Hire an investment bank to run the sale so you keep building

Zack Hargett… "I think we should at least have the conversation." And so, we did, and we started having those conversations. I do think, just like founder-to-founder advice, it's important to know that most of those conversations are not going to be a great use of time and energy. I think it takes a really special company and a really special partnership for it to be worth it. And so, you know, Brett and I are very happy and excited to to be under Quizlet.

Zack HargettAnd the other thing I would say is that, if you are a founder on a really lean team, consider going through an investment bank, if you if you commit to selling and and finding a home for your company, um consider going through an investment bank. We went through an investment bank when we made the decision that we were going to uh talk to companies more seriously. We went through an investment bank that helped us focus, right? Because one of the biggest things that you're going to lose, or at least risk, when you go through an M&A process is you're going to take your eye off the ball a little bit. You're going to spend less time talking to customers, you're going to spend less time building and less time marketing. But going through an investment bank or having a financial advisor through that process can help with that.

Joseph ChoiAnd what What exactly is the role of the investment bank? They do the like the finance side of it, but then did did you also try using brokers or anyone to do the kind of like the acquisition process or the lead generation and that that kind of stuff?

Brett BaumanYeah, the the banker plays a lot of that role. I mean, we only know our experience, um, and it could be different, it could vary, but we worked with uh someone named Chris Park at Accretive Partners and he was really awesome. Um, and he uh handled things like that end to end, having early conversations all the way through to the end of closing the deal with with Quizlet.

Joseph ChoiSo, you you mentioned like the the sort of like split focus that can happen. If a founder is somewhat early or maybe like, you know, middle of their journey and they're they get a a CorpDev email tomorrow, what do you recommend? Like what should they actually do?

Zack Hargett… are, then you're, you know, I would suggest taking that intro call, but I would really temper expectations, right? The The most likely outcome is that it's not going to result in anything. The most likely outcome could be that it's not going to be a good use of your time and energy. But at the same time, if it's a company that you admire and they're like There's a great strategic alignment, then I do think those conversations are worth having.

Brett BaumanAnd I I would add on, like, to to you, you know, like you're you're charting on the App Store and this big company reaches out to you. That's That's awesome, right? It's a you should be proud that you're in that gotten to that moment to begin with. Uh, but and just remember that to them, like, if they're in the place where they're reaching out to people, they're probably talking to, you know, more than just you and after a couple conversations, I would recommend like trying to get them to give you like a ballpark range of numbers to make sure you're that you're even in the right place, and and if not, you know, that doesn't mean that you never have to talk to them again. You can keep the keep the conversation of going, can check in every once in a while, but you don't want to get too invested in it both like mentally and on the amount of time that you're spending.

Joseph ChoiSo you you mentioned that, you know, you want to find someone who uh a company that is like the right home for your customers and enables you to think more long-term. What What has Quizlet enabled for you guys?