Define Strategic Paths and Exit Horizons
Outline the explicit strategic pathways available to the venture, including trade sale, strategic M&A, technology licensing, or standalone cash-flow stability. The founder outlines realistic execution timelines, potential buyer categories, and key dependencies for each path.
Completing this action articulates the specific strategic routes available to the business based on its current positioning. It focuses the exit evaluation onto concrete, plausible outcomes rather than vague liquidity aspirations.
The founder must present a strategic optionality matrix mapping potential buyer profiles, exit models, and target execution horizons. Each pathway must articulate required operational milestones and known structural constraints.
Five questions an expert would ask when reviewing your output
Use these to challenge assumptions, pressure-test your logic, and check the quality of this action's output in the context of the parent task and wider venture development.
- 1
Why have you prioritised these specific acquirer profiles over alternative corporate buyers in adjacent markets?
- 2
What makes licensing or joint ventures genuinely viable alternatives to an outright trade sale for this venture?
- 3
How do your target execution horizons align with current macroeconomic M&A activity in your sector?
- 4
Where are the structural conflicts between your investor growth expectations and a lower-capital trade sale option?
- 5
What specific market shifts would instantly render one of these chosen strategic paths redundant?