Customer Reviews

The Strategic Guide to Selling Your Software Company: Essential Advice from a Veteran Deal Warrior

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Venema has employed a very clever vehicle to organize and explain the complicated process of selling a software company - or in a more general sense, selling any kind of company. I have just completed the sale of a B-to-B media company, and I found his book invaluable to my layman's understanding of the process.

As a former Army officer and attorney, Mr. Venema chose to organize his presentation of the sales process around the Army planning and operations models: "There's a lot to be said for the time-tested procedures that the Army uses to make decisions, develop plans, manage operations, and lead soldiers. I've found that these procedures work very well in analyzing the process of selling a business and efficiently managing the execution of that process." And I wholeheartedly agree.

Venema clearly and concisely explains the process, the pitfalls, and the outcomes while keeping his eye on the ultimate objective: to achieve a profitable deal while covering all the bases. He does not fall into the trap of excessive legalize and doubletalk as so often happens in guides like this. He helps you organize your thought process.

If you're even considering selling your software company, or any other kind of company for that matter, you will find this book to be extremely helpful to the process. The successful outcome is predicated on your preparations before you actually get an offer, or seek a buyer, and then get the attorneys and investment bankers involved. This book will get you off to a very good start.

Bought this one some years ago when I was peddling around a tiny software entity and wanted to get a better grip on the legal issues and tax related matters. Was the book helpful? The latter part was; towards the middle/end of the book, the author covers some ground on issues like liability, due diligence, valuations and the various elements/nuances of the deal making process. The first part, however, seemed too generic to be of use for a book with this title; the focus there is decion making, army style (the author is a West Point graduate and refers to the army manuals pretty often). The author does makes a genuine attempt to convey what he has learnt from his experience as an attorney and a military officer and that shines through. There is nothing "Top Secret" about it though.

I found this book very helpful particularly Chapter 6: "Developing the Plan" and Chapter 7: "Conducting the Operation". As a director and investor (but not a lawyer), the information on the key purchase agreement terms was quite valuable in formulating a negotiation strategy. A good reference book!