How to Know Which “Exit Strategy” Investors Want to Hear

From Shockwave Innovation

You’ve just completed a great investor pitch with heads nodding and good interaction.  You’re about to ask “Does this opportunity interest you enough to explore an investment?” when instead you get a final question:

“One final question.  What is your exit strategy?”.

Oops, the last two times you got this question you were met with a sour look.  The first time you wanted to show you aren’t looking for a quick-flip and so you answered something like, “We’re not even thinking about selling the company or doing anything crazy like an IPO”.

The next time you decided to show the investor you want everyone to get a payday and so you answered something like, “We’ve already identified six companies that surely will want to acquire us as soon as we’ve reached $5M in revenue.  They are A, B, C, D, E and F”.  In this blog post I’ll explain why you got the sour looks and suggest a different response that aligns nicely with both company and investor interests.