Sold at the Peak: Congrats to Founders of Honey, Mirror, Frame.io and Others. You Timed It Perfectly.

“Sold too early” is historically a derisive term thrown at founders who exited startups still on an upward trajectory, and it’s true that almost every successful company went through periods of interest from potential acquirers, even if it was just casual inquiry. But after a decade in venture capital, alongside my immense respect for the founders who just keep building, I’ve also come to appreciate that knowing when to get out matters as much. And so looking backwards over the last few years of ZIRP Boom, we can now honor those folks who got the bag for their companies by taking the right offer at the right time.

Here’s what I’m purposefully excluding: SPACs, crypto, founder/investor secondary that didn’t include the team, potential fraud, soft-landings dressed up as acquisitions, never compensated their teams with equity, etc. This is about actually interesting companies that probably had to make hard decisions about raising more capital or selling. Although I wasn’t involved in the situations I’m naming below (and so can’t 100% vouch on the details), they’re ones which never had any backchannel stink on them and all seemed to be successful enough before M&A (stage-specific — ie the more mature companies had proven more than the younger ones did). I’m also sure there’s a bunch that I’m forgetting — feel free to disagree or expand the list in your own post.