Most exits are acquisitions, not IPOs. Three categories:
- Acqui-hire ($1M–$10M): they buy your team, kill the product. Investors get pennies.
- Strategic ($10M–$1B): they buy you for the product or market position. Decent outcome.
- IPO (rare): years of public scrutiny. The dream, but not the most common path.
Don't optimize for exit. Build a great company. Exits find great companies.
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