Founders want options, but keeping every door open can quickly become a distraction. Optionality isn’t about pursuing every path. It’s about being in a position to choose the right one.

Not every market recovery makes life easier. Sometimes it simply raises the standard. When TechExit.io Vancouver opened in February, Ben Slager, Partner & CEO of Mogan Daniels Slager LLP, sat down with Christen Leinwand (Daniels) from Georgian, Jon Wong of Goldman Sachs and Anastasiya Pasheyeva of JMI Equity to discuss where technology M&A was heading.

Not every acquisition begins with a company deciding it's time to sell. Some begin with a conversation neither side realizes will matter years later. At TechExit.io Vancouver, Brianna Blaney, CEO & Co-Founder of Pocketed, and Aria Hahn, Co-Founder & CTO, joined Brent Holliday of Garibaldi Capital Advisors to reflect on Pocketed's acquisition by Deloitte Canada.

Most founders spend years trying to create options.The difficult part isn't creating them; it's knowing which one to take when circumstances change. At TechExit.io Vancouver 2026, Swish Goswami, Co-Founder of Surf and current Head of Growth & Marketing at Boardy, joined Gena Custode of Roynat Capital to share the story behind Surf's acquisition journey.

Most founders spend years proving they can build a company. Eventually, a different challenge emerges. Can the company continue to grow without them?

Markets shift, expectations change and companies that looked perfectly positioned a few years ago now face a different set of conditions and a new set of questions around growth and value.

Most founders think about exit at some point. What often gets overlooked is how much of that outcome is shaped long before any process begins.

Optionality doesn’t show up when a buyer calls. It’s built much earlier through how a company is financed, how it grows and the decisions made long before any transaction is on the table.

If you're building toward an exit, it’s easy to focus on growth, revenue, and headline numbers. But when buyers step in, they’re not just evaluating what you’ve built, they’re evaluating risk, durability and what could go wrong after they take over.