An exit for a startup company is often crucial in obtaining maximum reward and success. Compared to liquidation when a company’s physical assets are sold or auctioned due to the lack of viability in a company’s prospects, an exit provides to an acquiring company the ability to ultimately improve customer satisfaction, with a startup able to place a premium on its price based on the value that it adds to an acquirer in this way.

In the majority cases, an acquiring company receives maximum value from an acquisition by fully absorbing an acquired startup’s more intangible aspects, namely its talent, stakeholder relationships, protected technologies and unique processes. Also, if a startup merges with another company as opposed to being acquired, it too can gain increased capabilities and an enhanced identity.

In supporting the pursuit of exits for entrepreneurs and their investors via mergers and acquisitions (M & A), Web Fuel facilitates online group discussions and 1-on-1 negotiations between startups and potential acquirers or merging partners. As such, it enables the development and fulfilment of exit opportunities. Of note, WebFuel is a site that I have already developed.

The procedure for entrepreneurs to take advantage of WebFuel follows below and entails no charge from Web Fuel:

• look at your company’s resources, technologies, people and processes and then find a fit with other companies that might desire the attributes and capabilities of your company. reflect on your true worth
• analyze potential merger and acquisition scenarios with the companies that you have identified. brainstorm and refine
• contact the companies you have identified and relate to each the scenarios you uncovered. build bridges and agree on a road ahead
• compile a list of interested contacts from the companies you contacted and reflect upon your discussions and realizations. hone your wealth-potential
• write an article elaborating upon the value proposition of your company in relation to each interested company with the competitive opportunities to be gained or otherwise forgone. showcase the scarcity of your offering and the opportunity-cost of missing it
• request a WebFuel invitation with your needs, and once received sign-up. psyche yourself
• from within your account’s settings, send separate forum invitations to each contact from your list of potential acquirers or merging partners. bring together the most rewarding outcomes
• when the majority of your contacts have signed-up to the forum as shown on the member list, post your article and then engage in online and offline deal-making. maintain enthusiasm throughout the process
• should poor follow-up be received, alert contacts to your posting with emails or private messages and spur them to ask questions. engage and relate whenever possible
• report on your negotiations as they progress under the posting. perhaps play contacts off against each other
• with a set of keen buyers established, consider auctioning your company to chosen contacts with knowledge of the various outcomes possible. milking it

Below are some potential use-cases relating to web startups using Web Fuel:

• Seller: the company incorporates first-rate technology but due to intense competition has been unable to claim mass acceptance and viability.
• Seller: the company is vc-backed and would otherwise be disbanded, with sale proceeds providing a moderate return to investors and enabling founders and employees to obtain employment with the acquirer.
• Seller: the company’s owners are unwilling to sell in a public space to ill-equipped buyers where a premium cannot be fetched.
• Buyer: a dominant company in the consumer web space is interested in absorbing the talent, technologies and user-base of competitors via acquisitions, and initially bringing these competitors together on WebFuel.
• Buyer: a software producer or consultant is interested in acquiring a web startup to incorporate into a product line after relabeling and making minor modifications.
• Buyer: a major internet portal is interested in providing a new service to its users via acquiring a web startup from a variety of competing startups.
• Merging partner: one startup is keen to access the API of one or more other sites and will do so only after merging.

Summarizing, Web Fuel provides a regulated online space to support M & A deal-making according to specific use cases. It has been built with ajaxified software and is especially useful for enabling web startups to secure exits, but this requires entrepreneurs work actively with potential acquisition or merging partners. The site is currently online by invite only and available for free use. Its utility for networking opportunities will increase as the user base expands.

Contact me for an invite or further assistance with your startup.