創業公司：知曉你的出路在何方
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????So you got to let me know ????Should I stay or should I go? ????-- The Clash ????To lead you to an overwhelming question… ????Oh, do not ask, "What is it?" ????Let us go and make our visit. ????- T.S. Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock ????This is a series of posts dealing with the importance of strategic business development (Here are Parts I, II and III). |
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????2007年7月23日，惠普宣布以16億美元現金收購Opsware。不管怎么看，這對Opsware股東來說都是一筆好交易。每股14.25美元的收購價，相對過去六個月的平均股價，溢價高達74%，而對于在2002年10月Opsware的歷史低點押注于公司的人士，回報則是令人咋舌的40倍，要知道當時我們力挽投資者關系才避免了被納斯達克摘牌的厄運。僅僅五年之后，Opsware16倍歷史營收的收購乘數就在10億美元以上的企業軟件收購記錄中笑傲群雄。 ????數以百計的員工的勤奮工作幫助我們取得了飛速發展，成長為引人注目的市場領導者，而企業軟件也終于成為軟件業的重要類別。但我們所獲得的驚人收購溢價也來自于實施多年的戰略性業務開發努力，其目的就是實現從好公司到卓越公司的蛻變。如果你也在打造你的公司，請參考我們的業務發展五原則： ????1.一定要知曉你的出路：要花時間去和潛在的收購者建立聯系。你無法預知什么時候將需要他們的幫助。 ????2.停止爭吵，偶爾思考：每過12-18個月，和董事會一起審視公司的戰略位置，從定量和定性的角度嚴密地考察其它備選方案。 ???? |
????On July 23, 2007, HP announcedit was buying Opsware for $1.6 billion in cash. By any measure, it was a very attractive deal for Opsware shareholders. The acquisition price of $14.25 a share represented a 74% premium over the prior six-month average, and a forty-fold return for anyone who had bet on us at our low point in October 2002, when only an intensive investor relations effort had saved us from NASDAQ delisting. Almost five years later, the acquisition multiple of almost 16 times trailing revenue still far exceeds that of any other billion dollar-plus enterprise software acquisition—ever. ????The hard work of hundreds of employees contributed to making us the clear high-growth market leader in what was finally an important enterprise software category, but the significant premium we achieved was also the result of a multi-year, strategic business development effort designed to turn a merely good outcome into a truly exceptional one. That business development effort was built around five key principles that you, too, should consider as you build your company: ????1. Always know where the exits are: Take the time to build relationships with potential acquirers. You never know when you may need them. ????2. Step back from the fray occasionally: Review the company's strategic situation with the board every 12-18 months and evaluate the alternatives with quantitative and qualitative rigor. |
