Buy Then Build: How Acquisition Entrepreneurs Outsmart the Startup Game

by Walker Deibel

Startups have an inherent flaw: they mostly fail. Even with overwhelming talent, outstanding early product trials, and an all-star team, success is still unlikely.

An existing company with legacy systems and an outdated path to success has just as much need for innovation as a startup does.

It’s the combination of innovation and existing customers that wins in the war of disruptive technologies.

Above all, strategic thinking, persistence, assertiveness, and being achievement-oriented, optimistic, and thick-skinned are the attributes most shared by successful entrepreneurs.

As a buyer of a company with established revenue, infrastructure, and earnings, you are buying cash flow, not non-revenue generating IP. Non-revenue generating IP is typically referred to as a “startup looking for funding.”