A Big Chunk of Something Small vs. a Small Slice of Something Big?
Nicholas Seet developed a video player that hosts both the content and the ads for some of the world’s biggest media companies. His business, Auditude, was recently acquired by Adobe for more than $100 million. Although a spectacular exit, Seet had to give up a large chunk of the company — and the CEO title — to scale up. You may be surprised by Seet’s story.
Have you ever noticed the ads that run before you watch an official online video clip from shows like Saturday Night Live or Jimmy Kimmel? You can thank Nicholas Seet for that. Seet developed the video player that hosts both the content and the ads for some of the world’s biggest media companies. His business, Auditude, was recently acquired by Adobe for more than $100 million according to UCLA’s Anderson School of Management.
Although a spectacular exit, Seet had to give up a large chunk of the company — and the CEO title — to scale up, so in this episode of Built to Sell Radio we ask the age-old question: ‘Is it better to own a big chunk of a small company or a small slice of a big company?’ You may be surprised by Seet’s response.
You’ll also learn:
- How to handle the customer who wants exclusivity
- The biggest mistake most engineers make when building a company
- The benefits of a “Super Angel”
- Who the “Goose Society” is and why you might want them as investors
- How to avoid the dilution of common shareholders when venture capitalists insist on preferred shares
Getting Leverage
Seet gave up more than half of his company when he raised his first round of angel investment because he had no leverage in the negotiation with his investors. Giving you leverage is what we’re all about at The Value Builder System™. With a valuable, sellable company, you have options. If you choose to sell, you dictate the deal terms to a buyer, not the other way around. Get started now by getting your Value Builder Score.
Click to Tweet: Ep. 82 of Built To Sell, A Big Chunk of Something Small vs. a Small Slice of Something Big?
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At Built to Sell we’re all about shifting the balance of power from the buyer to the seller. If you support our mission, please write a review on iTunes — and if you have any comments or questions you can find us on Twitter and Facebook. Tune in every Wednesday for another episode of #BuiltToSell Radio with John Warrillow.
About Nicholas Seet
Nicholas Seet has been a serial-entrepreneur since his first startup concept was funded and he left his software-development position at Deloitte Consulting. Since that time he has worked to refine his business skills, serving at different times as CTO, CEO, and founder of Auditude. A part of Auditude (called IntoNow) was spun-off in 2010 and was acquired by Yahoo in 2011. In November that same year, Auditude was acquired by Adobe Systems. Seet received his MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management in 2005. While there he participated in and won the UCLA Knapp Business Plan Competition as well as the Rice University Business Plan Competition, receiving over $1 million in funding and prizes. Seet received a BS in engineering and BA in economics at Harvey Mudd College in 1999. Seet is Chinese by ethnicity and was born in Australia. He has two daughters, Anya and Maya.
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