HubSpot CEO's Close Call
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Sam Parr shares a story about why deal timing is critical when selling a company, using HubSpot's acquisition of The Hustle as an example.
"When people talk to me about selling their companies, I tell them you really want to optimize for time to close as quickly as possible. Here's why: Brian Halligan, the CEO of HubSpot, got into a near-death accident 5 days after our deal closed. If that happened at any other time, or if the economy changed, or if the person leading the deal quits - stuff changes all the time.
Another thing to consider is who's making the offer. HubSpot has a board of directors, they're a huge company. When they present the LOI to their board before giving it to you, the likelihood of the deal getting done is quite high because the employees have to look good to the board. Whereas if you have another guy who's just a smaller business and it's just the founder leading the deal, he doesn't have the same accountability - he'll bail at any time. The dynamics are different. These are things that I didn't quite understand until I went through it, because you don't even know what to ask."
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.