The Mechanics of a Small Acquisition – How One Startup Navigated a Multi-Million Dollar Exit
Stypi is a YCombinator backed startup that was recently acquired by Salesforce.com. Their story details the mechanics for how a small company can manage an acquisition. It provides lessons for startups going through the process for the first time. Stypi is a real-time editor that multiple people can edit at the same time. It also supports several programming languages which makes it an especially cool collaborative tool. Jasen Chen is one of the founders who now works at Salesforce.com on the Stypi project. His story mostly relates to acquisitions of $25 million or less. Here are his five insights into the courtship and the eventual exit: First Contact . That first contact is like meeting someone from the opposite sex. Intentions are confusing but the prospects are enticing. First forays are usually from a founder or the corporate development department of a larger company. These people usually act on behalf of an interested internal team. Get comfortable with this person as this is ...