Andrew Wilkinson has sold only two of the 20-plus companies he has founded. In a different world, one where private equity groups and hedge funds didn’t act like the private equity groups and hedge funds they are, he might have sold all of them.
“There have been many times I would’ve sold,” Wilkinson says, “but they made it too complicated.”
It seemed like the buyers only cared about numbers on a spreadsheet. Once a deal was reached, after three to four agonizing months, they wanted to re-negotiate. There was a culture clash, too: The private equity guys wore Patagonia vests over starched button-downs and seemed to look askance at the startup uniform of a t-shirt and sneakers.
