EP 95: How to Sell Your Startup: The Founder’s M&A Playbook
Description
Most founders sell the wrong way. Here’s how to do it right.
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What you’ll learn in this episode:
Forget the unicorn dream. This is how real founders achieve life-changing exits. Jason Kirby and Oliver Low — partners at Thunder — break down how to navigate the M&A process from both sides of the table: when to sell, how to structure a deal, and what to avoid when your future is on the line.
🔥 3-6 Tactical Takeaways:
Why timing your exit matters more than valuation
How to avoid the #1 killer of founder wealth: earnouts
The rise of private equity buyers and what it means for startups
How “venture orphans” can still create massive outcomes
What Thunder looks for before taking founders to market
When Oliver Low sold his startup, it wasn’t a clean, overnight success story.
It was years of building, negotiating, and learning the hard way how M&A really works.
His company, Platform 360, eventually became part of a public company listed on the London Stock Exchange but the journey there was anything but straightforward.
There were earnouts that didn’t go as planned.
Buyers who vanished mid-deal.
And market conditions that turned every negotiation into a gamble.
For founders considering an exit or just trying to understand how real M&A unfolds — this conversation is a masterclass in playing the long game.
Want more insights? Check out the full shownotes for Episode 95! HERE
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