My First Million
The best business ideas come from noticing what's working and doing it better, faster, or for a different audience.
Lack of practical M&A education for entrepreneurs
Timeframe: Ongoing opportunity
What's Changing
There's abundant content on fundraising, growth, and management, but very little practical guidance on selling companies
Driving Forces
M&A is infrequent for most entrepreneurs (once every 4-10 years)
Successful founders rarely share detailed process knowledge
Most content focuses on unicorn exits rather than typical acquisitions
Winners
- Entrepreneurs who learn M&A skills early
- Business educators filling this content gap
- M&A advisors and brokers
Losers
- Founders who approach their first sale unprepared
- Companies that could achieve better exits with proper preparation
How to Position Yourself
Create educational content around practical M&A tactics
Build networks of entrepreneurs who've been through sales processes
Develop tools and templates for M&A preparation
Early Signals to Watch
Example Implementation
“Launch a newsletter or course specifically teaching M&A tactics for sub-$100M exits, focusing on practical playbooks rather than theory.”
Related Knowledge
Four Buyer Categories Framework
A systematic way to categorize potential acquirers into four distinct types based on their acquisition motivations and strategic needs.
DENNIS System for M&A
A systematic 6-step approach to selling your company, adapted from the comedy show Always Sunny in Philadelphia's 'DENNIS System' for dating.
Startup Sale Readiness Assessment
A four-question framework to assess whether you should sell your startup by comparing your current beliefs against your founding assumptions.
Gather comprehensive intelligence on potential acquirers to position your company optimally
Having detailed insights into buyer priorities, pain points, decision makers, and internal dynamics before your first pi
Create comprehensive materials that remove all friction from the buying decision
Buyers can easily understand your value proposition, team, technology, and strategic fit without additional meetings or
Manage multiple potential buyers simultaneously to create leverage and maximize valuation
Multiple term sheets arriving within the same week, allowing you to negotiate better terms by creating competitive tensi