Monday, March 3, 2008

Spring has sprung...and I am looking for a princess

There is no mistaking it is spring here in central Texas. The mountain laurels and bartlett pear trees are in full bloom and fields of blue bonnets are starting to sprout.

March is upon us.

I have spent the first two months of 2008 kissing frogs...looking for that proverbial princess. Now I know it was frog turning into a prince in the fairy tale, but that doesn't work for me...it's a princess.

After taking a very serious look at two companies on the West coast (Bay Area and the Pacific Northwest) in the Fall of 2007, I passed on both. My bar for leaving central Texas is high: something extraordinary; something I simply MUST do. Although both of these companies are great and will, in my opinion, be successful, neither one rose to the level of extraordinary...for me.

Neither one turned into a princess.

During January and February, I spent a significant amount of time on a buy-out opportunity right here in Austin. Great SaaS company (people), wonderful niche, strong cash-flow, good growth prospects - completely boot-strapped with no outside capital. Perhaps a princess? I'll never know as my private equity partners and I were outbid by a "strategic" (e.g. a public company) buyer at the last minute.

Spring is (usually) a rainy season here in central Texas. And sometimes when it rains, it pours. Four other opportunities occupy my time as I write this. Will one be that princess? Perhaps...

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