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What does the statistics say about the best time to sell your startup? Matteo dives into the numbers to discover what the benefits are of waiting for an IPO compared to selling privately.

Anna remembers networking events as a waste of time, and goes into a study on the negative impacts of startup networking. TDLR: Networking is great, just do it with purpose.

Welcome back to the Two Founders Podcast where Anna Nilsson and Matteo Ghetti talk about startups and specifically about sales!

In this episode:

• 84% of startup exits leave founders with nothing
• The top 2% of founders capture 80% of exit wealth
• Is it better to sell your startup now or to wait for a bigger exit?
• The surprising career and income consequences of being a founder
• Why networking too much can actually hurt your startup
• The type of networking to build at each startup phase
• AI coding: is it trustworthy?
• Co-founder conflict and how to handle it

Latest startup news: Antropic’s IPO, AI shopping agents and Etched semiconductor startup is huge! (And Alex Karp bought 15,000 ha of land in Härjedalen).

Answer in the comments: Would you take an acquisition offer today, or wait for a bigger exit?

Watch full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/JtQapnQP6eg

Follow Anna:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-fm-nilsson/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna.fm.nilsson/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anna.fm.nilsson

Follow Matteo:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-ghetti/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matteo_ghetti/

X: https://x.com/matteoghetti_

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Welcome back to the Two Founders Podcast!

Solo founding is on the rise, with numbers almost doubling from 18% in 2016 to 36% in 2025, but is it a good idea? Anna dives into this statistics and investigates the success rates of solo founding teams.

Matteo dives into the math behind VC decisions. If you succeed you need to multiply their investment by 20. So if you only triple you are not considered a success case for them. He also talks about bootstrapping vs VC founding. What is the better decisions for you and your startup today?

LinkedIn Nugget: You need to raise at least $2B to play if you want to join the AI game today.

Q&A: Our listener is doing a sale through a middleman contact, but the deal is not moving forward. What should they do?

Watch full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/G3qISgdPrx4

Follow Anna: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-fm-nilsson/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna.fm.nilsson/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anna.fm.nilsson

Follow Matteo: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-ghetti/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matteo_ghetti/

X: https://x.com/matteoghetti_

Hey! I'd love to hear your thoughts, send me a voice note.

Welcome back to Two Founders Podcast, today about the investor question “What if a large company copies your idea?”, and a review of the sales advice in Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross.

– Can you compete with Google? –

Many investor pitches have ended with the question “What if Google does it?” - Which is a question that has kept Matteo up many nights. We discuss it from many angles, going through case studies of Bing, Instagram, Snapchat Calendly and Lovable. Matteo is pushing for velocity, while Anna thinks it’s more about specificity.

– Review of advice in Predictable Revenue - 2011 –

It has been called "the sales bible of Silicon Valley", so is this one any good? Anna shares her favorite advice from the book, and gives it two thumbs up. Yes, for an experienced seller some advice is general, but as an inexperienced startup founder she likes how hands on the book is. It gives a great starting point. We discuss what is outdated and what can be reused today.

– LinkedIn Nugget –

Why are Exited Founders branding themselves online and selling sales courses? - If they’re so successful they don’t need to sell themselves like that.

00:00 – Intro

00:09 – The "What if Google does it?" investor question

19:24 – Sales advice review: Predictable Revenue by Aaron Ross

42:51 – LinkedIn Nugget: Are “Exited Founders” scammers?

Watch full episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/8QwuNf93j3U?si=EuRbMen_eg4zMQEu

Follow Anna:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-fm-nilsson/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/anna.fm.nilsson/

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@anna.fm.nilsson

Follow Matteo:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteo-ghetti/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/matteo_ghetti/

X: https://x.com/matteoghetti_