It’s a tough decision to exit a business, but it says a lot about a leader who can make a call on when it's the right time AND get it done. The alternative is kicking the can forward and risking the possibility that you lose control of your destiny. When selling a SaaS business, you optimize for 3 things; 1) best outcome for investors, 2) doing right by your people, 3) doing right by your customers. The trade-offs are never easy and it’s hard to 100% optimize for each.
In this episode of In/organic, I sat down with Jon Gregg, former President & CEO of Sellpoints which sold to Syndigo, a PE-backed SaaS company, in 2019. In this episode, Jon shares his experience of running a do-it-yourself sale process for his company. He discusses the decision-making process, the goals of the process, and the importance of building a strong team. Jon also explains the different phases of the process and the criteria for finding the right acquirer. He highlights the significance of trust and cultural alignment in the deal and reflects on the signing and closing day. Finally, he shares some lessons learned and offers advice for others considering a DIY sale process.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:57 Making the Decision to Sell
09:20 Goals of the Process
11:21 Reading In Customers
12:40 Building the Team
15:16 Reading In Non-Executives
20:05 Phases of the Sale Process
26:28 Criteria for Identifying Acquirers
30:09 Example Terms for Post-Deal Performance
35:06 Signing and Closing Experience
37:25 Lessons Learned
Connect with Christian & In/organic Podcast Christian's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hassold/ In/organic on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/inorganic-podcast In/organic on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InorganicPodcast/featured
Connect with Jon Gregg on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/jongregg/
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