What Buyers Want

(Spoiler: they don’t care about your story)

I get it. 

As a founder, you care deeply about your story because you've invested so much of your blood and sweat into it.

Investors also care… they don’t want to lose their money.

But buyers?

They don’t give a flying f… :)

(Sorry to break it to you) 

Here’s what they DO care about:

1️⃣ Can your solution solve (a part of) their problem? 

2️⃣ Does your solution then deliver on what it promised?

3️⃣ If not (completely) will you take ownership and fix it or leave the mess up to them? (common)

All of these falls under: was the investment worth it (not just from a money perspective, but also internal resources that they could’ve used elsewhere)?

❌ “No!”

They won’t renew (maybe even try to get out before), you’ve either broadly scoped or messed up (could even be your attitude around fixing issues)

〰️ “So so”

Code for “not a complete failure, but also not a game changer (you’ll have to do sincere rediscovery + rescoping to renew, likely negotiate or give more securities)

✅ “Yes!”

Now you’re in the green. Your product did well and/or they liked working with (both matter). Time to upsell, baby!

Here’s the overall kicker: 

Most companies want to have long-term relationships, as it dilutes the effort on their end with each positive contract year that passes.

“Why change then?”