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Exit Path: How to Win the Startup End Game
An exit strategy, if implemented early, is the surprising secret to ultimate startup success. Find out why―and how to develop one―in this comprehensive, practical guide from veteran Silicon Valley dealmaker Touraj Parang.
In 2008, Touraj Parang's award-winning startup, Jaxtr, had 10 million users, raised nearly $20 million from top-tier Silicon Valley investors, and seemed poised to sail straight through the Great Recession. But, by January of 2009, Jaxtr’s only hope for survival was to find a buyer―sadly, it was too late for that.
In Exit Path, Touraj draws on the lessons learned from that chaotic experience and the extraordinary successes that followed once he (and the entrepreneurs he advises) made creating and executing an exit strategy a top priority. For too long entrepreneurs have been failing to establish the requisite relationships and properly prepare for the most important milestone in their life cycle: a sale to an acquirer. But in today’s hyper competitive and interconnected business world, that is no longer an option. In this first-of-its-kind, comprehensive guide, you'll discover the surprising reasons few startups succeed while many fail―and you’ll learn that implementing an exit strategy early will empower you to take charge of your startup’s ultimate fate, maximizing its potential for success while mitigating the risks of failure.
Arranged in four sequential parts, Exit Path walks you through actionable steps to devise and execute an effective exit strategy, starting with a fresh new perspective on the critical importance of creating a viable sale option for your startup. You'll learn why creating your exit strategy is necessary well before you're contemplating an exit, regardless of the stage of your startup. You’ll also discover how to create your own exit plan, how to make your plan a reality through personal and business relationships, and how to approach and negotiate with acquirers for an outcome best aligned with your values and ambitions should the need arise.
Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, or advisor, the expert advice and insights in Exit Path will inspire you to take charge of your startup’s destiny and unlock its strategic potential and options over time.
In 2008, Touraj Parang's award-winning startup, Jaxtr, had 10 million users, raised nearly $20 million from top-tier Silicon Valley investors, and seemed poised to sail straight through the Great Recession. But, by January of 2009, Jaxtr’s only hope for survival was to find a buyer―sadly, it was too late for that.
In Exit Path, Touraj draws on the lessons learned from that chaotic experience and the extraordinary successes that followed once he (and the entrepreneurs he advises) made creating and executing an exit strategy a top priority. For too long entrepreneurs have been failing to establish the requisite relationships and properly prepare for the most important milestone in their life cycle: a sale to an acquirer. But in today’s hyper competitive and interconnected business world, that is no longer an option. In this first-of-its-kind, comprehensive guide, you'll discover the surprising reasons few startups succeed while many fail―and you’ll learn that implementing an exit strategy early will empower you to take charge of your startup’s ultimate fate, maximizing its potential for success while mitigating the risks of failure.
Arranged in four sequential parts, Exit Path walks you through actionable steps to devise and execute an effective exit strategy, starting with a fresh new perspective on the critical importance of creating a viable sale option for your startup. You'll learn why creating your exit strategy is necessary well before you're contemplating an exit, regardless of the stage of your startup. You’ll also discover how to create your own exit plan, how to make your plan a reality through personal and business relationships, and how to approach and negotiate with acquirers for an outcome best aligned with your values and ambitions should the need arise.
Whether you are an entrepreneur, investor, or advisor, the expert advice and insights in Exit Path will inspire you to take charge of your startup’s destiny and unlock its strategic potential and options over time.
- GenresBusiness
326 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 2, 2022
23 people are currently reading
152 people want to read
About the author
Touraj Parang
1 book3 followersTouraj Parang is currently the President and Chief Operating Officer at Serve Robotics, a startup shaping the future of sustainable, self-driving delivery, and an Operating Advisor at Pear VC, an early-stage venture capital firm.
He is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, advisor, and M&A expert. His book Exit Path: How to Win the Startup End Game draws on his decades-long unique experience involving hundreds of M&A transactions, strategic partnerships, and venture capital investments totaling billions of dollars in aggregate value.
He is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, advisor, and M&A expert. His book Exit Path: How to Win the Startup End Game draws on his decades-long unique experience involving hundreds of M&A transactions, strategic partnerships, and venture capital investments totaling billions of dollars in aggregate value.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 15, 2022
As Stevo’s Novel Ideas, I am a long-time book reviewer, member of the media, an Influencer, and a content provider. I received this book as a free review copy from either the publisher, a publicist, or the author, and have not been otherwide compensated for reviewing or recommending it. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 8/14, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. An exit strategy, if implemented early in the lifetime of the company, is the surprising secret to ultimate startup success.
For more than 15 years, I was in a Director-level position that delivered services associated with an online community platform. During that time, though the company purchased and merged with a few smaller ones, it went through four major acquisitions. My job remained the same, but the name of the company was different.
