The secrets to a successful exit

Many tech entrepreneurs  treat external financing, and an eventual exit as an obvious path for a startup. There are a lot of case studies, suggestions and advice on how to get VC financing. Not so much about exits, because so few startups grow into profitable companies. Thus knowledge how to make a successful exit appears not to be  necessary for startups, as most of them think they will never need it. I believe there's a vicious circle in operation here.

Startups don't learn what a company worth buying is, so they build companies nobody wants to buy. And what investment funds and private investors who invest in mature companies look for are profits, predictability and healthy organizations. In this order. Ignoring their needs and expectations leaves startups with very limited exit option - mainly selling to big business, or for some unicorns an IPO, but if they take the IPO path they will eventually have to face the same criteria mature investors look for, and sometimes fail miserably, even though their product succeeds.

I want to propose a different path. Embrace the fact that most companies are not acquired by strategic investors directly, and the most exit opportunities can be achieved by learning how to build to the needs of financial buyers.