????身為一家致力于做大的企業，增長階段的重點應該一直是向前邁進、觀察市場、著眼長遠。不過，最成功的企業終究會遭到收購。作為獲得投資的企業家，轉讓自己的公司并為自己、員工以及風險投資人帶來回報并不是什么丟臉的事。實際上，雖然你一直把注意力放在保持獨立上，別人仍然會在你意想不到的時候對貴公司發起收購，對此你毫無辦法。即使最后你可能決定繼續保持獨立，但你需要認真對待這樣的收購意向。面對收購，可以采取下列五個關鍵步驟。

????1. 保持“滿座”狀態。由于不知道什么時候會出現潛在買家，你得意識到隨時都可能有人對你的公司提出收購。因此，在發展業務的同時，你的首要任務之一就是和潛在買家保持聯系。只要有人提出正式收購，你就馬上告知這些潛在買家你可能會把公司轉讓出去。沒有多名潛在買家的參與，對貴公司的報價就永遠達不到理想水平。一直到別人正式提出收購后才和其他潛在買家接觸并不能引起他們的充分關注。

????2. 了解可能收購貴公司的那個人。收購貴公司的永遠不會是一家公司，相反，收購者將是某家公司的某一個人或某一群人。考察潛在收購者并決定和誰保持聯系時，一定要找到合適的人——他要有權力、有資金，而且還要有頭腦。在那些可能收購貴公司的企業中，這個合適的人可能屬于某個業務部門，但未必一定負責企業發展事務。你要花一些時間來了解這些人，同時衡量一下誰真的有可能在今后的某一天收購貴公司。

????3. 帶著計劃和董事會見面。如果收到正式收購通知，你得把握住局面，而不是為它所困。一定要仔細而透徹地考慮各種方案，然后帶著清晰的建議和董事會見面。如果還沒有確立自己的觀點，而且把它表達出來，就去尋求董事會的意見，結果可能會讓你感到失望。

????4. 控制參與其中的員工人數。鑒于貴公司處于增長階段，你肯定一直在下大力氣制定企業愿景，建立以創造長期價值為核心的企業文化。要保持這樣的側重點，你就得竭盡所能。并購談判取得圓滿成功的可能性非常小，但公司可能被收購的消息會給你的員工帶來非常大的干擾。要盡量減少參與收購談判的員工人數。如果最后沒有把公司轉讓出去，最好也不要讓它的發展受到影響。

????5. 不要匆忙行事。作為企業家，果斷可能曾經給你帶來好處。確定方向然后迅速付諸行動有助于你保持領先。但就并購而言，這種做法會讓你蒙受損失。收購談判很復雜，在達成交易方面，潛在買家通常要比你有經驗得多。好的顧問能幫你有條不紊地處理這件事，最終取得最理想的結果。

????As a growth-stage entrepreneur committed to building a big company, your focus should always be on moving forward, looking down the field and thinking long term. That said, most successful companies ultimately get acquired. As an entrepreneur with investors, there's no shame in selling your company and making a return for you, your employees and your VCs. Fact is, even if you're ardently focused on remaining independent, you can't control when an unexpected suitor may come calling. Although you ultimately may opt to remain independent, you need to take such advances seriously. Here are five key steps to take when that offer comes.

????1. Have a Full Dance Card. Since you don't know when a potential suitor may come forward, you need to expect that it may happen at any time. Make it a priority to keep relationships with your potential suitors as you scale. As soon as a serious offer comes in, alert them to the possibility you may sell. Without multiple suitors, you'll never get an optimal price for your company. You won't be able to gin up sufficient additional interest if you reach out to others for the first time after receiving a serious offer.

????2. Know the People Who May Acquire You. You'll never be acquired by a company; rather you'll be acquired by a person or group of people at a company. As you navigate the landscape of potential acquirers to build your dance card, make sure you find the right people – folks with authority, wherewithal and gumption. At many possible suitors, the right person will be within a business unit and not necessarily a corporate development executive. Spend the time to get to know these folks and assess who is a true contender to acquire you someday.

????3. Approach Your Board With a Plan. Should you receive a serious offer, you want to manage the process rather than let it manage you. Make sure you think through the alternatives carefully and approach your board with a clear recommendation. If you ask your board for advice without having developed and articulated your own point of view, you may end up disappointed with the outcome.

????4. Keep the Group Involved Small. As a growth-stage entrepreneur, you've undoubtedly worked hard to develop a vision and culture focused on creating long term value. You need to do everything you can to preserve this focus. The likelihood that an M&A conversation will consummate is very low, but news of a possible acquisition can be very distracting to your employees. Try to keep the group of your employees involved in the acquisition conversation as small as possible. Best case, if you don't end up selling, your company will not miss a beat.

????5. Don't Be in a Hurry. As an entrepreneur, you've likely been rewarded for decisiveness – picking a path and moving forward expeditiously helps keep you out in front. But this approach will hurt you in an M&A context. Acquisition negotiations are complex and the potential buyer usually has a lot more experience than you getting deals done. Good advisors will help you approach the process methodically and ultimately get to the best outcome.