The process required to sell your startup is like a second job. But you don’t need to be too aggressive about it—instead of forcefully networking with the hopes of a quick sale, Austin Johnsen, Zapier’s Head of Corporate Development, said to take a lighter-touch approach. Speaking with TechExit.io, Austin explained more about his tips for M&A success as a founder looking to sell.

Many founders earn well under market compensation and rack up personal debts to build their companies—so it’s hard to blame them for “selling too early” to take care of their families. But it doesn’t need to be this way, says Mark Longo, Co-Chair of Osler’s Emerging and High Growth Companies Group and Managing Partner of Osler’s Vancouver office. Speaking with TechExit.io, Mark explained more about how private and growth equity can offer financial security and enable opportunities for a company to achieve scale in the future.

What would you do if your co-founder and co-CEO of 30 years told you he wanted out within six months? That’s the situation Don Murray found himself in when Dale Lutz told him in June 2023 that he wanted to sell his 50% stake in Safe Software, the company they’d co-founded in 1993. Speaking with TechExit.io, Don explained more about the emotional side of that journey—and how he’s adjusting to being the sole CEO after three decades.

After a great head start, Canvaspop almost went bankrupt from the team spreading itself too thin. Coming back from the brink required five years of hard work, but it ended in a $30 million exit. Speaking with TechExit.io, Canvaspop Co-Founder & CEO Nazim Ahmed shared more about the key decisions he made to turn the company around—and why he gets frustrated with people who balk at “small” 8-figure exits.

Just as startups need to mature in terms of go-to-market, sales, and product, CEOs need to evolve as well, particularly as the company goes through rapid M&A-fueled change. This is a challenge Michael Garrity experienced multiple times as Financeit has both been acquired and been the acquirer. Speaking with TechExit.io, ahead of his Conference Talk in TechExit.io Toronto, Michael shared more about how he stays ahead of the curve to grow into the CEO that Financeit needs at each stage of its growth.

Matt Diederichs has been in the M&A world for some time–both at Hootsuite and Invoca, a Santa Barbara-based conversational AI platform–and integrated multiple startups from the buyer side. Speaking with TechExit.io ahead of his live conference talk, Matt shared his insights on how to not botch an M&A deal as a buyer.