75% of founders have regrets within one year of their exit*
*2013 State of Owner Readiness Survey – Exit Planning Institute
An excellent transaction is the greatest test for a founder
A study by the Exit Planning Institute revealed that only 5% of business owners are satisfied with the net proceeds of their exit*.
While this seemingly infers that the odds are stacked against the founder, it’s also important to know that 83% of the respondents said they were unprepared and without a proper plan for their capital event.
While a capital event can be unsuccessful for many reasons, lack of preparation and execution should never be a factor.
An excellent investment transaction is the last great test for an entrepreneur. The majority, however, are left with regret and remorse.
The stakes are far too great to become another bad statistic.
Shareholder Strategy Workshop
Most businesses have more than one shareholder, including the founders – often in director positions – and in our experience they haven’t applied much planning to be ready for and to lead such a process, which should be one of the most significant transactions in their lives. Nor have they optimised their business value ahead of such an event.
Uncertain about what it means for them and unaligned about what they should aim for the business, these opportunities create dissention, where people start chasing different financial and strategic objectives, ultimately resulting in failed transactions, bitterness and resentment. Further, time kills deals, and money divides.
Therefore it is essential to preemptively address these potential issues. Through our shareholder strategy process, we interview the Founders personally and run a custom-agenda that we create together with you over a one day workshop, that will result in a breakthrough, achieve Shareholder alignment, and empower your leadership to move forward as one with clarity, conviction and speed.
Typical Agenda items that arise are:- Shareholder Clarity and Alignment
- Liquidity ROI Targets (Quantum, Structure and Timing)
- Culture, Team Issues and Succession
- Board Governance and structure, and approach to Decision Making
- Approach to Strategy, Execution and Planning
- Scaling Up Goals and Challenges
- Financial optimisation
- Deal Readiness
- Inorganic growth / M&A Planning for the Future
Outcomes
Outcomes of this strategy workshop can include:
- Creating a new paradigm strategy and direction that renders current major obstacles redundant.
- Developing an immediate forward action plan.
- Achieving shareholder or management alignment on the future of the business.
- Understanding the steps to get Deal Ready for a future investment round, exit or inorganic strategy.
- Developing a Vision and a North Star for the business.
Perfect For
Founders and CEOs looking for swift action on key issues or opportunities.
M&A Deal Management
Having an acquirer invest in your business is the culmination of years of hard work and long hours. For many, it’s the largest transaction of a lifetime, plus they are transacting their greatest asset. However, many founders enter the deal of their lifetime inexperienced, with limited bandwidth and unprepared on how to successfully complete it. Burn-out, poor deal leadership, deal-fatigue and founder-remorse post-transaction are real and common risks.
Further, corporate advisory skills, whilst essential to any deal are typically limited to their fundraising, financial / accounting, and legal roles, and are not well placed to provide founder coaching, project management, and team coordination from inside the founder’s team.
Matt’s deal management and his team provide founder-side coordination and management support in negotiating the lead-up, the transaction itself, and post-transaction follow-through by providing a structure to decrease risk, maximise value and maximise the founder’s personal transaction leadership capacity.
Outcomes
- Pre-transaction leadership and business preparation
- Risk evaluation and de-risking
- Transaction strategy
- Founder alignment
- Value maximisation opportunities
- Founder commercial decision making
- Circuit breaker activity
- Protecting deal cadence
- Smoothing the external Corporate Advisory and Legal team communication
- Internal WIP project management
Perfect For
Founder, CEO, or majority shareholder of a company that is turning over at least $5m+ in revenue.
What Founders say about Matt
“I remember meeting Matt for the first time at CUB Business Club and he lights up a room with his energy and passion.
I was looking for advice, mentoring and guidance in regards to capital raising, scaling a business, readying it for a sale and maximising value, and Matt delivered in spades.
His incredible knowledge, experience and ability to communicate even advanced ideas in digestible and workable pieces is extraordinary. He helped guide my businesses to a successful capital raise and now continues to help scale it.
I now consider Matt a good friend and colleague and I'd absolutely recommend Matt to anyone looking for business advise especially in the growth, scaling and selling phases.”
“Matt's experience in corporate, business optimisation and NLP/ EQ greatly assisted in resolving both shareholder and team issues, and in completing a transaction his pitching, negotiation and contract skills helped me add millions of dollars of value to the business.
His real world experience from scaling businesses and preparing them for a successful exit was a particular stand out to me. I was in the process of deciding whether it was viable to sell, and after working with Matt on preparing my businesses for a successful transaction it was evident that I had found someone who could assist me in navigating through the complexities of a potential sale.
