This document discusses strategies for business growth and exit planning. It summarizes a panel on this topic with representatives from various companies. The panel discusses moving past the startup stage to focus on growth strategies like increased market penetration, acquiring new competencies, or going global. They note the importance of both strategy and luck to growth. For exit planning, the panel discusses when to start planning an exit and common triggers like investors wanting liquidity or market timing. The document concludes with the background of one of the panelists, Jamie Ridyard, and his experience starting a Bulgarian company in New York.

1. GROWTH
And Beyond
DigitalK Sofia June 2013

2. PANEL
• Flexible presentation, Q&A, and panelists
• Gabriel Gruber, Founder and CEO, Properati
• Pedro J. Escudero Diez, CEO, Banco Espirito Santo (Spain)
• Pablo Larguia, Founder, Red Innova
• Pavel Ezekiev, Partner, Neveq
• Jamie Ridyard, CEO, Mixed BagVentures, UK

3. THE DIFFICULT STAGE
"After enlightenment, the laundry" - Zen Buddhist proverb
• Start up? Check. Establish brand? Check.What next?
• Strategies for growth
• Planning the exit
• Observations:A Bulgarian business in the USA

4. STRATEGIES FOR GROWTH
"the harder I work, the luckier I get" - Sam Goldwyn
• Revenue v Earnings, funded or organic growth
• Strategies: increased penetration, more competences
(exploit brand), going global, acquisitions
• How much is luck?

5. EXIT
• When to start planning exit?
• Problems: maintaining revenue, management focus
• What initiates exit? Investors, management,
competition, market timing?

6. WHY AM I HERE?
• Jamie Ridyard - Cambridge - London Business School
• APT, London - CEO, Co-owner (sold 3 years ago)
• Green.TV, London - Director, shareholder
• Mixed Bag Ventures - CEO, Founder. Idea lab and incubator.
Assets in automatic image curation, digital food preparation,
elderly planning, work enabling platforms.Also Help finding
investors and buyers
• FinAnalytica, Sofia (a Neveq portfolio company) - Director

7. A BULGARIAN IN NEWYORK
• New competitor to my business
• Focused on technical competence
• Unfamiliar with foreign practices
• Hired 'outside' talent (via investors or directly)
• Problems first, then success
• Luck, hard work, perseverance