I remember hearing rumors that one of the companies had been sold. When I asked the CEO, he said "No, but never forget that we are always for sale."
Each acquisition had a different outcome, either being well-positioned for the next acquisition, or, finally, dying on the vine due to bad investments and lack of proper management (or even a manager at all), with my division being outsourced. What could have kept the final company viable for continued M&A activity? According to Touraj Parang, it should have planned and positioned itself for the next acquisition. It needed an Exit Path.
Parang's new book may seem to be misguided: why plan your funeral when you've just been born - but to him, an exit path is the ultimate success. You've been acquired and your company is now part of a larger enterprise. You just made a lot of money and have either negotiated your expanded continuation or you have given up control so you can launch the next startup.
"Exit Plan" has four main sections: initial positioning and communication of your exit plan to the market, creating a plan in line with your mission and aspirations, developing strategic relationships and teams over the long haul, and how to obtain and negotiate acquisition offers when the time comes.
As Parang says, "good exits happen when companies are bought, not sold." This book goes far toward making that happen.
Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.
This book was Stevo's Business Book of the Week for the week of 8/14, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet and Stevo's Novel Ideas. An exit strategy, if implemented early in the lifetime of the company, is the surprising secret to ultimate startup success.
For more than 15 years, I was in a Director-level position that delivered services associated with an online community platform. During that time, though the company purchased and merged with a few smaller ones, it went through four major acquisitions. My job remained the same, but the name of the company was different.
I remember hearing rumors that one of the companies had been sold. When I asked the CEO, he said "No, but never forget that we are always for sale."
Each acquisition had a different outcome, either being well-positioned for the next acquisition, or, finally, dying on the vine due to bad investments and lack of proper management (or even a manager at all), with my division being outsourced. What could have kept the final company viable for continued M&A activity? According to Touraj Parang, it should have planned and positioned itself for the next acquisition. It needed an Exit Path.
Parang's new book may seem to be misguided: why plan your funeral when you've just been born - but to him, an exit path is the ultimate success. You've been acquired and your company is now part of a larger enterprise. You just made a lot of money and have either negotiated your expanded continuation or you have given up control so you can launch the next startup.
"Exit Plan" has four main sections: initial positioning and communication of your exit plan to the market, creating a plan in line with your mission and aspirations, developing strategic relationships and teams over the long haul, and how to obtain and negotiate acquisition offers when the time comes.
As Parang says, "good exits happen when companies are bought, not sold." This book goes far toward making that happen.
Find more Business Books of the Week on my Goodreads Listopia page at https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/9..., and find many more reviewed and recommended books and products by searching for me on Google.
September 3, 2022
This book is a must-read for those in the start-up world. For those vast majority of start-ups that don’t go all the way to an IPO, this book shines a light on how to craft an exit path. As outside legal counsel to start-ups, this book is true to my own experiences counseling clients who are able to successfully sell their companies (and those who are not). Touraj provides his perspective from his wealth of experience in the start-up world, as lawyer, founder, investor, and acquirer. The book is well-written, and a joy to read.
December 31, 2022
An essential book for startup founders. It gives you an overview of different exit strategies and helps you plan for them in advance.
October 6, 2024
Book's Endorsements:
"This is the most useful book I've ever read on how to think about startup exits. Touraj Parang makes a compelling case for entrepreneurs and investors to talk early and openly about options for acquisition.
—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know and host of the TED podcast, WorkLife
"The best founders are mission-driven and motivated more by impact than an exit. But the final mile cannot be traversed by the unprepared. In this book, Parang sheds a rare spotlight on how to manage one of the most important decisions in a founder's career."
—Scott Belsky, founder of Behance (sold to Adobe); author of The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
"In Exit Path, Touraj provides a much-needed insider view into the esoteric and often-inaccessible world of M&A and strategic partnerships, broken down to their simplest building blocks."
—Sean Ellis, Random House international bestselling author of Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success; host of the Breakout Growth Podcast
"The happy ending for every startup story includes an IPO or acquisition. But despite this, nearly every book ever written about entrepreneurship ignores or glosses over the details of how to earn that happy ending. In Exit Path, Touraj provides an end-to-end blueprint on how great businesses achieve great exits."
—Chris Yeh, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Blitzscaling and The Alliance; founding partner of Blitzscaling Ventures
"Exit Path is a must-read primer for everyone in the startup ecosystem. It elegantly blends Touraj's experience with illustrative case studies of notable M&A transactions, complemented by insights from the fields of philosophy, psychology, and behavioral economics."
—Lily Sarafan, cofounder and executive chair of TheKey; board member at Stanford University, Instacart, and Thumbtack
"So many entrepreneurs are unprepared for the most important transaction in their startup's life: their exit. Learning from Touraj's decades-long experience and following his guidance in Exit Path will ensure you are not in that camp."
