Comments on: How to close a term sheet quickly http://venturehacks.com/articles/closing-quickly Good advice for startups. Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:11:49 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: scott edward walker http://venturehacks.com/articles/closing-quickly/comment-page-1#comment-10871 scott edward walker Fri, 05 Feb 2010 00:44:56 +0000 http://venturehacks.com/?p=1355#comment-10871 Nivi -- Excellent post and advice, particularly the BATNA. I made that suggestion on Chris’s post yesterday and got some pushback (see http://bit.ly/dedym5). I worked with some outstanding i-bankers doing major M&A transactions in New York who were masters at keeping potential acquirors warm and exclusivity periods short (sometimes 15 days); obviously, it’s a little trickier trying to execute in a Series A round. Also, excellent advice from Antony Brydon (in the comments) re: "[having] all due diligence ready to go on demand." As I noted in #3 in my post re: selling companies (see http://bit.ly/blbX9s), it is "an easy way to instill confidence" and also demonstrates a certain level of credibility and sophistication. Nivi — Excellent post and advice, particularly the BATNA. I made that suggestion on Chris’s post yesterday and got some pushback (see http://bit.ly/dedym5). I worked with some outstanding i-bankers doing major M&A transactions in New York who were masters at keeping potential acquirors warm and exclusivity periods short (sometimes 15 days); obviously, it’s a little trickier trying to execute in a Series A round.

Also, excellent advice from Antony Brydon (in the comments) re: “[having] all due diligence ready to go on demand.” As I noted in #3 in my post re: selling companies (see http://bit.ly/blbX9s), it is “an easy way to instill confidence” and also demonstrates a certain level of credibility and sophistication.

]]> By: Antony Brydon http://venturehacks.com/articles/closing-quickly/comment-page-1#comment-8585 Antony Brydon Wed, 29 Apr 2009 21:16:28 +0000 http://venturehacks.com/?p=1355#comment-8585 I'd like to add a fourth point that I think deserves a spot on the summary list: 4. Have all due diligence ready to go on demand Due diligence on demand means that the company's due diligence is always current, up-to-date, and ready to be delivered to a potential partner, investor or acquiror at a moment's notice. Given that financing and acquisitions are rare (once a year), this may seem like overkill. But it actually demands that the company keep its books current and in perfect order, which has a number of other associated and equally important benefits. We went from term sheet to close in our Series A with KP in 20 days, and it came at an opportunistic time when we were not actively raising venture. Part of this was a function of us having good counsel and KP having good counsel, but having diligence "always-on" was a key component. I wrote a bit more about it here: http://tinyurl.com/ca38wq I’d like to add a fourth point that I think deserves a spot on the summary list:

4. Have all due diligence ready to go on demand

Due diligence on demand means that the company’s due diligence is always current, up-to-date, and ready to be delivered to a potential partner, investor or acquiror at a moment’s notice.

Given that financing and acquisitions are rare (once a year), this may seem like overkill. But it actually demands that the company keep its books current and in perfect order, which has a number of other associated and equally important benefits.

We went from term sheet to close in our Series A with KP in 20 days, and it came at an opportunistic time when we were not actively raising venture. Part of this was a function of us having good counsel and KP having good counsel, but having diligence “always-on” was a key component.

I wrote a bit more about it here: http://tinyurl.com/ca38wq

]]> By: Michael F. Martin http://venturehacks.com/articles/closing-quickly/comment-page-1#comment-8574 Michael F. Martin Tue, 28 Apr 2009 16:39:51 +0000 http://venturehacks.com/?p=1355#comment-8574 Since it might interest Venture Hacks readers, a very good discussion of BATNA and related theory is provided in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bargaining-Advantage-Negotiation-Strategies-Reasonable/dp/0140281916" rel="nofollow">Bargaining for Advantage</a>. This was one of the most useful books I read in law school. The appendix form questions to consider in preparation for a negotiation are particularly useful in referring back to the book. Since it might interest Venture Hacks readers, a very good discussion of BATNA and related theory is provided in Bargaining for Advantage. This was one of the most useful books I read in law school. The appendix form questions to consider in preparation for a negotiation are particularly useful in referring back to the book.

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