Goal of this stageA company that a buyer wants and can buy: clean records, strong numbers and a team that runs without you.
Most tech founders think about exit too late. The companies that sell well are built to be sellable years before the sale.
Routes to exit
- Trade sale to a strategic buyer, often a customer, partner or competitor.
- Management buy-out by the team that runs the business.
- Private equity investment or acquisition for profitable, growing companies.
- IPO, a public listing, for companies with the scale, governance and track record public markets expect. It brings liquidity and profile, but also reporting duties and costs.
Get exit-ready
- Clean, audited accounts and recurring revenue you can evidence.
- Contracts, IP and shareholder documents in order.
- A management team that can run the company without the founder.
- Advisers who have done deals in your sector.
Learn from members who have done it, such as Andrew Threlfall, who built Malinko over 20 years and sold it to Civica.