Between 60 days and 12 months, depending almost entirely on which route you pick and whether the buyer needs a lender. A broker-run process averages 9 to 12 months. A direct sale to a buyer with cash on the balance sheet closes in 60 days.
Each bar is drawn to the same scale, marked from the day you decide to sell to the day the money arrives. Preparation is included, because pretending it isn't part of the timeline is how founders end up surprised.
Start from a 60 day direct sale and add what applies to you. This is the same arithmetic we do on a first call when a founder asks whether they can be done before their runway ends.
A clean direct sale. Nothing in the list applies to you, which is rarer than you'd think and worth protecting as you go.
Start the 60 day versionFour things are inside your control, and doing them before you talk to anyone is worth more than anything you can do once a process has started.
Two years of financials, a revenue export by customer and month, every customer contract, every employment and contractor agreement, and the cap table. This one item removes three weeks from any process.
Every contractor and every employee needs a signed assignment of their work to the company. This is the most common late problem we see, it takes a month to fix under time pressure, and about a week to fix in advance.
If preferred consent is required, find out who has to sign before a buyer asks. Discovering a consent right in week seven adds a fortnight at the worst possible moment.
Ask for proof of funds on the first call. Cash already on a balance sheet takes about two months out of the timeline compared with a buyer arranging debt.
Typically 9 to 12 months through a broker, 3 to 6 months on a marketplace, and about 60 days selling directly to a buyer with cash on the balance sheet. The single biggest variable is whether the buyer needs financing, which adds roughly two months.
Curious is a long-term holding company that buys and grows software companies with empathy.
Join the Curious Dispatch to receive our latest thinking, news, and opportunities within our portfolio.
