Our principles for delivering Strategic Exits
Every week at SurePath, we are introduced to new companies looking for guidance. Just as most of the companies that we meet are not the right fit for us, so it is that we are likely not the right fit for many potential clients.
The things that we do every day at SurePath, from raising growth rounds to delivering big exits and helping our clients buy companies, are highly strategic. If a client needs capital and we don’t deliver, it matters. If a client is looking to realize the value they have created after years of sweat & tears (and investment) then we need to deliver!
Mike McDerment from FreshBooks always said that there are ‘two things you need to succeed in life: Alignment and shared values’. If you have that, the rest is easy. To promote alignment not only with our clients, but also with the investors and strategic buyers we engage with daily, here are our core beliefs/principles around how strategic transactions happen:
1.Nobody likes broad auctions: Buyers hate them. Financial sponsors tolerate them. Selling management teams hate them. Strategic premiums come from two parties falling in love with each other. Strategic bids do not come from reacting to a cold, inbound approach.
2.There are three keys to a premium outcome: Optionality, Fit and Impact. Optionality means building a business that chooses to transact, rather than needs to. Fit means it is on strategy for the buyer already. Impact means that the business has sufficient revenue and/ or technology/ product to move the needle for the buyer.
3.SurePath can best serve its clients by being more thoughtful, strategic and connected than any other advisor. We achieve this through a deep focus on SMB software. No one can touch our depth in this market.
4.Buying a business is risky. Our job is to i.) De-risk that through building comprehensive data rooms; ii.) Create a forcing function to push that risky buying decision by making a compelling customized business case and by building optionality into our processes, by exploring fundraising at the same time as an exit; and iii.) Create trust between our client and potential buyers every step of the way. We don’t lie or bluff. We do position, analyze and sell. Buyers trust us and this is in everyone’s’ interests.
There you have it. That’s how we think about exits. Perhaps you just want the highest bidder. You want to talk to every possible buyer, no matter how remote the chances. You want an advisor that will pound the table and yell & scream at buyers. If so, we are not for you. If like us, you realize that the best outcomes happen when companies are bought vs. sold, then you might like how we think.
