Exit Strategies


Recent Exit Strategies Articles

Facebook COO: Small Business Is Web's Holy Grail

As Sheryl Sandberg courts Madison Avenue and Wall Street this week, she discussed Facebook's IPO fallout and wooing small business.  Read more

Managing the Emotional Toll of Selling Your Small Business

Don't let your emotions--sorrow, anger, or a sense of loss--hijack the sale of your small business. Here are tips on keeping a level head.  Read more

Why'd You Start Your Business? 3 End Goals

Before you do anything else, figure out why--in the first place--you launched your business. You need to know now what you want to get out of it.  Read more

Entrepreneur Ben Lerer: 'I Realized I Had Been Going to Work the Wrong Way' 

When his father, Ken Lerer, sold The Huffington Post, Ben Lerer realized it's not all about the exit.  Watch video

Is Your Company Suffering From Short-Term-itis?

Managing partner of Satori Capital Sunny Vanderbeck says an overemphasis on short-term results can cause relationships with key stakeholders to erode in a bu...  Read more

Steve Case: IPOs Are Good for You

The founder of AOL makes a good case for why an IPO is often the best exit strategy for a company's founder. But Case has his reasons, and they may not be yo...  Read more

How 'Confidential' IPOs Are Changing the Market

In April, the JOBS Act ushered in a new way to go public. It's already popular.  Read more

Is the IPO Party Over?

The initial public offering has long been the ultimate goal of successful entrepreneurs. But now the decision to go public is much more difficult--and riskie...  Read more

Forget IPO. The New Goal? Get Acquired

Economists might explain the decline in IPOs through market conditions. The start-up and venture capital communities see it differently.  Read more

Wait, the IPO Party Is Just Getting Started!

An IPO could still be the right exit strategy--if your company fits the bill, or breaks the old rules.  Read more

Best of Recent IPO Blunders

What is it about going public that inspires such boneheadedness in otherwise super-capable entrepreneurs? Here are the most notorious recent cautionary tales...  Read more

What's the ROI on Your Company?

Before you approach an investor to fund your growth strategy, make sure you are able to articulate what they will receive in return.  Read more

What Makes Method's Sale to Ecover So Different?

Acquisitions often fail. So what makes Method founders Eric Ryan and Adam Lowry believe the sale to Ecover could buck the trend?  Read more

Hidden Benefit of Process

Why standardizing operations is crucial for scaling up--and cashing out.  Read more

Private Again and On the Move

Life After the Inc. 500: Blackboard CEO Michael Chasen has loved every minute of taking his company public and then back to being private--while maintaining ...  Read more

An Open Letter to Mark Zuckerberg

Inc.com columnist Phil Simon says Facebook could solve a few key problems with one simple solution: Charge users--they'll pay.  Read more

4 Keys to a Successful Exit

Don't focus on an eventual sale. Instead, make sure you get these fundamentals right.  Read more

No Succession Plan & an Uncertain Legacy

Life After the Inc. 500: An untimely death and no succession plan left Michelle Taylor at the helm of her mother's company, Betah Associates, with no oars.  Read more

How to Explain Stock Options to Employees

Think it's not your job? Wrong. If your employees make a mess of their options, it hurts you more than you think.  Read more

Do Stock Lock-ups Kill Hot Internet Companies?

Investors blame the stock slides at Zynga, Facebook, & Groupon on employee lock-ups. But the root of the problem goes much deeper.  Read more

Why Fewer Start-ups Are Going Public

Don't blame Facebook: Start-up IPOs have been on the decline for a while. Inc. dug into the numbers to find out why.  Read more

Inside Zynga's Fun House, Workers Say Games Are Over

After its stock takes a nosedive, former Zynga employees reveal disillusionment in the gaming giant's work force, while analysts paint a bleak picture.  Read more

Apple Has Loads of Cash. Which Start-ups Might it Snatch Up?

Apple could make a huge acquisition. But entrepreneurs have an exit opportunity there, too. Here are some start-ups that may be on Apple's radar.  Read more

Why It's Time I Pass the Torch

It takes courage to recognize when your company is ready for its next fearless leader.  Read more

IPO Market Heating Up in July

Two months after Facebook's IPO disaster, a handful of companies surface with plans to test the market waters.  Read more

Pandora's Sweet Sound of Success

It took a while for Tim Westergren to get his Internet radio business out of "perpetual start-up mode." Now it's a public company with 560 employees.  Read more

IPO? No Thanks, Say Most Entrepreneurs

The JOBS Act was supposed to help companies under $1 billion in revenue go public and grow. But entrepreneurs say IPOs still don't make sense for them.  Read more

Selling Your Company Won't Make You Happy

A veteran of two acquisitions offers a reality check for fellow founders, reminding them they shouldn't be in the start-up game just for the payout.  Read more

4 Reasons to Love the Facebook IPO

Contrary to popular opinion, the IPO was good for the company and investors. And it certainly shouldn't scare you from going public.  Read more

10 Best & Worst Ways to Spend a Fortune

Attention, Facebook millionaires: Money can buy happiness--if you know the right way to spend. (Hint: Skip the yacht.)  Read more

How to Lead Your Company Through Change

Different employees react differently to change. However each feels about a new situation, you can help all of them adjust.  Read more

Facebook's IPO Is Great for Start-ups

The biggest tech public offering in history is big news to the start-up world. Here's why its a win for innovation, user-experience, and the little guys.  Read more

After Facebook: 6 IPOs to Put on Your Radar

Has Facebook reinvigorated the IPO market? Here are a few tech companies racing to go public--and what you should know about them.  Read more

Can Your Business Survive Without You?

What would happen to your business if you were called away on an emergency? Here are three tips to ensure it doesn't miss a beat.  Read more

Facebook Pulls Off Largest Tech IPO Ever

Ring the bells: It's a landmark day for Wall Street and Silicon Valley as the world's biggest social network becomes a public company.  Read more