So you're being acquired. Yay! (Or is it?)

What’s it like going through a merger or acquisition? It’s a rollercoaster. Exciting, nerve-wracking, and full of work. Having a venture capitalist, a private equity firm, or strategic company show interest in you and your business feels validating—it’s external proof that your hard work is paying off, and your growth trajectory is being noticed. In the early stages, it can feel like you’re the center of attention, the "belle of the ball." Emotions are high—good and bad—and it’s a time to reflect: Is selling your company the right move? What will happen to your team, your products, your customers, your brand? What’s the right valuation? Are you getting the best deal compared to others in your industry?

Once you’ve processed the emotions, it’s time to get practical. What’s the acquirer really after—your product, your revenue, your team, your customers? Do they see value in your intellectual property or are they simply trying to eliminate a competitor? Will you still play a role post-acquisition?

Going through due diligence can feel like an overwhelming grind. Even if your company is well-organized with a solid accounting system and up-to-date financials, it’s still a massive amount of work. Expect to receive a spreadsheet with dozens of tabs filled with questions about your business—some you’ve never even considered. You’ll need to dig up contracts, historical data, and numbers to ensure everything lines up perfectly. Yes, you'll be asked to explain the most minute discrepancies.

You’ll upload all of your company’s key documents to a virtual data room—customer agreements, vendor contracts, financial records from the past five years, incorporation documents, payroll records, intellectual property, source code—basically everything that matters to your business. If the buyer is a public company, the reporting requirements can be even more burdensome.

All of this happens while you’re still managing the day-to-day operations of your business. And if the process starts to impact revenue, customer onboarding, or product development, things can quickly get complicated.

Feeling excited yet? The whole process typically spans three to nine months, sometimes more depending on internal snags or the responsiveness of the other side. As the saying goes, the last 10% of the information you need will take up 90% of your time. There's no downside to the buyer to keep asking questions, and the more they can de-risk the deal, the better they'll feel. If you’re tired of answering the same question asked five different ways, it’s OK to push back—sometimes a gentle reminder is in order.

But at the end of it all, the outcome can be very rewarding—both for you and your investors. If you’re going through it now, take a breath, try to enjoy the experience, and learn from it. With each transaction, you’ll be better prepared for the next one. Not every deal makes it across the finish line, so if your deal stalls or falls through, take it as a learning experience. It gets easier over time, and perhaps one day you’ll be guiding others through the process. Make sure to enjoy the journey, and hopefully, you’ll reach a great endpoint.