The Max Exit Method
The Max Exit Method increases valuation and the chance of a successful exit by helping the sell-side technical team prepare for due diligence
Whether you’re leading product / technology at a startup looking for new investors to accelerate growth, or a scaleup gearing up to be acquired, it’s worth preparing before their technical due diligence team starts kicking the tires
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For CEOs
You don’t want to distract your technical leaders from building the technology that powers your business, but can you afford not to get ready for technical due diligence? Kick-start the preparations for a smooth diligence process now, and make sure your technology team is ready to:
Create their story – and stick to it
Have the data to back it up
Perform under pressure
Give them a chance to practice
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For CTOs
You don’t have to choose between being prepared for technical due diligence and running the business. Save time by leaning on someone who’s been in your shoes:
Relevant and practical advice
Easy to use tools to help organize and prepare
Prevent common mistakes
A chance to perform well
Practice before it’s crunch-time
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For Investors
The buy-side is definitely bringing their best technologists and consultants to find any reason to discount their offer. Make sure they don’t find any preventable issues during technical due diligence, and maximize the exit value:
Better return on investment
Increase the chance of a successful outcome
Invest in your technical team’s readiness
It’s a worthwhile investment
About the Max Exit method
When a company gets acquired or adds a major investor, the buyer performs due diligence on various aspects of the company before the deal closes. The buy-side team often includes expert consultants to help valuate the company’s assets, and identify risks. They usually have a few days to a few weeks to perform their analysis and give a recommendation. If they can’t get the information they need quickly, and run out of time, the company valuation, and even the chance of the deal going through can drop dramatically. Due diligence for the sell-side can be overwhelming. The team is likely outnumbered by the buy-side team and scrambling to follow their lead.
Deals can go bad for many reasons, but being unprepared for technical diligence is preventable. The Max Exit method was developed to put the sell-side team in control, by helping them focus on the right areas depending on their exit strategy and preparing for the likely questions and requests for information. The method creates a solid story around the technology and team, with data to back it up. It helps prevent common pitfalls and builds confidence through practice.
What’s included?
There is no single due diligence prep plan that works for everyone, so the method starts by building a good understanding of your (exit) strategy, plan, and timing. Based on a variety of factors, we create a due diligence prep plan to focus on the right areas, so you don’t waste time. It’s never too late to start preparing for due diligence, and the earlier you start, the better. Ideally, preparations start at least a few months before a deal should close, so that issues can be addressed, without taking people away from critical tasks, and the costs can be budgeted. Depending on your specific needs and budget, the following items could be included in your customized plan:
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Materials and an interactive session to provide context, and a basic understanding of technical due diligence
This sets the stage for the rest of the project
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The framework and overall narrative, highlighting your technology and team’s strengths
By framing a high-level overview up front, we’ll end up with a cohesive story
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Using a superset of technical due diligence topics and common questions, we perform an assessment just like a buy-side diligence team would
The assessment will uncover any discrepancies between the story and current reality, and provide valuable input for the roadmap
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A plan that helps you address anything that doesn’t fit the story, before due diligence might start
The roadmap creation process helps balance your time, by finding the critical holes in your story, so you can focus on what’s important
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Hands-on, practical exercises, to prepare the team for a variety of possible scenarios that might occur before and during technical due diligence.
A great way to prepare and build confidence
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A high-quality presentation, custom created to your narrative, to put in the data room and present to the buy-side team
This allows you to take control on day one
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Hands-on help to fill the gap, in case your company’s maturity level implies the expectation of more documentation than you currently have
Meet expectations, without distracting you and your team from “doing actual work”
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Information design for the technical documentation in the data room, in support of the overall narrative
Tying together the narrative and supporting data, will make it easier for the buy-side team to give you their stamp of approval
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Call me any time throughout the sales process with questions or requests
We are invested in ensuring you have a successful exit