What It Was Like to Sell a Business to Microsoft | Steven Cox
Today I have a special guest and friend who's been through an IPO and sold his last company to Microsoft.
Stephen Cox created his first success as an early employee at PurchasePro, a B2B eCommerce platform, which went public in 1999. Steven followed that up by building TakeLessons, an online music lessons platform to help other musicians and educators connect with students in person and online. By 2021, TakeLessons had become one of the largest live educational sites on the web and was purchased by Microsoft.
E8: Today I have a special guest and friend who's been through an IPO and sold his last company to Microsoft.
Stephen Cox created his first success as an early employee at PurchasePro, a B2B eCommerce platform, which went public in 1999. Steven followed that up by building TakeLessons, an online music lessons platform to help other musicians and educators connect with students in person and online. Steven, his team and his investors did not find instant success with Take Lessons, but they never gave up.
And 14 years later, having raised 19 million from 14 different investors in three rounds, his company TakeLessons became one of the largest live educational sites on the web and was purchased by Microsoft in 2021.
Steven Cox shares how he was able to earn, in his words, the emotional equity to convince his board to increase the equity share for some key employees and co-founders of TakeLessons who are not only instrumental in building the take lessons business, but who are critical in making the sale to Microsoft happen.
Today's episode is for founders who may find themselves needing to ask investors and their board for a bigger piece of the pie for key employees or themselves to get everyone aligned around the sale of a business. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Steven Cox.
the best decisions.
Stephen Cox created his first success as an early employee at PurchasePro, a B2B eCommerce platform, which went public in 1999. Steven followed that up by building TakeLessons, an online music lessons platform to help other musicians and educators connect with students in person and online. Steven, his team and his investors did not find instant success with Take Lessons, but they never gave up.
And 14 years later, having raised 19 million from 14 different investors in three rounds, his company TakeLessons became one of the largest live educational sites on the web and was purchased by Microsoft in 2021.
Steven Cox shares how he was able to earn, in his words, the emotional equity to convince his board to increase the equity share for some key employees and co-founders of TakeLessons who are not only instrumental in building the take lessons business, but who are critical in making the sale to Microsoft happen.
Today's episode is for founders who may find themselves needing to ask investors and their board for a bigger piece of the pie for key employees or themselves to get everyone aligned around the sale of a business. I hope you enjoy my conversation with Steven Cox.
the best decisions.
The Wise Exit is an Exitwise Production. Are you a business owner looking to sell your business faster, for more, and with less complexity? Learn how Exitwise's founder-led team helps you maximize your exit value and simplifies the M&A process: https://exitwise.com/
