Salvationist thinking

I see one fatal mistake from many first-time founders:

Waiting for someone or something to "save" you.

I call it Salvationist thinking.

Here are some common examples:

• New Hire Salvationism: "Once we hire our new head of sales, we're set for growth."

• Product Salvationism: "Just wait until we ship feature X; sales conversions will skyrocket."

• New Investor Salvationism: "Once Investor Y comes in, we'll quickly close the round."

• Banker Salvationism: "Once we retain investment banker Z, we'll sell our startup quickly."

Sure, sometimes you indeed need feature X to win.

And sometimes, that new head of sales was the unlock for rapid growth.

But more often than not, this type of thinking is an escape hatch, letting you off the hook from addressing the core underlying issues.

Most of the successful founders I know focus on what they can control.

They don't wait for someone else to save them or their business.

And this is doubly true when it comes to small M&A.

You can't just hand off the sale to a banker and expect them to maximize your exit.

You need to be in control and take a founder-led approach to selling.

Founder-led M&A is the best opportunity you have to maximize your exit on your terms.