—Pejman Nozad, founding managing partner of Pear VC; #1 Forbes Midas Seed List 2022 (US)
"Great entrepreneurs are always planning and iterating. Yet all too often they fail to build the most important relationships that can lead to a lucrative acquisition or, sometimes more importantly, provide a necessary lifeline for a faltering startup. In Exit Path, Touraj provides a roadmap for building those relationships and keeping a company's options open. It is a powerful tool for any entrepreneur who wants to be prepared for the best while planning for the worst."
—David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital; lecturer at Harvard Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business
"I know firsthand that startups often hang by a thread. Without an exit strategy, even great entrepreneurs can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, while others work miracles to secure great futures for their team and product. In this book, Touraj prepares you for the most important moments in startup life, drawing on his extensive experience to help tilt the odds in your favor."
—Jeff Seibert, cofounder of Digits, Crashlytics (sold to Twitter), Fabric (sold to Google), and Increo (sold to Box)
"Entrepreneurs look for guidance they can relate to, advice they can trust, and actionable steps they can take. Exit Path delivers on all of those and keeps you engaged, entertained, and informed in the process."
—Oren Zeev, founding partner of Zeev Ventures; early investor and board member of Houzz, Chegg, TripActions, Tipalti, and Firebolt
"In Exit Path, Touraj draws on his unique expertise to shine light on an often-ignored critical foundation of successful acquisitions: the interpersonal relationships."
—Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO of Automattic; cofounder of WordPress
"Finally, a blueprint for taking a startup to a successful exit. Regardless of current state of their startup, every entrepreneur must carefully consider their exit strategy. Exit Path offers a definitive guide to exiting by the man who made my first $100 million exit happen."
—Haroon Mokhtarzada, cofounder and CEO of Truebill (sold to Rocket Companies) and Webs (sold to Vistaprint)
"Touraj is a secret weapon for many of the best entrepreneurs in tech—the first call for all things M&A. Exit Path will undoubtedly become the new standard guide for founders navigating the final leg of their journey."
—Hooman Radfar, cofounder and CEO of Collective and AddThis (sold to Oracle); venture partner at Expa
"Exit Path is a must-read for every entrepreneur. Touraj completely demystifies how to successfully get acquired, one of the most challenging aspects of startups."
—Hiten Shah, cofounder and CEO of Nira, Crazy Egg, and KISSmetrics
"From his firsthand experience as a buyer and seller, Touraj brings a unique and practical perspective to show you why, when and how to create strategic partnerships or sell your company."
—David Popowitz, former SVP corporate and business development of GoDaddy
"Blending business, psychology, behavioral economics, and philosophy, Exit Path is the definitive guide on how every entrepreneur can create tremendous value through strategic relationships, written by one of the most beloved relationship builders in Silicon Valley."
—Bryan Lip, global head of business and corporate development of Houzz
"I've worked with many, many start-ups and led hundreds of M&A transactions ranging from a couple of million dollars to more than $10 billion. That experience has shown me the value of developing a thoughtful exit strategy—even if no exit is imminent. Exit Path takes you through the steps of preparing for an acquisition, from strategy creation to generating inbound interest, and negotiating terms. It's never too early for entrepreneurs to start that important planning: preparation breeds success."
—Warren Lazarow, partner and former chair of global corporate department of O'Melveny; four times on Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Technology Dealmakers Worldwide
"Entrepreneurs can tilt the odds of survival and success in their favor by designing and implementing an exit strategy while they are working to build a profitable startup. This book explains how."
—Michael Diz, partner and co-chair of mergers & acquisitions group of Debevoise & Plimpton
"This is the most useful book I've ever read on how to think about startup exits. Touraj Parang makes a compelling case for entrepreneurs and investors to talk early and openly about options for acquisition.
—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know and host of the TED podcast, WorkLife
"The best founders are mission-driven and motivated more by impact than an exit. But the final mile cannot be traversed by the unprepared. In this book, Parang sheds a rare spotlight on how to manage one of the most important decisions in a founder's career."
—Scott Belsky, founder of Behance (sold to Adobe); author of The Messy Middle: Finding Your Way Through the Hardest and Most Crucial Part of Any Bold Venture
"In Exit Path, Touraj provides a much-needed insider view into the esoteric and often-inaccessible world of M&A and strategic partnerships, broken down to their simplest building blocks."
—Sean Ellis, Random House international bestselling author of Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success; host of the Breakout Growth Podcast
"The happy ending for every startup story includes an IPO or acquisition. But despite this, nearly every book ever written about entrepreneurship ignores or glosses over the details of how to earn that happy ending. In Exit Path, Touraj provides an end-to-end blueprint on how great businesses achieve great exits."
