Exit Strategy

What’s your exit strategy?

When you found a startup, or run a startup, or look for investment, that’s the number one question that you will get.

In this context, what people are asking is “How are you (or I) going to make a bajillion dollars?”

The typical answers are:

• We’ll get acquired.
• We’ll acquire or merge with another company, and that will lead to…
• We’ll IPO.

And then you describe your expected valuation, the financials around it, blah, blah, blah.

Exit strategy sounds like financials.

It’s not. It’s philosophy.

What are you building? A product, a company, or a payday? A movement, a community, or a team?

The exit strategy isn’t just a finish line. It’s a mirror.