Through dozens of interviews with M&A leaders at the biggest Silicon Valley acquirers—as well as attorneys, bankers, and founders who have been through the trenches—Exit Right delivers the hard-earned lessons that lead to successful exits. From negotiation to valuation to breaking down a term sheet, managing legal costs, and handling emotional turbulence—this unparalleled guide covers every critical aspect of a technology startup sale.

Learn where deals get into trouble, how to create alignment between negotiating parties, and what terms you should care about most. Above all, learn how to win in both the short and the long term, maximizing your price while positioning your company for a legacy you can be proud of.

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  1. Print length
    228 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    February 15, 2022
  5. File size
    2915 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
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  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Whether you are early and want to build an ecosystem of buyers, or you are a later stage founder gearing up for an exit, I encourage founders to dig deep in the concepts here."

- Brad Feld, co-author of Venture Deals and Managing Director at Foundry Group



"Startup M&A is the R&D lifeblood of Silicon Valley. We wouldn't be here without it. And we need it to stay competitive in the future. This is a vital book for the industry and I'm telling all my PMs to read it."

- Gary Johnson, Head of Strategy, Corporate Development, and Business Development at Pinterest (former Engineering Manager at Apple)



"Both the buyers and the sellers in a startup M&A transaction want the best possible outcome for all parties involved. This book makes that abundantly clear, and the lessons and stories shared from both sides will provide enormous value for the tech industry."

- Dave Sobota, Vice President of Corporate Development at Instacart (former Director of Corporate Development at Google)



"There is an acute need for this book! It addresses so many misconceptions that founders have about the process and includes a lot of best practice M&A lessons that need to get out there more broadly."

- Hilary Shirazi, Head of Corporate Development at Pinterest (former Sr. Manager of Corporate Development at LinkedIn)



"There is no such thing as a perfect M&A process. The trick is to build the trust and absorb the inevitable shocks along the way—and this book superbly lays out how to do just that."

- Sarah Hughes, Director of Corporate Development at Atlassian

About the Author

An early employee of Apple and Head of Innovation at Redbox, Mark Achler has been creating and investing in tech startups since 1986. Today, he is a founding partner of MATH Venture Partners, a technology venture capital fund, and an adjunct professor at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management. Mert Iseri is the founder of SwipeSense, a healthtech company acquired by SC Johnson in 2020. He also co-founded Design for America-using design thinking for social impact-which won the National Design Award in 2018. Together, they wrote Exit Right to be the definitive guide on exits, delivering the best possible results for you and your company.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B09PRH3VF2
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Lioncrest Publishing (February 15, 2022)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 15, 2022
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 2915 KB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 228 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 67 ratings

About the authors

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Previous page
  1. Mert Iseri

    Mert Iseri

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    Mert Iseri is the founder of SwipeSense, a healthtech company acquired by SC Johnson in 2020. He also co-founded Design for America—using design thinking for social impact—which won the National Design Award in 2018.

    See more on the author's page
  2. Mark Achler

    Mark Achler

    Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.
    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    An early employee of Apple and Head of Innovation at Redbox, Mark Achler has been creating and investing in tech startups since 1986. Today, he is a founding partner of MATH Venture Partners, a technology venture capital fund, and an adjunct professor at the Northwestern Kellogg School of Management.

    See more on the author's page
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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
67 global ratings
Exit Right - short & long-term lessons to get the best price but also leave a legacy to be proud of!
5 Stars
Exit Right - short & long-term lessons to get the best price but also leave a legacy to be proud of!
How I wish as a first time founder and making a first Exit, that I had had Exit Right as a guide!Back in 1996 there was no one to turn to as we tried to navigate going public and/or being acquired and we made so many mistakes! This is not a preachy tome but a very readable and simple set out of the dos and don'ts of preparation and fundamentals of running and building your company RIGHT in the first place - so Exiting RIGHT will be so much less painful and so much more successful :-).
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Top reviews from the United States

