[HN Gopher] Startup to exit: lessons from a YC founder
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Startup to exit: lessons from a YC founder
Author : AnhTho_FR
Score : 62 points
Date : 2022-11-23 09:42 UTC (13 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.lennysnewsletter.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.lennysnewsletter.com)
| Beldin wrote:
| While i appreciate the story, I will caution for survivor bias.
|
| E.g, someone who very publicly pushed their startup may regret
| that because their development process couldn't keep up with
| customer interest, due to which they "lost the momentum" and
| rebuilding momentum was insanely difficult having soured
| relationships earlier.
| peter_d_sherman wrote:
| >"At YC's first batch dinner, we recognized that drinks were
| missing from the menu. Founder thirst became our opportunity. We
| showed up with a cooler full of sparkling waters and a makeshift
| sign that read "Benefits & Bubbles."
|
| _In exchange for signing up with Savvy, we handed out drinks._
|
| To this day, _that lemon-sparkling-water stand remains our
| highest-ROI marketing tactic._ "
|
| Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!
|
| I always love it when somebody discovers a _simple, elegant,
| grass-roots marketing method_ -- that works on a local level!
|
| Well played!
| perpil wrote:
| What a thrilling tale! It's clear why he was ultimately
| successful. He deftly juked through each challenge AND he's a
| great storyteller.
| qprofyeh wrote:
| Is it considered expected, permitted conduct for founders to lie
| about reasons to sell and personal emergencies to deceive and
| pressure acquirers?
|
| Can someone who lacks that mindset or skillset perhaps, still
| successfully sell their startup?
| goodJobWalrus wrote:
| You'd be better off the hire a broker / M&A firm do deal with
| this on your behalf.
| rjzzleep wrote:
| How much do they pocket?
| makestuff wrote:
| https://masource.org/a-summary-of-ma-fees-for-sell-side-
| tran...
|
| I was curious as well and most sources I found point to a
| similar structure above. Basically the more money they get,
| the bigger the fee, and then there is some sort of retainer
| to cover their costs.
| [deleted]
| arcturus17 wrote:
| I'm brutally honest, often to my detriment in commercial
| activities. But as far as BS goes, "I have an urgent thing on
| Friday so we need to close today" is not too terrible IMO. His
| urgent thing on Friday might have been getting the fuck out of
| the country to celebrate the sale in the midst of an economic
| downturn. Almost legit?
| resiros wrote:
| I'm not sure if it was even useful in this case. One day's
| delay is highly unlikely to have led to the deal failing.
| Therefore, I don't think this mindset/skillset has anything to
| do with selling a startup. As a matter of fact, I believe that
| the CFO was aware that the founder was lying.
| matwood wrote:
| > lie about reasons to sell
|
| Are you talking about the partnership first strategy? That's
| pretty standard and how companies get to know each other.
|
| > personal emergencies to deceive and pressure acquirers
|
| There's plenty of gamesmanship during an acquisition -
| particularly a large company swallowing a small company. The
| big company can get bogged down, requiring the small company to
| stay the squeaky wheel to get the deal done. In this case the
| acquirer could have easily waited until Monday.
| exhibitapp wrote:
| Maybe it's just me, but I don't exactly consider this lying,
| with all the negative connotations. It's just applying
| pressure.
|
| No different than a b2b SaaS salesperson saying they need to
| close a deal by x date to receive a "special" discount. It's
| all made up, it's just part of the game
| ensignavenger wrote:
| How do you know it was a lie? The article never said that they
| didn't have an urgent personal matter the next day.
|
| The partnership thing was more holding their cards close rather
| than laying them out on the table. A sell is a form of
| partnership.
|
| Of course I don't know exactly hat was said or how it was said
| or the circumstances, but the article does not indicate that
| either of these things were necessarily lies.
| brudgers wrote:
| Doing business means dealing with ordinary bullshit.
|
| Enjoying business means being ok dealing with ordinary
| bullshit.
|
| With the caveat that ordinary bullshit means different things
| in different contexts. Haggling is ok in the casbah. Not in the
| Apple Store.
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