038 Thomas Smale - Investor Insights: Fundraising and Exit Outlook for 2023

SaaS Fuel™ is joined this week by Thomas Smale, founder of FE International, a company that specializes in preparing businesses for acquisition. Tune in to learn more about the ins and outs of M&As from an industry expert.Episode SponsorChampion Leadership Group – https://championleadership.com/Navigating Success Together 2023 Virtual Event Key Takeaways1:48 The Beginnings of FE International 4:04 VC Investors  vs M&A 5:29 What makes a business buyable? 7:23 Why do deals go unannounced? 9:47 What is success? 11:51 What your business should and shouldn’t be tracking, and why 19:30 Planning the perfect exit strategy25:12 How owning a business has changed over the past decade 29:25 Planning the sale of a business 37:07 Finding the right buyer43:03 Which buyers win deals? Tweetable Quotes18:39 “The most important metrics to you will and should change over time, and if you're never changing them, then I would argue maybe you're not looking critically enough at your business.” 17:07 “In my experience, if you track too much, you lose sight of what’s really important.”  37:07 “The most important thing is finding a buyer who is a good cultural or value-based match for you. And that's also why it's important to not just sell to the first company that approaches you – and why you should run a comprehensive M&A process. And what we often find, well, almost all the time, is that most people have a misconception that a business always sells to the highest bidder or the highest offer. That's not necessarily the case. Sellers will often sellTo who they like the most, or who they think is the best fit for taking over and running the business, and matches their goals as a founder.” Guest Resourceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/thomassmalehttps://twitter.com/ThomasSmale?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthorhttps://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwjPkP-86pr8AhWKi8gKHdP_A4cYABABGgJxdQ&sig=AOD64_3VEf7W57D7b9DBqNFio55uOUzDUg&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwi7zPa86pr8AhXhmHIEHcJKDjEQ0Qx6BAgKEAESaaS Fuel ResourcesWebsite - https://championleadership.com/Jeff Mains on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffkmains/Twitter - https://twitter.com/jeffkmainsFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/thesaasguy/Instagram - https://instagram.com/jeffkmains