Carl Silbersky sold his facial recognition software company Polar Rose to Apple in 2010 for a reported $29 million. The negotiation was relatively smooth but Steve Jobs would not budge on one deal point. Listen now and learn how one of the savviest deal-makers of our time approached his strategic acquisition.
About Carl Silbersky
Carl Silbersky serves as an advisor for Dexplora AB. Silbersky was the founder and chief executive officer of SettleBox. He served as the managing director of Polar Rose AB since December 1, 2009, and currently serves as its chief executive officer. Prior to Polar Rose, Silbersky served as the managing director of the venture capital firm, Grey Herring. He served as a director of business development at Tactel AB, where he led the divestment to a private equity company in June 2009. Silbersky has been a member of the advisory board at Qubulus AB since February 16, 2011.
Click to Tweet: [#Podcast] Tune into this week’s episode as @johnwarrillow discusses reps and warranties with @silbersky.
Some Highlights Of The Show
Business: Polar Rose
1:45: “[Polar Rose] did image analysis and image recognition … primarily used in photography.”
4:20: “When I met them they had burned through four or five million dollars of VC money, they weren’t making any money, … and they were about two months away from going bust.”
5:10: Carl’s vision as he takes on the role of CEO.
10:40: “We started off by simplifying our solution… It could be easily implemented through APIs.”
13:54: “The hard part was to manage the team and get everyone on board with the new vision.”
15:30: “[The staff] had options… There was a down round.”
17:15: “Once the discussion happened with Apple, people got super fired up; there was a dream and a potential to work with Apple. Later on, that turned into potential to be acquired by Apple… They got very, very excited about this.”
18:32: “I joined Polar Rose in December 2009; we got acquired by Apple in September 2010.”
Click to Tweet: [#Podcast] How @Silbersky sold @PolarRose to @Apple within 1 year of being CEO.
21:00: The meeting with Apple and a prototype that didn’t work.
23:20: “One day they ask, ‘What would you guys think about coming over and joining Apple?’”
24:12: “We asked for an LOI, and we didn’t [shop around].”
24:55: “Maybe we left some money on the table, maybe we didn’t.”
25:49: “I have to say there was [some sex appeal about being acquired by Apple].”
30:08: “Find a great company to be acquired by.”
30:45: “The warranties section… You should spend a lot of time around this and be careful.”
Click to Tweet: [#Podcast] We’re talking reps and warranties with @Silbersky on this episode of #BuiltToSell Radio.
35:00: “It becomes tedious to deal with the lawyers.”
38:15: “[Apple] met a lot of our people and [the staff] were aware of the sale from very early on.”
40:10: A high single digit return for the venture capitalists.
40:56: @silbersky | csilbersky@gmail.com
Click to Tweet: [#Podcast] How To Spot The #Acquirer That Will Pay The Most For Your Business.
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