—Chris Yeh, New York Times bestselling coauthor of Blitzscaling and The Alliance; founding partner of Blitzscaling Ventures
"Exit Path is a must-read primer for everyone in the startup ecosystem. It elegantly blends Touraj's experience with illustrative case studies of notable M&A transactions, complemented by insights from the fields of philosophy, psychology, and behavioral economics."
—Lily Sarafan, cofounder and executive chair of TheKey; board member at Stanford University, Instacart, and Thumbtack
"So many entrepreneurs are unprepared for the most important transaction in their startup's life: their exit. Learning from Touraj's decades-long experience and following his guidance in Exit Path will ensure you are not in that camp."
—Pejman Nozad, founding managing partner of Pear VC; #1 Forbes Midas Seed List 2022 (US)
"Great entrepreneurs are always planning and iterating. Yet all too often they fail to build the most important relationships that can lead to a lucrative acquisition or, sometimes more importantly, provide a necessary lifeline for a faltering startup. In Exit Path, Touraj provides a roadmap for building those relationships and keeping a company's options open. It is a powerful tool for any entrepreneur who wants to be prepared for the best while planning for the worst."
—David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital; lecturer at Harvard Law School and Stanford Graduate School of Business
"I know firsthand that startups often hang by a thread. Without an exit strategy, even great entrepreneurs can snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, while others work miracles to secure great futures for their team and product. In this book, Touraj prepares you for the most important moments in startup life, drawing on his extensive experience to help tilt the odds in your favor."
—Jeff Seibert, cofounder of Digits, Crashlytics (sold to Twitter), Fabric (sold to Google), and Increo (sold to Box)
"Entrepreneurs look for guidance they can relate to, advice they can trust, and actionable steps they can take. Exit Path delivers on all of those and keeps you engaged, entertained, and informed in the process."
—Oren Zeev, founding partner of Zeev Ventures; early investor and board member of Houzz, Chegg, TripActions, Tipalti, and Firebolt
"In Exit Path, Touraj draws on his unique expertise to shine light on an often-ignored critical foundation of successful acquisitions: the interpersonal relationships."
—Matt Mullenweg, founder and CEO of Automattic; cofounder of WordPress
"Finally, a blueprint for taking a startup to a successful exit. Regardless of current state of their startup, every entrepreneur must carefully consider their exit strategy. Exit Path offers a definitive guide to exiting by the man who made my first $100 million exit happen."
—Haroon Mokhtarzada, cofounder and CEO of Truebill (sold to Rocket Companies) and Webs (sold to Vistaprint)
"Touraj is a secret weapon for many of the best entrepreneurs in tech—the first call for all things M&A. Exit Path will undoubtedly become the new standard guide for founders navigating the final leg of their journey."
—Hooman Radfar, cofounder and CEO of Collective and AddThis (sold to Oracle); venture partner at Expa
"Exit Path is a must-read for every entrepreneur. Touraj completely demystifies how to successfully get acquired, one of the most challenging aspects of startups."
—Hiten Shah, cofounder and CEO of Nira, Crazy Egg, and KISSmetrics
"From his firsthand experience as a buyer and seller, Touraj brings a unique and practical perspective to show you why, when and how to create strategic partnerships or sell your company."
—David Popowitz, former SVP corporate and business development of GoDaddy
"Blending business, psychology, behavioral economics, and philosophy, Exit Path is the definitive guide on how every entrepreneur can create tremendous value through strategic relationships, written by one of the most beloved relationship builders in Silicon Valley."
—Bryan Lip, global head of business and corporate development of Houzz
"I've worked with many, many start-ups and led hundreds of M&A transactions ranging from a couple of million dollars to more than $10 billion. That experience has shown me the value of developing a thoughtful exit strategy—even if no exit is imminent. Exit Path takes you through the steps of preparing for an acquisition, from strategy creation to generating inbound interest, and negotiating terms. It's never too early for entrepreneurs to start that important planning: preparation breeds success."
—Warren Lazarow, partner and former chair of global corporate department of O'Melveny; four times on Forbes Midas List of Top 100 Technology Dealmakers Worldwide
"Entrepreneurs can tilt the odds of survival and success in their favor by designing and implementing an exit strategy while they are working to build a profitable startup. This book explains how."
—Michael Diz, partner and co-chair of mergers & acquisitions group of Debevoise & Plimpton
June 25, 2025
Una guía muy práctica para cualquier fundador de startups, quieras o no vender tu empresa actualmente, sirve para entender como funciona la dinámica y lo que debo preparar. También se lo recomiendo a inversionistas VC, para que entiendan el "work to be done" cuando buscas un exit!
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews