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I have gone through everything: companies that shot, companies that sank, agreements that looked like gold and turned out to be sand and associations that multiplied the value or killed it in silence. If there is a brutal truth that I have learned after decades of construction, purchase, sale and sometimes burying companies, it is this:
Relationships, not ideas, capital or even time, are the best determinant of success.
It is a lesson that no spreadsheet will teach you and no tone mallet will transmit completely. But it is the only thing that the founder, the CEO, the investor and the partner need to internalize if they want to build something that lasts.
Let me explain through five truths without filter.
Related: How to build and maintain deep and significant commercial relationships (and why is the key to lasting success)
1. The bad associations are more expensive than bad products
A bad product can be solved. A misaligned partner? That is a cancer in the system.
Once I co -founded a company with an incredible potential: an economy of strong units, an early adoption and even some early buzz in the media. But internally, the leadership team fractured. A partner prioritized short -term income. Another obsessed with the perfection of the product. And I, caught between the two, tried to play the referee.
Guess what happened?
We burn effective arguing. We stagnate decisions. Sunk moral. Finally, the company died, not because of the market, but because we could not get out of our own path.
Looking back, now I ask this before each deal: do I want to be on a needle with this person when things go wrong? If the answer is not hell, yes, it is a no.
2. Banking is a leadership failure, not a market failure
Yes, markets change. Yes, industries change. But most of the bankruptcies I have seen, including mine, were not due to the economy. They were because we make bad decisions, we delay hard conversations and ignore the red flags.
We had a company that seemed unstoppable: fast, in the interest of investors and quickly. But internally, management was isolated. Sales leadership was misaligned with operations. The decisions were made according to the ego instead of the data. We ignore the tension because things were “good enough.”
Until they did.
When he collapsed, it was easy to sign up with fingers in external market conditions. But the truth? We fail.
That experience changed forever the way I build. Now, each leadership meeting begins with the alignment. If the leadership is not paddling in the same direction, I do not care how good the boat is, it does not go anywhere.
Related: Do you want strong commercial relations? Avoid these 3 errors.
3. Buyers do not buy products: they buy people
When I have successfully left companies, there is a pattern that appears every time: we were aligned with the buyer in values, vision and execution style.
One of our best outings came not because we had the best technology, but because the acquirer team said: “We want to work with you.” They knew we had solid relationships in the departments, the high retention of employees and a culture of transparency.
Offers are made when there is confidence. Period. No matter how good your Ebitda if the buyer does not believe in her leadership or her people.
If you are preparing to leave, ask yourself: would you buy this company if you did not know the numbers, but only knew the people who directed it?
If the answer is no, you have a job to do.
4. Decision making is a muscle: train or lose it
Bad decision making does not appear at the same time. It is a slow erosion: one hundred small moments in which to differ, delay or delegate the decisions you must have.
A business that leads began to slide when we thin the key options for middle management without ensuring that these managers were aligned with the company’s strategy. Over time, the execution was diverted. Product releases lost the brand. Marketing lost the approach. And we did not realize until the income stagnated.
Strong companies not only have good leaders, but they have good decision -making systems.
Now, in each company I play, we prioritize decision hygiene. Clear frames. Responsibility. Retrospective You cannot outsource the trial. You have to train it.
Related: 8 strategies for building lasting commercial relationships
5. The exit is not the end, it is the mirror
When selling a company, the terms of that exit reflect everything that did well, or bad.
Great outputs happen when:
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You have strong internal processes
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Your finances are hermetically
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His leadership team is trusted
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Your reputation precedes you
Bad outputs, or worse, failed outputs occur when:
I have lived both sides, and I will tell you: nothing chases an entrepreneur rather than realizing that they killed a great business by not focusing on the foundations early enough.
So what is the food to take? If I could give advice to any founder who built a startup today, it is this:
Invest in relationships before investing in characteristics. Build trust before building the scale. Fix your internal operating model before pursuing more income.
The money follows the alignment. Buyers follow leadership. The teams are still on purpose. And if you do well, the next big thing could follow you.
I have gone through everything: companies that shot, companies that sank, agreements that looked like gold and turned out to be sand and associations that multiplied the value or killed it in silence. If there is a brutal truth that I have learned after decades of construction, purchase, sale and sometimes burying companies, it is this:
Relationships, not ideas, capital or even time, are the best determinant of success.
It is a lesson that no spreadsheet will teach you and no tone mallet will transmit completely. But it is the only thing that the founder, the CEO, the investor and the partner need to internalize if they want to build something that lasts.
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