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Class Questions

• What can you do to boost the valuation of your technology startup?

• IPO or sell the company? What are the pro’s and con’s of IPO?

• How will the business be valued when sold to an acquirer interested in its cash-flow?

• Who handles the negotiations? Founder, CEO, lawyer?

• When do you talk valuation and deal terms?

• Why do you need a letter of intent/term sheet?

• Sell in a hurry? A typical M&A deal has a gestation period of around 9 months—can this be shortened when you need to sell in a hurry?

• Why is a merger or acquisition often considered more appealing than an IPO?

• How far ahead should you plan to sell the Company? Should you structure and prepare for the sale weeks, months or years ahead?

• In negotiating M&A transactions, should entrepreneurs bring in an expert negotiator?

• Selling your company or technology--why introduce additional competing buyers?

• Who handles the M&A negotiation?

• Why do some people believe the structure of the deal is more important than the price?

• How are you seeing companies being valued today?

• Selling for stock, selling for cash, earn-outs—how are M&A deals structured today?

• What issues should management consider when deciding to sell the company?

• What happens after the sale—is meeting the new parents a pain or a pleasure?

• Who decides if the Company is to be sold—the investors or the founders?

• Who’s buying technology companies today? What are they paying?

• What should you consider when presenting to potential corporate acquirers?

• Which pieces of the company will the buyer dispose of? Which pieces will it keep? What happens after the Asset Sale is complete—who’s fired, who stays on with the new parent? Management, marketing, sales, product development, technical support—is anyone s

• What are the different reasons for corporations to buy startup companies?

• What's the decision-making process from the corporate acquirers' perspective?

• How long does the process of selling the company take? Can it be accelerated?

• Due diligence--how do you deal with skeletons in the closet?

• What's the approval process for corporate acquirers when making a decision to acquire a company?

• What's the approval process for management, the board of directors and shareholders when selling the company?

• What are the most important documents in the M&A transaction?

• What happens when entrepreneurs try to sell the company without an intermediary?

• Are there any scenarios in which an owner should sell the company him- or her- self?

• How do you dress the Company up for sale? What can you do to make it more appealing to a buyer?

• When should you prepare and release due diligence information?

• When to sell the company? When is it possible to sell? When is it not? Is one time better than another?

• Email, voicemail, introduction--what's the best way of making contact with buyers today?

• What are buyers looking for in the due diligence process?

• How do you co-ordinate the closing process?

• How do you prepare a company for sale?

• Soliciting multiple bids--will it help or hinder the deal?

• Will the M&A process become more streamlined in future?

• Will we all be fired after the deal is closed? Will the Company continue as-is as an independent subsidiary—or will it be absorbed without a trace?

• How do you identify potential buyers of the company?

• Which buyers do you call first?

• Use an Intermediary or go it alone? Can you sell the Company without an M&A agent? Is it recommended?

• At what point do you discuss price/valuation with the prospective buyer of the Company?

• Is it worth talking to buyers from other cities, other states or other countries? Can you relocate the team? What are the issues involved in long-distance mergers?

• How do tax considerations affect the structure of the deal?

• How do you break a stalemate in the negotiation process?