Member-only story
If there’s one thing I hate, it’s when I meet an early stage startup CEO who’s focused on selling their company. Inevitably, I’ll ask the CEO, “Why are you focused on a sale now?”
Inevitably, the answer, more times than not, comes back as, “I’m thinking we’ll be selling the company in the next couple of years.”
No, no, no you won’t!
That’s why you’re sending out the wrong message if you’re focused on an exit plan early on.
You’ve got to be in it for the long run if you’re going to build a successful startup. How long, you ask? According to Statista, the median time it takes from when a company receives a venture capital investment to go public is 5.7 years.
Since it takes most startups a few years before they are VC fundable, you’re looking at over eight years before your startup is ready to exit. So what are you doing worrying about an exit so early in the game?
Your focus needs to be on building a great company when you’re starting out.
“What’s your exit strategy?” Samir, a partner at “Donald Ventures,” one of our two investors, asked me during an update I was giving the partnership. We were in…
