They Got Acquired - Don't make this financial mistake 💰

October 21, 2022
​Read on web​

You set out to sell your business at least in part because it will grow your wealth, right?

Yet the sale process can be so all-consuming — tending to due diligence, shoring up your team so they’re ready for the transition, and more — that sometimes entrepreneurs neglect to fully prepare their personal financial situation for the influx of cash.

We talked to a few founders who've sold their businesses, as well as financial advisors who work with entrepreneurs, to gather advice for how to prepare for a windfall.

Here's what they told us 👇

​How to prepare your personal finances before selling your company​

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When a class project turns into a business

Grace McBride and her best friend Sarah Peters were seniors at Cornell University in 2019 when an entrepreneurship class sparked the formation of their first company.

The assignment asked McBride to come up with an idea for a company, test her hypotheses and conduct in-depth customer research. In addition to going to school, she’d been working full time as a travel advisor at the luxury travel agency MilesAhead, and she was inspired to address challenges she saw in the industry.

The class gave the duo the opportunity to test-drive the idea what became TripKit, a company that provides back-end organization and administrative support for luxury travel advisers.

In June 2022, they sold that company for a low-6-figure price tag:

​Two college seniors turned a class project into a business supporting travel advisors​

Building a "calm" company

I'm on my way home from Founder Summit, the first conference I've attended since before the pandemic.

IT WAS SO GOOD.

I want to process the experience before sharing more, but my biggest takeaway is this:

So many founders are rethinking how to build a startup.

Sometimes it feels like I'm swimming against the tide by bootstrapping, keeping my team small, and prioritizing my life alongside building this company.

But there's a growing movement of founders who are choosing alternatives to the raise-as-much-money-as-possible and grow-at-all-costs mindset.

Being surrounded by others who embrace this approach was magical.

I want to share that energy with you — to remind us all that we're not alone.

See you next time,

Lexi Grant
Founder & CEO
​They Got Acquired​
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About us 👋

Our mission is to redefine startup success by showcasing companies that sell for $100K-$50M. Learn more about us or follow us on Twitter.

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