The Value of Deal Information for Motivating Entrepreneurs

Every year, many entrepreneurs in Atlanta (and around the world) do big deals that personally provide them with big returns on their startup investment. Unfortunately, most of the details of those deals are often sealed. Taking acquisitions as an example, here are the scenarios that occur:

• What is most often said:  “Company A acquired Company B.”  Unless you have inside info, there is no way to tell if this was a fire-sale or a great outcome for the entrepreneurs.
• What is better, but less frequent:  “Company A acquired Company B for $N.”  The bigger the N, the more inspiring. The only missing piece of information is how much of $N actually landed in the entrepreneur’s pocket.
• What we wish was said, but never comes out:  “Jack made $N1 and Jill made $N2 in the sale of Company B to Company A.” How wonderful it would be to learn the actual inspirational outcomes!

There is a lot of inspiration and energy in the Atlanta startup world right now. Much of that comes from several high-profile deals that divulged a more than normal amount information about the transaction. I’m thankful for that inspiration.

Hat tip to Urvaksh for breaking the news on most deals around Atlanta and for teasing out the interesting info into his reports.

What information would you like to learn from deals?