The deal dynamics founders rarely talk about—how internal motivations, external messaging, and decision-making shape their startup’s endgame.

👇 This episode is in Hebrew, with English subtitles.

In this episode, Sophia Tupolev-Luz and Zeevi Michel tackle taboo topics, from the unspoken truths founders face to the challenges of aligning employees and investors during a transaction. We explore what founders often overlook when building a company and preparing for the endgame.

In this episode, we cover:

• Why M&A is a taboo subject in accelerators and entrepreneurship programs.
• The three types of founders and how their motivations influence success or failure.
• Why early decisions, like fundraising and choosing investors, narrow or expand exit opportunities.
• The importance of transparency and alignment with your team—and the consequences of misalignment.
• How employee dynamics during an M&A create challenges, from early employees to leadership teams.
• Why founders should always consider their endgame when making financial or strategic decisions.

About:

Israel’s tech M&A show delivers unfiltered conversations with key players from the startup lifecycle. This is a podcast for startups about the path to mergers and acquisitions—and their aftermath. We’re here to go behind the scenes to look at how transactions go terribly wrong or terrifically right.

Our goal: To give founders new perspectives from the buy-side, sell-side, and investors—so they can better plan for their own endgame.

To comment on our work, follow our page.

Transcript here

Produced by: Sophia Tupolev-Luz
Video and sound editing by: Yair Walden
Location: Google for Startups Campus Studio, Tel Aviv