A common question we get from founders: "if you don't have a fund clock, what stops you from selling later?" The honest answer is that permanence isn't a clause; it's a posture. The clause helps. But the posture is what holds.
Most acquirers can articulate a five-year plan. Very few can articulate a fifty-year one. At fifty years, all that matters is whether the work compounded, and most plans don't survive the first five. Here's what the math says.
In our first full year, we passed on more than a hundred businesses for every one we said yes to. Each "no" was a small loss of optionality and a large gain of clarity. A field report on the things we declined and why.
If you're a founder reading this, you've probably been thinking about what happens to your company after you. We wrote this letter for that conversation: what we look for, what we promise, and what we believe a founder deserves from the next owner.
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A real letter. In your own words.contact@aetheriongrp.com →