r/Entrepreneur • u/Derp_Animal • Feb 27 '26
Success Story Third exit
Not sure why I want to post this here. I just want to shout it at the rooftops everywhere, I guess.
First exit 10 years ago, $11M sold to a UK semiconductor company.
Second exit 4 years ago, $21M sold to a US semiconductor company.
Third exit this week, $250M sold to a private equity firm.
Fuck. Me. It doesn't make sense in my head anymore. What a life.
See you all at IPO in 2 years.
73
u/fnworksdev Feb 28 '26
the jump from $21M to $250M in four years is wild. if you're open to sharing one thing, what changed most between exit #2 and #3: distribution, margins, or the way you structured the deal? that delta would be gold for people building here.
58
u/Derp_Animal Feb 28 '26
ChatGPT happened. The AI bubble comes with its own, new set of rules in terms of valuation.
→ More replies (2)10
u/HPCBusinessManager Feb 28 '26
I’ve built resiliency against ai for private deployments, however, am being advised about this new set of rules which you are talking about.
Can you kindly share more details about your experience and the year of which valuation had happened?
→ More replies (1)2
18
21
u/UnderPantsOverPants Feb 28 '26
Want to adopt a 40 year old guy? Congrats, has to feel awesome.
→ More replies (1)
11
u/Ok_Handle_3530 Feb 28 '26
So you was working OE and now you made an exit? I smell horseshit
-5
u/Derp_Animal Feb 28 '26 edited Feb 28 '26
Ah, yes. I should have known people would look through my post history.
I was never overemployed in the American sense. The phenomenon absolutely did intrigue me a few years back because I witnessed it first hand and I was flabbergasted at the time.
I did consult and pay lawyers to explore the edge of what is legally (un)acceptable under UK law. It took me a while to get my head around it, but I understand and empathize with people who actually do it. Kuddos to them. Had I learnt about this earlier in my career, I think I would 100% have gone for it.
One outcome of that exploration is that I signed several part-times contracts (consulting & advisory types of things) in addition to my main full-time job. None of these contracts are secret to those around me. I can't risk conflicts of interests. If anything, they approve and encourage me to get into more closed circles that way.
Depending on how you look at it, one could consider me as being OE. I have more than 1 job. It's just not structured like US folks think about it on that subreddit, with multiple full-time contracts going on in parallel that they tell nobody about... except for their dogs.
9
u/hello_world_57 Feb 28 '26
Now you'll be able to buy a new expensive car and should return the used car you bought last week :D
13
8
u/Autotransportg Feb 28 '26
Congrats. Any thoughts of getting into angel investing or venture capital?
8
6
u/HerroPhish Feb 28 '26
What was the field?
21
u/cazzy1212 Feb 28 '26
Sounds like semiconductors
26
u/Derp_Animal Feb 28 '26
Funnily enough, no. What we did appealed to and enabled semiconductor companies, but both times these were software plays.
→ More replies (1)
4
3
3
Feb 27 '26
-31
u/rage-quit Feb 28 '26
Maybe you should consider reading classes rather than entrepreneurship.
All three were semi conductor businesses. He says it three times in the 6 line post.
26
u/TeddyousGreg Feb 28 '26
lol they were actually software. Maybe you should attend some classes
→ More replies (1)
3
u/Shot_Percentage_1996 Feb 28 '26
Three exits, each one larger by a real multiple. At some point that stops being luck and becomes a system. What does the playbook look like on the inside? Same core model rebuilt three times or something fundamentally different each round?
11
u/Derp_Animal Feb 28 '26
No core model, every company was different. You build the playbook around the people you have and their strengths, not the other way around. That's the only commonality between the 3.
→ More replies (1)
3
2
u/the_answer_is_penis Feb 27 '26
Congrats, what are your plans now? Retiring? New projects?
→ More replies (3)
1
u/AutoModerator Feb 27 '26
Welcome to r/Entrepreneur and thank you for the post, u/Derp_Animal! Please make sure you read our community rules before participating here. As a quick refresher:
Promotion of products and services is not allowed here. This includes dropping URLs, asking users to DM you, check your profile, job-seeking, and investor-seeking. Unsanctioned promotion of any kind will lead to a permanent ban for all of your accounts.
AI and GPT-generated posts and comments are unprofessional, and will be treated as spam, including a permanent ban for that account.
If you have free offerings, please comment in our weekly Thursday stickied thread.
If you need feedback, please comment in our weekly Friday stickied thread.
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.