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Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

news.ycombinator.com

11–16 of 16 posts

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#11
post #5

If investors are obsessed about it, entrepreneurs have to at least have an interest in exit strategies, and one picked out to placate their potential investors. Don't take investor money if you want to work on one company for your entire career.

> Don't take investor money if you want to work on one company for your entire career. So investors don't like companies like Microsoft, Oracle, or Google, where the founders have stayed on long-term? I can see investors not wanting companies with no liquidity events, but that doesn't require the founders to literally exit the company.

>Microsoft, Oracle, or Google

All IPOs, which are getting scarce. Certainly some founders are kept around for a long period of time, but if you never take investor money, who is going to force you out?

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#12

Once an itch is scratched it turns into a scab. And new itches appear. Seriously though, businesses change over time. Are people who are great at getting things going the right people to run them long term? In some cases yes, in others no. In my case I plan to be involved in one of my companies for a long time, but for another I am involved in we are building to exit.

I completely agree. Companies change over time. The startup you founded with one or two other people eventually becomes a business.

Now there are typically two ways of running a successful business: (1) culture; or (2) process.

If you build a business with a very specific culture that you will love to work within as the company grows then great. However building a business is much easier than establishing a culture you want that grows with the business.

Process is the alternative to culture as a route to long-term success and profitability. When you can't hire smart people that will maintain a company culture, you have to rely on process to scale. Even Warren Buffett once quipped, "I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will."

Once you take you business down the path to process instead of culture, you are creating a monster that hopefully craps cash. Eventually that monster becomes so big and powerful that your position as a leader becomes a position as a process manager.

Leaders lead people. Managers manage processes.

Processes don't have room for vision. Leadership does.

Once you have processes, you start looking for an exit strategy.

Besides the issue of culture versus process, many entrepreneurs also enjoy the act of creation most. These entrepreneurs are like artists. Once they've created something, they desire to move on to the next piece once they are satisfied with their current piece. The different between the entrepreneur and the artist is that for the entrepreneur it may take months or years before they are satisfied with their current piece, whereas the artist may take days to weeks to months to finish a piece and move on to the next.

Plus, deciding to move on to the next piece doesn't mean that you cannot stay on as an advisor to those who will continue to work on your previous pieces.

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#13
If you're starting a business doing something you love so much that you'd be happy in it all your life... sure. Don't worry.

But it's rare that you'll have that kind of certainty. If you don't, it's best to have a plan to get out, so you can move on to your next fun. You can always change course and stay longer if you want.

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#14
I understand all the reasons for the exits and I realize that proper exit strategies must be planned ahead of time. The reason I opened this thread was to ask whether the effort and popular obsession with exits is something that needs to be done/thought of prior to starting to work on the startups? Is proper exit strategy is a deal breaker for starting a company... I believe there might tons of reason for an exit once the startups becomes a sustainable business (as many of u pointed out)... But unless u are a investor or a seasonal entrepreneur is it something that u need to be obsessed with when planning your startup?!

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#15
post #7

Exit strategy is an element of startups designed to scale rather than those intended as hobbies or lifestyle businesses. Startups which scale is what Ycombinator is looking for and therefore of interest to many HN readers.

I think there are many other factors that will attribute to scaling and growth beside the exit strategy.

I completely agree. Exit strategy becomes more important once you start taking other people's money. Something which occurs with high frequency among startups.

Re: Why the obsession with EXIT strategies?

#16
post #3

Once an itch is scratched it turns into a scab. And new itches appear. Seriously though, businesses change over time. Are people who are great at getting things going the right people to run them long term? In some cases yes, in others no. In my case I plan to be involved in one of my companies for a long time, but for another I am involved in we are building to exit.

For the second company, did u plan for an exit right from the start?

Yes, we are building to to be bought.
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