Free: How to Successfully Exit a Company and Begin Again
In this episode of Build The Damn Thing, Genius Guild CEO Kathryn Finney shares how to successfully exit a company -- something many entrepreneurs can’t imagine -- and how to start something new. For the first time she gives a behind-the-scenes account of her own experience selling her first start-up and what that was like for her.
Learn Kathryn's process of selling her blog, The Budget Fashionista, and how the proceeds from the sale gave her enough capital to start her next big venture. Plus get inspiration and insight on how you can do the same.
Kathryn Finney is known as a pioneer in the fashion blogging community thanks to her blog “The Budget Fashionista” which has helped thousands of women dress chic and cheap. Kathryn not only has built a huge blogging community but also has been featured among "America's Top 50 Women In Tech" by Forbes and is greatly recognized by books like How to Be a Budget Fashionista and The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous for Less. In fact, Kathryn is the living definition of a businesswoman who is always trying to generate new ways to share her knowledge about fashion and entrepreneurship just like she does through her platform the Genius Guild which apart from having the podcast “Build that Damn Thing”, invests in companies led by Black founders.
Insights from the Podcast
Understanding that it is okay to outgrow something and want to do something else
How to pivot and venture into something new
Understanding that it is okay to leave your job, not because you were treated a certain way but because you want to do -the next thing
Understand the full arc of acquisition and how start-up work
How to sell and move on to the next and start another venture
The 4T’s on buying a tech company:
Technology: it has technology that would be hard for the corporation to create quickly
Talent: they have a core group of founders
Traffic: it has a large community behind it
Taxable income: the company has a ton of money
Quotes from the show:
“It is okay to outgrow it, as an entrepreneur we are like ‘I created it, it’s my baby, I have to stay. But you don’t always have to stay” -Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“One of the challenges that we have in the black community is that we overstay, and I know why: because there is security” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“In our community, there isn’t a language about exiting positively: usually when you leave your job, it’s because they were treating you in a certain way or you got a better job” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“A start-up is a temporary organization that is designed to discover a solution to a problem and in the process to also discover a profitable, scalable and reputable business model and while doing that, to grow as quickly as possible” -Brian Laung Aoaeh, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“Venture capitalists look for and invest in start-ups. They look for companies that are doing something uniques, that they are solving a problem that hasn’t been solved yet” -Brian Laung Aoaeh, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“One of the things about not selling when people come to you is that the price changes” -Kathryn Finney, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“I think it comes back to who are the people around you? Who do you trust when it’s hard and you have to make a decision? Some of it is guy, and you have to listen to your gut, and some of it is having the right group that will tell you when you are not thinking correctly” -Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
“We constantly have to move and pivot and we have to find our own validation from within as entrepreneurs because you are constantly told it’s not gonna work or you should do this or that” -Kendra Bracken-Ferguson, Guest Speaker, Build The Damn Thing Episode #4
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Produced by Genius Guild Content Studios
Executive Producers: Kathryn Finney and Darlene Gillard Jones
Post-Production Company: Prosper Digital TV
Post-Production Manager: Joanes Prosper
Post-Production Supervisor: Jason Pierre
Post-Production Sound Editor: Evan Joseph
Co-Music Supervisors: Jason Pierre and Darlene Gillard Jones
Show Music: provided by Prosper Digital TV
Main Show Theme Music: "Self Motivated" Written & Performed by Tamara Bubble
Special thanks to Forbes Advisor
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Season 1 Episode 4
Aug 25, 2021
22 mins, 35 secs (21.7MB, Audio)
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