Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Cremades, Alejandro, author.
Title: Selling your startup : crafting the perfect exit, selling your business, and everything else entrepreneurs need to know / Alejandro Cremades.
Description: Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2021] | Includes index. Identifiers: LCCN 2021021825 (print) | LCCN 2021021826 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119797982 (hardback) | ISBN 9781119798057 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119798040 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Sale of business enterprises. | New business enterprises.
Classification: LCC HD1393.25 .C74 2021 (print) | LCC HD1393.25 (ebook) | DDC 658.1/64–dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021825
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021021826
Cover design and image: Wiley
To my love and life partner, Tanya, and my daughters, Mila, Liv, and Alya, the greatest joys of my life.
Acknowledgments
This book would have not been possible without the love and support of my wife, Tanya. She has always been there for me through the ups and downs of being an entrepreneur. Without a strong and supportive partner, it is impossible to take the leap of faith and build something from the ground up. The way she handled some of the most challenging events that came our way has been a constant source of inspiration for me. I wish all entrepreneurs had someone like Tanya by their side to help them keep pushing even during the darkest days of entrepreneurship when it is most needed.
I would also like to thank my little daughters, Mila, Liv, and Alya. At the time of writing this book, Mila was four years old and Liv and Alya were three years old. Even though they wanted to play at all times, they were very understanding when Daddy needed to work. Girls, if you ever read this, know that seeing you grow into intelligent, strong, and compassionate young women has been the best part of my life and a great motivation. More than anyone else, you are the people that I want to make proud of me.
Thank you to my father, Bernardo Cremades, my mother, Leticia Roman, and my brother, Bernardo Cremades Jr. They have always been rooting for me no matter what since the very early beginnings of my entrepreneurial journey. They have been constantly reliable and picked up the phone whenever I would call them even if it was 1:00 in the morning.
Furthermore, I would like to thank my father-in-law, Robert Shereck, and my mother-in-law, Gisele Prive. In addition to their love and support, they have taught me some of the biggest leadership lessons.
Other family members who have been very supportive through my journey are Carmen Posadas, Evan Prive, Zack Prive, and Beatriz Larrea.
This book would have never made it here without my publisher, Wiley. Especially Zach Schisgal. He has been a joy to work with and the person who believed in this book when I pitched him the idea.
One special person that has always been there for me is my other half in business, Michael Seversen. He came into my life at a point of transition after the acquisition of my previous company. Since then we have been business partners and we've had each other's back. There are no words to describe my gratitude to and appreciation of him.
Moreover, I would like to thank other members of my team for their help: Saroj Aggarwal, Miles Carter, Bryan Epstein, Vimal Gerda, Sri Gunasekaran, Tim Houghten, Zachary Jameson, Russell Michelson, Susan Nichols, Collin Robert, Prashant Sharma, Deepak Thakur, and Kammy Wood.
I would also like to thank all the people who have been involved with my prior ventures: investors, advisors, employees, and customers. Most of my knowledge about acquisitions comes as a result of working closely with you.
Last but not least, I want to offer my thanks to all of my readers. I appreciate the faith you are placing in me by reading my book, and I hope my experience and insights will help you forge your best path forward on your journey of selling your startup.
Thank you all. I am very fortunate to have you in my life.
Foreword by Bhavin Turakhia
I believe it is our moral obligation to make an impact that is proportionate to our potential.
I have always had a passion for reading books and credit a lot to this habit inculcated into me during my early childhood. Reading enables you to shape your life from the wisdom and experiences of others. Stand on the shoulders of giants.
Growing up, I was a quintessential nerd—with a penchant for math and physics and a natural affinity for writing code from the age of 10. I was fortunate to find my passion early on and spent every spare moment in the computer room, when PCs were monochrome terminals with MS-DOS and 5¼-inch floppy drives. I devoured biographies with fervor and learnt much from the success and failures of Intel, Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, and countless others. It was clear to me then—I wanted to start my own company in this revolutionary new world.
Seven years later, I was raring to go, and along with my younger brother Div and $300 of borrowed capital from Dad, we started our first company—Directi—a web presence provider and domain name registrar.
Fourteen years later, we were number four worldwide, with 10 million domain names, a network of over 50,000 global resellers, and $70 million in revenues. Hari, then CEO of Endurance International and now a close family friend, approached us with an offer to buy Directi and I still remember to this day being very conflicted about it. However after six months of them courting us, and several deep strategic discussions, it made sense and we sold the company for $160 million—our first exit.
Div, my brother, had already independently started Media.net, which he then grew into a $900 million exit. And I had turned my attention to Radix (currently the number one new gTLD registry) and Flock (now Nova—competing with G Suite and Office and providing collaboration and productivity software to global users). Finally in 2015, I cofounded Zeta with Ramki Gaddipati—with a mission to make payments invisible and reimagine banking
I have never started any company with the goal of selling it. My startups were born out of my passions. I believe “frustration is the genesis of entrepreneurship”—and when entrepreneurs see something they would like to change, they go ahead and effectuate that change. If you are reading this book, perhaps you have already launched and built your own company or are in the process of starting up. As a successful business, however, most founders will receive one or more (bittersweet) opportunities to sell their company.
There are a countless number of books on starting up, running, and growing successful businesses. However, most of the material available on M&A comprises glorified media stories, and not much quality content has been published on this critical milestone of a startup's exit (pardon the oxymoron). There certainly wasn't anything like this when I was deliberating over my exit option.
I have bootstrapped or self-funded my entrepreneurial pursuits, and I have been in the fortuitous position of not having to raise capital for most of my past companies. If I had, however—Alejandro's book The Art of Startup Fundraising would have been my trusted guide.
With