could also finance via an earn-out with founder involved for a period of time IMO it's a good writeup on how a financial buyer dots the i's and crosses the t's

could also finance via an earn-out with founder involved for a period of time IMO it's a good writeup on how a financial buyer dots the i's and crosses the t's on a deal but the main driver of a deal isn't that, it's just, can it be grown into a much bigger business, and what are the potential risks and rewards. Do the buyers love the business and are they willing to do whatever it takes to realize that potential? If the buyers aren't thinking like founders and are thinking like financial buyers worried about the last few percent, it's a recipe for problems. The risks are sufficiently large in taking over someone else's code and customers, that only reason to buy it is if you think you can make it worth multiples of what you're paying. As a seller, it might make sense to do an earn-out or retain a small equity stake and involvement with the right buyers, but being a minority partner without the type of protection VCs get (board seat, liquidation preference, pro-rata follow-on rights / anti-dilution) is a terrible position to be in, unless you are very sure of who you are dealing with, so typically not with this type of financial buyer.