Jonathan Shroyer co-founded Officium Labs with the goal of helping clients turn contact centers into profit centers. The business grew rapidly and he eventually sold it at a valuation multiple of 20xEBITDA. Jonathan said what annoyed him the most when buyers started making offers: “It’s when the CEO on the call tells you all the amazing stuff and is really exciting about you. And then when you send an email to the CEO, they never respond. If you are interested in my company, you should respond to my email. And in fact, that was the number one reason why I decided even not to even consider that offer. Because that disrespect was enough for me to say: “Hey, this is the wrong culture. I don’t want put people in the company like this.”
One of the characteristics of a true entrepreneur is attention to such seemingly small things. Most people will say, “No way, that’s nonsense. After all, the CEO was so enthusiastic.” That is, they focus on declarations, whereas Jonathan analyzed the CEO’s behavior. His intuition was looking for an anomaly, a glitch, a mismatch. Intuition knows that deeds outweigh words. By the time people have climbed to the corporate top, they are already adept at juggling words, that is, lying. Behavior is more difficult to distort, because long-running neural pathways force a person to act in this way, not otherwise.
When it comes to important events like selling a company, there is no such thing as a small thing. Especially if you, as the founder, are to receive a portion of the deal as an earnout within a few years. And if you care whether your team falls into good or bad hands. Any hostage rescue expert, investigative journalist or psychoanalyst will tell you that the devil is in the details. When the stakes are high and your opponent is skilled in the art of deception, remember the advice of the boy in the movie Amelie: “Monsieur, when the finger points to the sky, the fool looks at the finger.” Let us be vigilant and clever.
Yours sincerely,
-Alexander
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As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.