28A – Your Exit Strategy

My exit strategy would definitely be similar to most tech startups. Build a company that grows into a market disruptor and is then purchased by a bigger and more established firm. This is prevalent in the world of technology as innovation happens quickly and whoever is able to acquire the company developing the newest and most innovative technology usually comes out in front when compared to its competitors. Since I would be running a small software startup the mission would be to grow our software, get a very favorable evaluation on wall street and use that as leverage when negotiating with a big tech unicorn, like Facebook or Google.

This strategy makes the most sense to me not only because it has become standard in the world of tech, but also because I would like to move on to other projects or ideas once I am able to flesh my idea out enough to get acquisition offers. If a company comes with a price that warrants my attention, then I would entertain the idea of selling the IP as well as the firm itself.

Since this is so common in tech, I think the idea of eventually selling the app or the company off to a bigger firm was always in the cards. Long gone are the days of being able to take a 1- or 2-man startup and build it into the next Facebook. So, logically, the better plan moving forward is to develop software that will entice one of the FANG companies (Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Google) to acquire it or to just absorb our firm into their already existing software development departments. The idea of eventually selling the IP or the firm has made me make sure that the app in development is unique enough to be a disruptor and garner the attention of the bigger firms so that they will eventually come with an offer.