2023-10-18 16:29:48
When we talk about ‘exit’ in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, they refer to the departure of a ‘startup’ from its founding team or a group of investors. That is, for sale either to larger investors or to a company, an operation that is the goal of many entrepreneurs from the day they set up the firm. However, ‘exit’ and success are far from being synonymous and a ‘startup’ not only does not have to be sold, but it can be the one who buys or merges. Resist the temptation of the ball and stay to “build a country”, as Fernando Rodríguez Bergareche, Roger Álvarez, Ignacio Urigüen and Xabier Álvarez define it, protagonists of the round table with which the eighth edition of B-Venture closed a few minutes ago .
«I think there is a lack of business culture and ambition to build. We have chosen to buy, but, be careful, you have to buy companies and not negotiate. “Companies that make money and not companies that say they are going to make money,” explained Urigüen, head of Irontec, an engineering company specialized in software development that in recent years has incorporated four firms into its structure. «There are formulas to buy without taking out the checkbook, which do not imply the departure of the founding team. In fact, we don’t buy like that. We don’t give huge amounts to anyone to go home. That’s not building a company. Our vision is that there are many entrepreneurs who need help and you can give it to them by making them your travel companions, especially if they come from the technical world and do not have business knowledge,” he added.
«We are not going to fool ourselves. Most likely, the startups that are here today and succeed will be sold, but before doing so I would not close the door on the possibility of making acquisitions, even now, from the very beginning. As an alternative to organic growth, look for companies that are good for the project, for investors, for workers and even for the ecosystem. I believe that if a company makes an acquisition in the early phases of its life, the management team already approaches things with a more open mentality and has more possibilities of generating consolidation projects with more potential than those ‘startups’ created to sell themselves.» , explained Roger Álvarez, partner responsible for the northern zone at Bondo Advisors, a consultancy specialized in mergers and acquisitions. «These companies can even go public. Now it is relatively easy because, in addition to the BME Growth (former MAB), there is the BME Scale, which allows your shares to be listed without having raised capital. “These shares already have a value that you can use to buy other companies and can give confidence to the other party, even if you are a startup that sells a few million euros,” he continued.
«Are growth and success incompatible in a startup? Why do you have to sell when things are going well for you? Everything has a beginning and an end and that may be that of your startup, but don’t focus on achieving it because it may or may not come. On the other hand, if you grow, whether organically or inorganically, and finally sell, you will sell better,” stressed Xabier Álvarez, partner and head of the legal advisory firm for corporate operations Lawesome.
«We must also take into account the weight of the economic situation. Right now, after the rise in rates, funds are beginning to be interested in buying companies that can create synergies with those they already have interests in,” said Fernando Rodríguez Bergareche, head of Caixabank’s Day One northern zone. «It is true, right now it is easier to be a buyer than a seller. Maybe it becomes fashionable to buy companies because the economic cycle works in their favor. If you already have the mentality there, you will take advantage much better of the opportunities that may arise,” Roger Álvarez agreed with him.
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