🎢 The rollercoaster ride of a startup doesn't last forever!

Every startup journey eventually comes to an end, either in success or failure 🏁

The two main successful exit scenarios for startups are:

IPO (Initial Public Offering): when a startup goes public and sells shares on a stock exchange 📈

Every public company you can invest in on Bloom was once just a small startup!

Acquisition: when a larger company or investor buys the startup, often making the founders, employees and investors lots of money 💼💰

For example, in 2022 Adobe tried to acquire design startup Figma – which was started in 2016 – for $20 BILLION, but the deal was ultimately blocked by regulatory bodies.

However, most startups actually fail! 💀

Some common reasons include running out of cash, not finding product-market fit, and team issues 😢

In the case of failure, startups usually either shut down and liquidate their assets 🔒

Or they get acqui-hired, which is when a larger company buys the startup for a small sum, mainly for its talent 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦

Even though most startups fail, entrepreneurs take the risk for the tiny chance that they might change the world, and make billions of dollars through an IPO or acquisition 🌟