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Episode 208

Navigating the Acquisition Maze: Paul Shustak’s Exit Insights

This week on The Exit: Paul Shustak, currently co-founder of AsqMe, shares insights from his transition from Microsoft, Sony, and Adobe to founding four of his own startups, one of which was a SaaS platform that helped families provide care for parents with Alzheimer’s.

Paul details the acquisition process, including initial negotiations, valuation considerations, and stress points that can arise at each phase and cause a deal to fall apart if not properly addressed.

Paul highlights the importance of having an exit strategy from the outset. He proposes a three-phase framework for exits: dating (identifying potential partners or acquirers), engagement (formal discussions leading to an LOI), and marriage (closing the deal).

Paul’s advice to his past self includes focusing on distribution, having a clear exit plan, and viewing the exit process as a standard part of startups.

For more details and insights from his entrepreneurial journey, listen to the latest episode of The Exit.

Personal Bio: 

Paul is an entrepreneur with over 25 years of experience in startups, product development, and marketing. He is a co-founder of AsqMe, a technology platform that enables content creators to aggregate and monetize audience questions. He is also the founder at UnLock, a boutique consultancy that helps clients achieve product-market fit.

Paul’s prior exits include Karen.care, a SaaS platform that helps families care for aging parents, and KOR Water, a consumer products brand that Outside Magazine called the “Apple of sustainable hydration.”

Previously, Paul held senior product and marketing roles at Adobe, Sony, and Microsoft. He holds a BA from Purchase College, an MBA from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, and a Masters in Human-Computer Interface from New York University.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/paulshustak

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paulshustak/

For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/exit

The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

YOUR HOST

Steve McGarry

An entrepreneur, content creator, and investor based in sunny Tampa, Florida. In 2015, while living in San Francisco, Steve sold his first fintech startup LendLayer to Max Levchin’s (founder of PayPal) consumer finance company Affirm.

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