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WEBINAR: Liquidity Pathways

Capital Strategy (11)

 The Deal Starts Now:  The decisions you make today could determine how much you walk away with later

 

Founders spend years creating value. But the decisions that determine how much of that value they eventually keep can be made long before anyone talks about a deal.

Shareholder agreements. Investor terms. Governance. Customer contracts. Capital raises. The way you structure decisions as the company grows.  They can all seem like ordinary parts of building a business. Until an investor, private equity firm or buyer arrives and suddenly they aren't.

And that's often when founders discover something they wish they'd understood years earlier, because the deal doesn't start when the term sheet arrives, it starts much earlier.

We’ve been looking closely at the decisions that shape founder liquidity and transaction outcomes, and we’ll be sharing more on that soon, but in the meantime, we’re bringing together two founders who have been through liquidity events, alongside an experienced M&A lawyer who advises founders through transactions.

This isn't a webinar about selling your company, but about something much more relevant to founders at every stage. 

 

 

Time & Location

 

  • Date & Time: 10am - 11am AEDT,  Tuesday 24th November
  • Location: Online (Microsoft Teams)

 

Who should attend?

 

If you're a founder or CEO building a valuable company, this conversation is relevant whether you think a transaction is two years away, ten years away, or not on your radar at all. Because being ready isn't the same as being ready to sell, but about building a company that gives you choices.

The deal starts long before the term sheet. Make sure the decisions you're making today aren't limiting your options tomorrow.


Event description

 

How do you build and protect value now, while keeping as many options as possible open for the future?

We'll talk candidly about what founders wish they'd known before a transaction, the decisions that turned out to matter, what they would do differently and the issues that can quietly destroy value or negotiating leverage before a deal is even on the table.

We'll also look at what happens when a buyer or investor starts looking under the hood: what they examine, where problems emerge and what founders can do well before due diligence begins.

You'll leave knowing:

  • Which decisions you're making now could affect how much value you ultimately keep
  • What founders wish they'd done differently before their own transactions
  • Where buyers and investors find problems, and what you can address before they do

  • How to create optionality, protect your leverage and be ready when an unexpected opportunity arrives

 

Our Panelists

 

Kate Pollard, CEO Fork Collective and former co-founder, Circle In. Kate spent 18 years in corporate leadership at Accenture, NAB, Commonwealth Bank and realestate.com.au before co-founding Circle In in 2017. Circle In is a global HR workplace platform that grew to 100 corporate customers across Australia, UK, Europe and US, raised three funding rounds and worked with brands including L’Oréal, Estée Lauder, Qantas, Xero and MECCA. After a successful exit in 2024, she launched FORK Collective, advising founders and growing businesses on go-to-market strategy, growth and commercialisation. She co-created Scale From Within, a small-group leadership program for women founders and senior leaders who have outgrown how they’ve been leading, and also serves as a Board Director at Stone & Chalk.

 

Elgar Welch, Former co-founder & CEO of Streem. Elgar Welch built Streem from the ground up into one of ANZ's fastest-growing media intelligence platforms, growing the business to more than 1,000 customers, 150 employees and over $100 million in aggregated revenue. He led the company's acquisition by Cision and subsequently joined Cision's executive leadership team as President, where he spent two and a half years leading the transformation of a global business unit. Having experienced the founder journey from startup through growth, acquisition and post-transaction integration, Elgar brings firsthand insights into scaling a business, navigating an exit process, and the decisions that influence value, leverage and optionality long before a transaction opportunity emerges. He now advises early-stage founders on growth, capital raising and commercialisation.

 

David Morris, Partner and Corporate Practice Group Leader, Lander & Rogers. David is one of Australia's most experienced corporate and M&A lawyers, with more than 35 years' experience advising founders, investors and companies on business sales, capital raises, private equity transactions and corporate structuring. He has worked with businesses across various sectors including technology, life sciences and industrials, helping founders navigate the complexities of growth, investment and liquidity events. Known for his commercial and practical advice, David brings a unique perspective on what investors and acquirers look for, the issues that emerge during due diligence, and how founders can protect value well before a transaction is on the horizon.