Question

How big a startup company need to get before they become attractive to sell: revenues, number of employees, accounts, other?

Answer 1

Revenues: An important thing is not the amount of revenue, it is the rate at which the revenue is being generated, and the total market share the revenue indicates. If the growth rate is high and so is market share then the startup can attract really big value and number of investors

Number of Employees: Having enough people is necessary. More than required people will attract extra costs, fewer people will attract inefficiency. A number of people should include people hired based on future growth. Also, nurtured talent will attract more value as compared to fresh talent.

Accounts: Your financial statements are the key to determining the value of your company. However, many businesses have financials that are not compiled well, making them less credible and will be a big setback. So you really need to get your accounting books in order, your contracts in order, your IP in order, your cap table in order. Keep all the financial statements ready and keep them audited (for last 2 years at least). Hiring a banker for this is a really good move.

Planning in advance: Start developing relations with investors, make necessary changes in the organization to make it more attractive.  Plan the investors you would love to sell your business to and proceed as per the plan.

Consider alternatives to M&A