In part 1 of our exploration of M&A trends in the travel sector, we talked to the bankers and advisors who have a front row seat to the circus that is the M&A process. Given this is their job day-in and day-out, they have a deep understanding of the steps involved in buying or selling a business, can anticipate the gotcha’s and stumbling blocks, and are primed to help their customers avoid pitfalls that can unexpectedly snag a deal.

Now we turn to the other side of the table and talk to the founders for their perspective on the exit. Since most founders will only experience an M&A event once or twice in a career, there is considerable information asymetry in the process. Exits can also take many different forms, depending on who’s buying, whether the startup is bootstrapped or venture-backed, and what’s actually being sold.

We talked to three travel startup founders who have gone through this process (a couple of whom have done it multiple times), to hear what their experiences were like, lessons learned, what they might have done differently, and what their exits enabled them to go on to do next. Because after all, an exit is just an entrance to somewhere else.

Follows
Gilad Berenstein — host
Cara Whitehill — host
Sarah Dusek — guest
Sam Shank — guest
Jeroen Van Velzen — guest

Go Deeper

• Thinking Bigger - Sarah Dusek
• The Art Of The Founder Exit - Forbes
• Why Founders Are Afraid to Talk About Exit Strategies - Harvard Business Review
• What Founders Need to Know Before Selling Their Startup - Harvard Business Review
• European founders are thinking more creatively about exits. Here are some of the options - Sifted
• Exit strategies: When to sell and not to sell - Silicon Valley Bank