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Another viable 'exit strategy'
for a startup is a merger or acquisition. Not just a graceful
exit, oftentimes an acquisition may be the best path for an entrepreneur
to achieve his or her mission. Almost out of money, Donna Dubinsky
and Jeff Hawkins of Palm discuss selling their company.
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Relevant
Texbook Chapters
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Discussion
Questions
- What was Jeff and Donna's mission in starting Palm? Have
they achieved it in this case?
- What experiences have they had with partners that color
their receptivity to Zakin's offer?
- What impressions do they have of US Robotics and why?
- What are the top three reasons Donna and Jeff should reject
US Robotic's offer and go it alone?
- Imagine you are an entrepreneur with a relatively successful
technology start-up. Several companies are interested in acquiring
your company. How would you decide whether to be acquired
or not? How would you decide which one to sell to?
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Main
Case Study: Palm Computing, Inc. - 1995 Financing Challenges
Donna Dubinsky and Jeff Hawkins, discuss an opportunity to
sell their company to U.S. Robotics. They must weigh this
option versus accepting venture capital funding, partnering
with a large company that could provide distribution channels
and capital, or continuing a search for capital from other
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Carol
Bartz: Spinoffs - the concept behind buzzsaw.com
In 1999, Autodesk spun out a company called Buzzsaw.com. The
concept was to provide a hosted environment for the construction
industry. The problem: There are many people who come together
one time for a project--architects, engineers, construction
managers, contractors...that combination of people makes a
building. They interact infrequently, but their collaboration
is essential to the success of the building. This clip discusses
Buzzsaw as a spinoff--how the opportunity was recognized,
and realized, and the lessons learned. |
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Heidi
Roizen: Venture capital vs. corporate funding
Why VC funding over corporate investors? Or the other way
around? Vc's give you money and sometimes in the future they
want to get a lot more of it back. When taking money from
a corporate investors they generally want early view into
technology, sweet deals from business development perspective.
If taking money from corporate investors, make sure you know
what they want and what you want. |
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