How to successfully exit and sell a business
Yesterday’s Pivotal Tribes event at Google Campus featured a panel of entrepreneurs who have successfully grown businesses and then sold them. The panel discussed with the audience their stories and top ideas on how to ensure the best return possible is generated on an exit. I’ll update this post with more photos later on.
Thanks very much to sponsors Smith & Williamson and Gannons Solicitors for supporting the event, enabling it to be free to attendees and enough refreshments to be supplied for everyone.
The panel were as follows:
• Guy Rigby, Head of Entrepreneurs at Smith & Williamson, an experienced chartered accountant and entrepreneur, with directorships and shareholdings in a number of varied businesses and author of the critically acclaimed ‘From Vision to Exit – The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Buying and Selling a Business’.
• Karen Darby, current Founder & CEO of CrowdMission (the world’s first equity-based crowdfunding platform for social and environmental businesses) and also Founder of Call Britannia and SimplySwitch, which produced a x22 return for its investors.
• Andy Tait, Partner at the Pembridge Partnership and Co-Founder of Collider12 (the UK’s first startup accelerator for ‘B2Brand’ companies) and co-founded and served as a main Board Director and Vice President of both private and publicly listed companies in the UK and USA.
• Nick Cronin, Partner at business advisory company Bean Partners and former executive at a variety of public and private companies across the globe, including in the Clean-Tech, Med-Tech, Chemicals, Oil & Gas and Infrastructure sectors, where he has been responsible for the growth and successful sale of multiple organisations.
Here are some of the points made by the panel that resonated with the audience as they tweeted through the event (as well as a video clip at the end):
If on a public market get blown by the whim of sentiment regardless of profit you are making says @andyt8 #businessexit
— Jonathan Lea (@jonathanlea) February 12, 2014
#businessexit IPO or trade sale – IPO now a real option with markets open. Pros and cons… pic.twitter.com/ppO9SX4Ehl — Will Axtell (@willaxtell) February 12, 2014
@DrCronin83 says that app based and price comparison sites are good businesses to start now #businessexit
— Jonathan Lea (@jonathanlea) February 12, 2014
Make sure to get everything correct from the start for ur #startup and pay urself well #businessexit
— Saaid… (@iamskh) February 12, 2014
“We found what we call a “NOB”, a not obvious buyer” @guyrigby #businessexit @GoogleCampusLDN @KristinaNaru @jonathanlea
— Nick Katz, FRICS (@NicholasKatz) February 12, 2014
@guyrigby says profit not always important but key not to have owner dependency to exit a business #businessexit
— Jonathan Lea (@jonathanlea) February 12, 2014
#businessexit are you the face of the business? Will impact the exit plan…
— Andrew Wilkin (@AndrewWilkinUK) February 12, 2014
@KarenDarbyUK says VCs are keen on disruptive businesses but not so keen on disruptive entrepreneurs! #businessexit
— Jonathan Lea (@jonathanlea) February 12, 2014
Investors buy innovation, and innovation starts with the people behind the idea. #businessexit
— Robin Carter (@robinacarter) February 12, 2014
@KarenDarbyUK “Without the Founder’s Vision there’d be no business” @crowdmission @guyrigby @andyt8 @jonathanlea @drcronin83 #BusinessExit
— Vox London ™ © (@VoxLondon) February 12, 2014
And finally, for my own indulgence, a couple of tweets I spotted:
#businessexit @jonathanlea multitasking with ease – live tweeting and chairing the panel. Showing @daviddimble the way forward! — Will Axtell (@willaxtell) February 12, 2014
Really enjoyed the event last night and pleased to meet you @jonathanlea #businessexit
— Kristina Naru (@KristinaNaru) February 13, 2014