Entrepreneurs are just Fish!

Michael Scofield is called Fish in an early episode of Prison Break. I misunderstood at first. Later I got to know that prison is like a Fish Tank and new inmates Fish. This disconnect to the idea of an Entrepreneur is a Fish. Makes me think with a crazy question if entrepreneurs are Fish.

Entrepreneurs see a dream while they start a firm. They have this billion-dollar business idea and are eager to appear great in the market. The struggle, get funding, increase annual recurring revenue are steps to go all the way to make the dream come true.

The firm might be into a specific job and with decent customer base. This can make you a meal for big fish. Big Fishes are constantly in search of small fish. Good for small fish. They achieve nirvana and get life going in different other directions.

Should Entrepreneur grab the opportunity to be a meal? Is that all glossy with such acquisition and how many a time does such transaction help entrepreneurs?

Merger & Acquisition are good for both parties as they take advantage of synergies. Synergies by technical support to reduce cost or catering to a new market with a new product combined. The combined is better than an individual.

My personal experience is not so great. The opportunity of working as an entrepreneur vanishes with such acquisition. The money is substantial in a deal, but I always felt most of the chuck is for angel investors and venture capitalists who funded in the first place to make it happen. Entrepreneurs are left to manage the new podium or left bruised and hurt with some money.

Either way, GOOD or BAD. If an acquisition is managed well can be a step-up in life.

Here are some quick things to check and step on the launch pad of acquisition.

• Have a long-term plan–I have seen takeovers to just kill the idea. Individually such a firm would have seen better days, but just because of acquisition, they killed your firm.
• Be aware of culture change–In a new firm you will never be a CEO (you might in case you possess qualities), so you will see a lot of cultural fights. When you out of your firm, they leave you to do BD and that is painful.
• Do your homework–Do the research and try finding the strategic rationale. You will not be allowed to work anywhere except in Merge Company for some time. 
• Grab the money first-in case your motivation is money to sell off your firm, avoid taking any targets to get paid. Be neat, money first.
• Don’t get in pity issues-Getaway from fixing your employee issue. Let the new merge company handle this. Your employees were all great, but then doing this will be painful. You can appreciate them and give away your earnings. But never solve their problems by fighting with merge company.

There are many great posts on this, but these smart ideas will help you in real. I can tell you about planning to integrate the team to understand your strengths. Everything is bullshit, except you get paid well.

Here is a list of big fish eats small fish list in year 2020:

• Salesforce bid to acquire Slack
• Facebook acquires Kustomer
• Adobe bid to acquire Workfront
• Marvell Technology to acquire Inphi
• Byju’s acquires WhiteHat Jr
• AMD bid to acquire Xilinx
• Twilio to acquire Segment
• Nvidia to acquire Arm
• Progress Software acquires Chef
• SUSE acquires Rancher
• Uber to acquire Postmates
• Amazon to acquire Zoox
• Mastercard to acquire Fincity
• Byju’s acquires Toppr
• Zoom acquires Keybase

Survival of the fittest. If you can’t sustain, the fittest will eat you.

Have a Fish meal.