by Kent Strand | at MinneBar 11 | 1:45 – 2:35 in Tackle | View Schedule
Every entrepreneur should have an exit strategy. This is especially critical before contacting the first external investors. Different investors are compatible with different exit strategies. Getting this wrong can actually kill the company. The exit strategy is the foundation for the entire company plan.
This Session is for founders, equity incentivized employees interested in maximizing the probabilities that their company are among those that are ultimately successful with a business exit.
Why Attend? Exits have changed dramatically in the past decade. These changes have transformed how companies are being financed and sold.
Of businesses which are for sale; 25% are sold. Only 33% at the desired valuation. Most of the time, after as entrepreneurs who have built a saleable company, we fail to successfully exit. When we miss the ideal time to exit, the most likely end result is that the company will fail - completely. This session will focus on why this happens so frequently and give you insight to maximize the probabilities that your company is among those that are ultimately successful.
Exits are the least well understood part of being an entrepreneur. The primary reason exits are so poorly understood is simply because they don't happen very often. In reality, the exit is actually just another business process. Done right, the valuation and time line are just as predictable as other, more familiar, business processes like hiring, product development, financing activities or marketing campaigns.
A pioneering Minnesota Tech Entrepreneur and successful NASDAQ senior leader. Kent is Managing Partner of Minneapolis-based Accredent – a national specialty advisory firm focused on the business of the Internet-of-Things and Data Analytics. A technology industry veteran with 33 years of experience - Kent founded a successful start-up after leaving university, and went on to serve as divisional GM and senior executive on the management teams of several disruptive and innovative NASDAQ companies which successfully achieved exit. For the past eight years, he has advised public and private technology and non-technology companies on growth strategy, digital transformation, business development and merger & acquisition. Kent also works with emerging companies through Accredent’s concierge Exit acceleration program focused on accelerating the growth, value creation, and value realization of companies preparing to scale.
see: accredent.com/busdev