I would recommend Matt to any business owner needing assistance with growing and scaling a business, strategy formulation, deal preparation and negotiation as well as preparing for a successful exit. ”
“I have had the utmost pleasure over the last few years on working with Matt for mutual clients with his work on preparing companies for rapid growth and sale.
Matt has an incredible mix of business experience, knowledge, empathy and coaching skills that provide business owners with immeasurable comfort and guidance during their all so important journey.
Matt fills a gap that traditional corporate financiers, accountants and lawyers do not cater for and the results he provides are, in my view, not only many hundreds of thousands more dollars or even millions more on the sale price but also the confidence that the businesses will be in the best shape possible to maximise the chances of the sale transaction completing.”
"IIMBE engaged with Matt and Invigour during a pivotal time in our growth. Due to a rapidly expanding client base and all the stresses and strains that brings, as we went from start up mode to an established, mature business.
Matt guided us through all of this with empathy, insight, wisdom, charisma, tact and challenged us to move forward with confidence.
Matt supported IIMBE with not only direction but he brought invaluable processes and tools to support the development of a concise, staged implementation path that was perfect for our stage of growth.
I would highly recommend Matt to any organisation seeking to go to the next level. We will continue to work with Matt over the coming years and value his advice enormously."
"I had the pleasure of working with Matt on a project to review, modernise and provide recommendations in relation to governance, structure and its related documentation framework.
Effectively blending legal and commercial aspects - his ability to approach complex problems with fresh and creative angles was truly impressive, with a level of thoroughness that brought immense value to our project. What also sets him apart is not just his dedication but also his genuine concern for the individuals involved. He takes time to get to know the people he works with, understanding their personal as well as professional needs.
I am grateful for the positive impact he had on our project, and I wholeheartedly recommend Matt to anyone seeking to calibrate their business for structure, governance, growth, and scale. His expertise, innovative thinking, and genuine care for people make him an invaluable asset in achieving organisational success, as does his extensive network of top-of-market resources and contacts."
We needed to (re)align on our purpose, commit to a revised organisational structure to help us lead a path to growth and investment, and gain an understanding where the shareholders should invest their time and energy to be more ‘founder inspired; not founder led’.
Matt was incredible in his approach to achieve all the above in only two workshops over a limited time. He was able to get to the heart of our anchors that held us back, help setting the business up for future success, and based on our personality types and capabilities - where the shareholders needed to play to their strengths. We developed a bespoke governance model, a new operating blueprint enabling more efficient decisions making, and a clearer accountability framework built for scale.
I can’t thank Matt enough for his wealth of experience, tenacity in driving the right outcomes, and emotional intelligence to get the shareholders to have tough but respectful conversations and get us united for the future of our business at scale.
Working with Matt in 42Interactive's Founder Shareholder Strategy Workshop was an absolute pleasure and one of the best decisions for our leadership team as a beacon of clarity for our company.
Matt's approach to working with our leadership team was as effective as it was enjoyable. Matt brings a rare combination of insightful analysis and practical strategy that has helped us refine our business structure, planning, future clarity and areas for growth, and his skill to facilitate critical thinking while maintaining a collaborative atmosphere is remarkable.
His expertise is a must for any company looking to run a 1 day workshop to align, improve and drive meaningful change, and his skills for drawing out information in a relaxed yet effective manner have helped shape the future of our agency - which is why I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend his services.
“Matt possesses an incredible combination of talents. His understanding of the world of business is unmatched and his ability to solve challenges that others would deem impossible is truly remarkable. He always brings a new perspective that others hadn't considered and will cut straight to the core of what needs to be done, and why.
But beyond his impeccable business sense, Matt is also a people person. He builds trust quickly and long-term, meaningful connections soon follow. He's empathetic and really listens - even to the things that aren't said out loud. It's what makes him such an effective leader and a wonderful shepherd for those on their journey through the business world.
Matt has made an indelible imprint on my life, and I cannot recommend him highly enough.”
“We brought Matt in before the Corporate Advisors, to not only help us to select them though a tender, but to primarily to assess and develop our readiness.
For me the major differentiator was on the strategic plan communication, readiness health check and the mindset required for the process.
Matt offers practical guidance and real life experience to deal with the various steps ahead of and through the deal.”
“I engaged Matt as a business coach and got way more than I expected.
Matt helped tailor my approach to business pitching, deal structuring, de-risking raises, public speaking, EQ Comms, and performance management and introduced me to a range of influences and people to support me.
