Exiting Your Business

Abstract

This book is primarily about starting and running your business. A critical part of that subject is a discussion of what to expect when you make the decision to sell what you have built, and move on. It is important for entrepreneurs starting out to understand the big picture of what likely options and events lay ahead for them in this regard. In recent years (since the 1990s), the idea of selling out to investors or issuing an initial public offering (IPO) has become the focus of incredible amounts of media attention and the stuff of modern folklore. It seems that in tech circles, everybody knows someone somewhere who sold their business for millions of dollars, so it is natural to want to replicate their success in your own business. While it is my personal preference to focus attention on the process of operating the business, it is important to realize that for those businesses that survive and thrive, it is likely that at some point the idea of an exit will become important.