The price is right – finding buyers for your business and securing the best deal.
You’ve scaled your business and its time to sell; how do you find the right buyers and get the best price? Lowell Ricklefs has decades of experience in selling B2B SaaS businesses; both as an entrepreneur and as an M&A advisor. Lowell shares some of the common mistakes to avoid as well as his secrets to success.
Transformation and how we f**k it up.
The trouble with typical 'transformation' is that folks often see it as a one-time event; rather than a perpetual evolutionary process.
Avoiding a down round in a bear market
Few founders or investors like the prospect of devaluing a business; but with market sentiment cooling how do you raise enough to continue to run and grow the business while avoiding a down round? Melissa Widner, CEO at Lighter Capital, is an experienced entrepreneur and investor who has lived life on both sides of the equation. We discuss the concept of revenue-based financing and how it’s being leveraged by businesses to enable continued growth between valuations.
Scaling your sales capability – how to shift sales culture to unlock growth
You’re a founder who’s hired a bunch of sellers to help you drive revenue, but the business is still overly reliant on your ability to sell. How do you successfully scale your sales capability? Mark McInnes, sales capability consultant and founder of sales-dev.com shares the common mistakes founders make in scaling their sales capability and the simple 3-step method to success.
Sustainable high-growth businesses must have an eye on margins
If you’re going to scale, no matter what kind of business you are in, you need to know how much money it is costing you to deliver each $1 of revenue. Michelle Kvello Founder and MD of Lantern Partners discusses why keeping an eye on margin is critical to scalability, what numbers investors care about, and her tips for where to focus for both service and product businesses.
A good time not a long time – why it’s critical to get your ESOP right
Motivating employees to join and stay with your business is a challenge. Employee Share Options Plans are increasingly being adopted in Australia but do founders and employees really understand them? Steve Grace, founder and CEO of the Nudge Group, joins us again to try and demystify ESOPs and share’s his lessons from implementing them in his businesses.
I think we need to have a conversation about ethics in Scaleups
I think we need to have a conversation about ethics in scaleups
Making the leap – transforming your team from startup to scaleup
Its not uncommon for founders to assume their founding team will be with them for the entire journey; but the reality is that some people move on, and others hang around that shouldn’t. Steve Grace, founder and CEO of the Nudge Group, shares the lessons from his three businesses about how to successfully navigate the team transformation from startup to scaleup.
Scaling your engineering team – how to successfully leverage offshore talent
Australia is experiencing record employment rates. The competition to secure the best software engineering folks is pushing salaries out of reach for many scaling businesses. Aidan Scott, co-founder of Resync Digital, shares his perspective on how to successfully and cost effectively leverage offshore resources to enable scale.
Demystifying startup investment and securing your next raise
In Australia there’s a lot of investment terminology that’s perhaps misused or open to interpretation. Cam Walshe Co-founder and MD of Pitch VC sheds some light on what the investment round terminology really means, how he helped Mr Yum with their US$65m Series A, what investors look for in a startup, and his tips to securing your next round.
Dealing with brilliant jerks – how to have a difficult conversation
They say the behaviour you walk past is the behaviour you accept. But performance and behaviour conversations are difficult, especially in growing teams. Damien Gooden, CEO of HR Central, shares his perspectives on how to approach difficult conversations (and what might happen if you don’t).
Investor updates – turning obligation into opportunity – tips from a Silicon Valley capital raising pro
You have a fiduciary obligation to keep your investors updated; but it doesn’t need to be a chore. Nathan Beckord has spent his 20-year career raising capital for startups. He shares his tips on how to use your investor updates as marketing that makes subsequent rounds seamless, and the secrets to a killer update.
Growing your startup business despite a market downturn
Not since the dotcom boom and the GFC have we seen such significant headwinds for startup growth; but in every disruption, there exists opportunity. Alastair Blenkin, Founder and CEO of ProcurePro, discusses how macroeconomic factors are impacting both tech startups and the construction industry, and some of his lessons learned from building two vertical SaaS platforms that will enable founders to navigate these headwinds.
How successful B2B scaleup founders prepare for crisis
Cyber-attacks, ransomware, phishing – any of these could be targeted at your business or at your customers via your business. How do you respond? Grant Chisnall is a crisis advisor who guides leaders through events like cyber attacks, major outages, product recalls, pandemics and natural disasters. Grant shares his perspective on why scaleups are a soft-target for cyber criminals and how founders & CEOs can be prepared.
A solid foundation for rapid growth and scale
You’ve taken your business to a position where it’s ready for major investment from outside. But, are you ready? Shane Williams has seen common mistakes of start-ups looking to scale-up, the least of which is not having the right technology systems and foundations in place to get there. Shane’s spent 20+ years in the tech industry, including in News Corp and REA Group. He’s done the hard yards himself from the inside, and now he’s on the outside helping businesses looking to scale rapidly. Normally, Shane’s the host, but in this episode the spotlight is on him. Shane’s producer, Chris Ashmore, quizzes him about the industry and how founders can simplify their adoption of tech platforms.
Busting the myths about startup investment
Is there more than one path to getting investment for your startup? How do you, as an investor in your own business, ensure a solid return? Jordan Green, serial entrepreneur, and a founder of Melbourne Angels discusses the options and consequences for startup funding and tips for founders to successfully start, grow and exit a business.
When and who should founders turn to when you need help?
In the early stages of a startup, the founder and early team wear many hats, but as the business scales we often need to call in the experts. Seb Pool co-founder and CEO of Frankie.health share’s his perspective, as on how to identify when you need help and how to make sure you find the right consultant.
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