His engaging, challenging, and articulate approach makes it a great experience to work together, and I'd highly recommend working with him if you get the opportunity.”
“Matt is an incredibly valuable asset to any company looking to define a clear growth strategy.
His depth of experience and vast networks provide any organisation with significant value.
I'd highly recommend him for any growing business.”
"I like to be sharp and to the point for my recommendation for Matt Joy. The service offered by Matthew via his company Invigour is brilliant. If you are on the fence (or never considered the value of a consultant to add value) then I would like to change your mind.
Some people do their job well. There are then types of people who do their job well and invest emotion, pride and friendship into their work. Matt is the latter.
Matt has injected knowledge and directly and indirectly identified gaps in my business. He has also injected enthusiasm into my mindset.
I cannot recommend him more highly."
“Matt has my highest recommendations to anyone who owns their own business... no matter what stage you are on your journey.
We met 6 months ago when our company was little more than an idea. Since then he has given us invaluable and clear advice on how we can strengthen our foundations and has challenged us raise the bar in our vision and execution.
Above this, and more importantly, Matt listens and is interested to learn about us and our story. He is an absolute pleasure to work with, and someone I am now proud to call a friend.”
"Through our shared membership at CUB, I met Matt and was immediately impressed with his intelligence, expertise, and considered approach to any discussion. Our conversation quickly progressed to realise that Matt had the skills, expertise and ability to help guide and coach me through a pivotal business and personal transition.
Most valuable was his ability to listen deeply, question intelligently, filter, consolidate and playback the thinking and insights to ensure alignment was unparalleled. It meant that we achieved a huge amount of work in a fraction of the time, but more importantly, we went deeper and more expansively into what makes me tick and what is worthy of my future energy and endeavours."
“It's rare that you come across standout talent like Matt.
I had the pleasure of learning from Matt to improve my business strategies and interpersonal relationships. I was particularly impressed by Matt's ability to precisely advise and steer me through my toughest times - a skill that often takes years to develop but which seemed to come perfectly naturally to him.
No matter how difficult the situation, Matt made sure he left me whole and complete.
As an investor or strategic partner, he earns my highest recommendation.”
“Matt has made such a difference to my work and personal life in such a short amount of time!
He embodies the ideas that he teaches, so it just feels so natural.
He takes the time to understand you and your business and provides well considered answers to any questions.
The depth of knowledge is amazing and he's a pleasure to spend time with.“
“I knew Matt through one of my business colleagues, and met him at a conference. We started working together shortly after and from the start he made an impact. His skills are numerous such as in strategy, negotiation and business scaling. Personally he became a close friend and trusted advisor fast, providing an invaluable check and balance which I believe is essential for any CEO.
His role and experience with us ranged from winning new business, strategy through to international investor negotiations, as well being a friend and a coach / mentor.
Given his clear results and proven relationship with me I would have no hesitation in recommending him to any company looking for fast growth, strategy, investment or exit. Or if you just need a coach.“
“My mentoring experience with Matt was like receiving a shot of vitamin ‘awesome’.
Matt brings ‘heart-to-heart’ communication and a generous spirit as the perfect sounding board for ideas.
Matt comes to the party with an array of start-up tools, resources, expert advice and a network of contacts to develop areas of the business that have shaped aupairtribe’s foundation.”
“Working with Matt has been a highly enjoyable and rewarding experience.
His energy and passion for attaining clear and defined results for clients, makes strategic planning and implementation, straight forward and simple.
His result driven approach has brought clarity to the business purpose, vision and strategy.
In addition, Matt brings a vast network of trusted professionals to support his clients in all facets of business.”
“Unlike any one I have ever worked with or worked for Matt quite simply gets the best out of you.
His experience and knowledge instantly make you feel like you have grown 10 years in a month. A mixture of rigorous action and gentle love make Matt more than just a coach, but a mentor and a friend.
His value goes past what he knows, it's his willingness to serve and provide immense value to anyone in need.
My coaching and vocational experience with Matt quite simply been transformational and has left me aspiring for more each day.“
“Working with Matt allowed me to create the business I really wanted. It was demanding work, pulling my vague dreams into a structured plan of action. Many times I was challenged by my own sense of inadequacy,
Matt proved to be both a no-nonsense masterful business coach, and a compassionate human being.
He took me through step by step from grand vision into practical tasks. It was like an amazing journey into my own creative ability. He also connected me to high quality people in his network who I am now happily partnering with.
To your continued success, I say work with Matt! Invigourate!”