ZUrlocker
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for tech execs
Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2022
Verified Purchase
Exit Right is a practical guide to a topic that doesn't get enough attention: how to successfully land an exit for your company. Whether you're a founder, exec, investor, board member in a startup or in a larger acquiring company, the principles laid out here (FAIR - Fit, Alignment, Integration, Rationale) matter to both sides. Some companies have a history of doing good deals, acquisitions that add value and continue to grow. But many (perhaps most) potential acquisitions die a premature death before the finish line, or, worse still, unravel in the months and years after the deal is done because no one planned for the future. Thinking in advance, preferably far in advance, about the issues of Fit, Integration and Rationale, will increase the odds of a successful deal, one that founders, execs, employees will all be proud of. This book is a must read!
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A Fan of *Great* Writing
5.0 out of 5 stars Exit Right - short & long-term lessons to get the best price but also leave a legacy to be proud of!
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2022
Verified Purchase
How I wish as a first time founder and making a first Exit, that I had had Exit Right as a guide!
Back in 1996 there was no one to turn to as we tried to navigate going public and/or being acquired and we made so many mistakes! This is not a preachy tome but a very readable and simple set out of the dos and don'ts of preparation and fundamentals of running and building your company RIGHT in the first place - so Exiting RIGHT will be so much less painful and so much more successful :-).
Customer image
A Fan of *Great* Writing
5.0 out of 5 stars Exit Right - short & long-term lessons to get the best price but also leave a legacy to be proud of!
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2022
How I wish as a first time founder and making a first Exit, that I had had Exit Right as a guide!
Back in 1996 there was no one to turn to as we tried to navigate going public and/or being acquired and we made so many mistakes! This is not a preachy tome but a very readable and simple set out of the dos and don'ts of preparation and fundamentals of running and building your company RIGHT in the first place - so Exiting RIGHT will be so much less painful and so much more successful :-).
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Customer image
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Samuel H.
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential reading for early-stage entrepeneurs
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2022
Verified Purchase
Exit Right has been a crucial resource for me as an entrepreneur in the early financing/fundraising stages. There is a wealth of information critical for long-term success that I need at this point to make sure the eventual exit will be a success that maximizes returns for all parties.

The book does a wonderful job of making complex financial/technical/legal topics easy to understand. It perfectly balances covering higher-level and more general concepts with the deep-diving into the psychology and terminology needed to work with every type of stakeholder.

100% recommend to anyone entrepreneur, regardless of their experience and current company stage
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William Guschwan
4.0 out of 5 stars Great framework for exits beyond business M&A
Reviewed in the United States on March 29, 2022
Verified Purchase
The subject of the book is narrowly focussed on business acquisition but the FAIR framework applies to exits beyond startups. For example, Fit applies to exiting school and taking your first job. Fit also applies to any job change or job hire. Alignment could be applied to the decision to to hire a contractor. Are they aligned beyond just money? Integration helps with outcome visioning for the tactics. Implementation intention is what Integration speaks to. Finally, rationale speaks to timing. Timing the market is as important for business as timing is for any decisions. I would bump up to a 5 if they add an addendum about how it applies beyond mergers and acquisitions. And, as an academic, I want a beefed up reference section.
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Alex R
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book that helps complete the entrepreneur toolkit
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2022
Verified Purchase
Through personal experience, I have found many entrepreneurs and founders do not commit resources / time / strategy on an exit plan which impacts themselves, their teams/employees and their stakeholders. The exit will have a life-changing impact for many individuals where a lot of value creation can be gained or lost. Fighting the day-to-day fight to test products/services, acquire customers, service customers, optimize business processes / funnels, expand network effects and keep investors informed is often common practice for entrepreneurs, but actions around exit planning have remained in the background or left to less inspired/certain third-parties. Mert and Neil astutely bring the exit planning process to the foreground and provide many essential frameworks to help entrepreneurs understand and ready for a potentially successful exit well before this lifechanging event occurs.

I have spent time in a previous M&A role for private companies and learned a lot of new information that I know many current / budding entrepreneurs / company leaders would find invaluable. Highly recommend this book! I hope many use this to leave their legacy on the right track when considering taking chips off the table and cementing their legacy.
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uzair
5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Reading for a Venture-Backed Startup
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022
Verified Purchase
Selling your company has many parallels to getting a hard-to-get job. You need a good resume, always be planting seeds, have great references, consider fit and culture, hit certain benchmarks, and close the deal in a limited time frame.

This book gives entrepreneurs an excellent framework (Fit, Alignment, Integration, Rationale) for entrepreneurs to build up to selling their business. From what to do at the inception of the company all the way to navigating specifics, this book lays it all out in an easy to comprehend way.
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MK
5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had this book when I was younger!
Reviewed in the United States on February 16, 2022
Verified Purchase
I have been an investor, run an investment firm, and helped entrepreneurs find buyers and exit their businesses. Mentally it takes a lot for a business owner to sell. However, succession planning should happen long before a person decides to sell. This book is a vital resource for anyone starting a business and eventually exiting. I found the helpful book, full of valuable recommendations and advice I wish I had known 20 years ago. I would highly recommend it! The authors also know what they are talking about; they have seen it all through many exits.
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Alex
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Advice given from hard earned experience.
Reviewed in the United States on March 30, 2022
Verified Purchase
I first met Mark many years ago when we were both in the video game business, and I saw first hand how he partnered with a brilliant programmer and helped him shape the company into a valuable asset worthy of a significant investment by Softbank. And that was just one of many successful exits that Mark has been behind or involved with - so take my advice and take Mark's advice and read this book and Exit Right!
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