"Today, the optimum financial strategy for most technology
entrepreneurs is to raise money from angels and plan an early
exit to a large company in just a few years for under $30 million."
That's the essence of the message from Basil Peters' book "Early Exits" which I have discovered for myself recently. Coming from the Vancouver-based well experienced entrepreneur, operator, CEO and investor, this is one of the best reads for high-tech entrepreneurs and early-stage CEOs that I have come across in the last decade.
This book, available in hardcover or as an eBook here: http://www.early-exits.com/, is brief, no BS, to the point - almost like an instruction manual for high-tech start-up operators, providing blueprints on how to design your venture for today's economic environment.
The book is entirely focused on the end game: the exit. It provides a succinct background of the current economic climate for early-stage companies as well as the evolving business models for both traditional venture capital and individual angel investors, with an honest disclosure and discussion of their conflicting interests.
Having lived and managed through several M&A transactions myself, I have found interesting examples, debunked myths, dirty M&A industry secrets exposed as well as several useful case studies of real life exits which are good lessons for investors and entrepreneurs interested in selling companies for more money, sooner and with a greater chance of success.
