Earn the Right Exit
For founders and their funders preparing to sell in the next few years. Earn the Right Exit uses OKR discipline to make the business less dependent on you, more convincing to a buyer, and ready to prove it.
I've sat on the seller's side of the table
Some years ago, at Auxin OKR, the consultancy I co-founded, we were talking to a software company called GTM Hub about working together. Their headquarters were in Sofia. My co-founder, Mark Richard, said we should go and see them in person.
I pointed out we were on a tight budget. Mark, who had been running a business by his late twenties and had a far more impressive CV than mine, said the effort of turning up would set us apart from everyone else they were talking to.
So we flew Newcastle to Amsterdam, then on to Sofia in one of the oldest planes I've ever boarded. We spent a day with their senior team. About an hour and a half before we had to leave for the airport, the CEO, Ivan, called us in and asked: why should I do business with you?
I told him everyone knows what sales and marketing is when they buy a CRM. Nobody knows how to do OKRs well. We'd bring the quality of the method, and that would make his software stick.
When we landed at Schiphol there was a message to call him. He passed us a lead that we converted within a week. The relationship grew from there, GTM Hub became Quantive, and in 2023 we sold Auxin to them.
Two lessons I've carried into every exit since. Know exactly where you add value to the person across the table. And listen to the instinct that says: go and talk to them.
How it works
Little door
An initial diagnostic of where the business stands: how much still depends on you, what a buyer is likely to test, and how ready your leadership team is to drive a plan with OKRs.
It gives you an honest read before you commit to anything bigger, and tells us both whether the full programme is the right next step.
Big Door
OKRs driving the plan that makes the business worth more. One outcome with a stated end date. A few measurable results owned by your leadership team, with cross-functional game plans behind them. Weekly check-ins, reviews at 45 and 90 days, then reflect and reset. I hold the nagging rights throughout, so the plan doesn't stall when the day job takes over.
I don't sell businesses. Corporate finance advisers do that, and the good ones do it well. When you appoint one, I stay alongside you as a bridge between you and them through negotiation, and step back when the paperwork is being signed.
From the inside
Clearswift is a UK cyber security software business. I spent eighteen months with CEO Heath Davies and his leadership team. We used OKRs to prepare the business for sale, then to hold focus through the transition once the deal was agreed. Clearswift was sold by its private equity owner, Lyceum Capital, to the Swiss technology group RUAG.
There are two questions in any exit. Is the business ready to sell? And are you?
Most of my Exit work is on the first. If the second is the one keeping you up at night, that's a fair question too, and some founders start with Clarity.
Confidential, and no obligation. Tell me where the business is, and I'll tell you honestly what a buyer is likely to see.
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