Entrepreneur, please be careful. Strategic Development Department

The author of this article, the founder of Paul Graham,yc Incubator, author of hackers and painters, originally titled Don ' t Talk to Corp Dev, his other essay, such as score arranges fail,how you know,how to become a Expert in a changing world and so on in the 36kr have Chinese version, very worth seeing.

The Strategic Development Department is the group of people in the big companies that specialize in acquiring other companies. You may have fallen into a dangerous trap, consciously or unconsciously, when you readily accepted the request of the Strategic Development Department for an appointment.

Entrepreneurs, unless you immediately want to sell your company B, you have full confidence in the value of the company, that is, unless you do a very bad or very good time, you should agree to meet with the strategic development of the people.

If you do it badly, it means the company is dying, and you can certainly meet people in the strategic development department because you have nothing to lose. Or, if your company is developing very well, you and the strategic development of the people when you talk with full confidence can be a shoo-in, because both sides know that the price is low, if they show a little snub, you can be proud to refuse them.

This kind of dialogue really threatens the kind of company that is in the middle, especially the young companies that grow up very quickly, their wings are not yet full and the experience is not enough.

For a company that has been developing for less than a year, even talking to people in strategic development is a huge mistake. But this is the founder often made a mistake, when the strategic development Department of People to meet, the founders always told himself, at least see one side, know what they want, and, they are afraid to refuse to meet will offend the big companies.

I'll tell you what they want, they want to buy your company, that's what the strategic development Department does. So before agreeing to their meeting request, ask yourself, "Am I going to sell my company now?" If the answer is no, say "sorry, but we are concerned about the growth of the company". They don't feel offended, and the founders of the big companies don't feel offended, and if you want them to look at you a little bit, you can mention their company, and obviously they don't think about selling themselves, and when you reject them, they will naturally buy another company.

Most of the founders sought by the Strategic development department already knew what they wanted and knew they were not going to sell the company, but they were meeting with people in the Strategic development department. This mixture of unrealistic and wishful thinking is similar to other mistakes that most founders often make. After all, it is a pleasure to enjoy the flattery of the buyer, and perhaps they will make a very high price, at least I should have a number in mind?

Wrong! Are they going to e-mail you the purchase agreement right away and you'll be glad to open it? This is not what the strategic development department does, even if the acquisition is finally reached, and after a lengthy process, then even if the purchase price is staggering, it will be surprisingly low.

Interference is the most unaffordable thing for startups, and dialogue with the Strategic development Department is the deadliest of many distractions, and they will not only consume your energy, but will also erode your morale.

The key to March success is never to stop, or think about how tired you are now, instead you should bang. Imagine you were running 20 miles in the marathon, and someone next to you said, "tired, stop and rest?", which is like what the strategic Development department does, and even the people who do the strategy are behaving worse, and they have no other advice than to stop and rest. It also gives your brain the illusion that they will give you a very high purchase price. Then you're in real trouble, and they're probably going to turn the whole situation around, from the fact that they're lobbying you to sell the company, and you're asking them to buy them, and they're still doing it!

This is a very typical landslide effect (slippery slope), accompanied by a drive that best stimulates the founder's brain, and a group of seasoned professionals who are working full-time to keep you in the water. The tactics of these people pushing you down the abyss are brutal and brutal, and they have no choice but to earn a living or even buy a company, and their performance depends entirely on how cheaply they can buy you, and those who are ambitious will do their best to reach their goals. For example, they will make a false price, it depends on you to answer. Even if you don't, this low price will make you feel blew, morale, and even be allowed to fiddle with it.

This is their most superficial trick, more ruthless, will talk to you about the price, you feel that the transaction has been completed, and then go back to tell you that the boss did not lose the deal, can only accept less than half of the agreed price. This kind of thing is too common, if you think the investor is very bad, with the strategic development Department of people than that is nothing. Even the more benign companies, their strategic development departments. When I spoke to a Google colleague about what they did to a YC startup, I asked him, "Do they have to be wicked?", said the colleague, "there is no such concept in their world."

The trick in these mergers may be the worst experience you will experience in a relatively upright Silicon Valley world. It's like the robber capitalists have been killed in the good world of entrepreneurs. The easiest way to protect yourself is to learn from Rockefeller, his grandfather was an alcoholic, and someone asked Rockefeller why he didn't become an alcoholic, he replied.

Do you know why I didn't become an alcoholic? Because I never had the first sip!

Are you going to sell the company now? Not to say that in the end, it is now! If not, don't see the people in the strategic development. They won't feel offended, but you'll be spared one of the worst experiences that could have happened during the startup process. If you really want to sell your company, you should take another set of strategies. But the biggest mistake the founders made on the acquisition was not to talk to the strategic people, but to talk too early.

Remember this phrase, "don't see the people in the Strategic development Department," which is all you need to know about acquisitions in your first year of entrepreneurship.

Note：

To be fair, the misdeeds of the strategic development sector have been magnified by the nature of their face as large corporations, which often do not know what they want and often hesitate to buy, so if they do not, it is hard to define whether it is true or deliberate.