Fire Up Your Startup and Keep It Up
Lessons from Twelve Business and Entrepreneur Experts
by
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One year after we dropped off SunGard’s radar, I received a call from Rick Tarbox, SunGard’s acquisitions officer. He said to meet him in two days at the east Red Carpet club in Denver International Airport. He said SunGard was prepared to make an offer for Bi-Tech. I called John Dorey and we made flight arrangements. I had no idea what to expect. I wondered what the document containing the offer would look like. We had finished a very successful 1994, with revenue near $30 million. Rick Tarbox came into the private room we had arranged, pulled an envelope out of his pocket and slid it across the table to me. On the back of the envelope, in pencil, were the words, “$x purchase price, $y earn-out in 3 years”. I told Rick I would need to step out and talk to John Dorey. Outside, I told John that x was much, much larger than I was expecting. What should I do, John? He said go back and ask for one more million in earn-out. I did and Rick accepted it. The meeting lasted less than an hour.
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About the Book
Many of us dream of starting our own business, but we only have an 18 percent chance of succeeding, according to the US Small Business Administration. Most successful entrepreneurs and business executives suffer a series of hard knocks before striking it rich, and by learning from their missteps, you can boost your chances of starting a business that not only survives but thrives. In Fire Up Your StartUp and Keep It Up, twelve experts reveal critical life and business lessons that will help you find your niche, see problems as opportunities, hire the right employees, cultivate mutually beneficial partnerships, set a budget, negotiate contracts, protect your data, and much more. They tell their stories in a candid fashion, making it easy to understand and remember the importance of the lessons, which are summarized in text boxes that may be skimmed whenever you need a refresher course. Written by the founder of a company that earned more than $30 million the year before it was sold, this book excites, inspires, and informs. Learn from the entrepreneurs and executives who’ve made it to where you want to go—and fire up your startup and keep it up.
About the Author
W. Gary Sitton, PhD, spent time working on a dairy ranch and freight dock before earning a doctorate in computer science and teaching at universities in Canada, New Zealand, and California. He sold a company that was earning $30 million per year in 1995, and he now teaches a graduate class on technical startups.