Investing in PR boosts a company’s chances of getting acquired

Want a big company to buy your firm at a handsome price? A high profile, which is earned with good PR, is a necessary ingredient, according to the author.

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The ultimate goal of most company founders, owners, and investors is to have a liquidity event that rewards key stakeholders for their role in creating a successful company.

In other words, you’d love to be acquired by a big company that will pay a handsome premium for your firm.

With my first tech startup company that I co-founded, we sold the company for $10.5 million one year after getting a $750,000 venture capital round. The day the transaction closed was a glorious one for all of us who had worked tirelessly to build that software product and bring it to market.

Sadly, many good companies never reach that milestone event, because, in many cases, they underinvested in PR.

Failing to invest adequately in PR can prevent your business from being acquired. If you manage to get acquired without the help of public relations, odds are you’re leaving money on the table that would have been there if you had done a better job in promoting your company.

Why PR helps you get acquired

Prior to writing this story, I called a few of my contacts in investment banking and corporate acquisitions and asked them this simple question: How do you find corporate acquisition targets?

Here are some things they mentioned:

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