Exiting to Yahoo for $10M with Eric Marcoullier

The Exit - Presented By Flippa

Technology

5 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 30 October 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week on The Exit: Eric Marcoullier went through college wanting to be a DJ, but when he bought a copy of Wired magazine, a lightbulb went off for Eric, he knew that the internet was where he would make his money. Eric moved into online publishing and was part of the team to launch IGN, a video game and entertainment website which was where he was involved in his first big exit. They took the company public and then sold it for $650M to Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. From there, Eric went on to co-found MyBlogLog, a social network for the blogger community that was based in part on interactions facilitated by a popular web widget that members would install on their blog. After just two years, MyBlogLog was acquired by Yahoo for $10M. Discover what Eric has learnt from two big exits, and how he’s helping other founders achieve their dream exits. Since dropping out of college in 1995, Eric Marcoullier has co-founded a number of companies. Some were successful, some not so much. They include IGN (IPO), MyBlogLog (acquired by Yahoo!), Gnip (acquired by Twitter) and OneTrueFan (acquired by BigDoor). Over the years, Eric has invested in and advised many early-stage startups, both through a software development shop he co-owned and mentoring at Techstars, beginning with the very first program in 2007. Those startups include CitizenNet (acquired by Condé Nast), Foodzie (acquired by Joyus), Intense Debate (acquired by Automattic), Pana (acquired by Coupa), Zemanta (acquired by Outbrain) and Zynga (IPO). Currently, Eric is coaching first- and second-time startup founders who haven't yet established product or market fit. Coaching Site - www.marcoullier.com Coaching Blog - www.ObviousStartupAdvice.com Monthly CEO Dinner - www.ThunderviewCEODinners.com Flippa’s First Access: https://flippa.com/exit For a Free Flippa Business Valuation: https://flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/valuation?buy_sell=exitpodcast -- The Exit—Presented By Flippa: A 30-minute podcast featuring expert entrepreneurs who have been there and done it. The Exit talks to operators who have bought and sold a business. You’ll learn how they did it, why they did it, and get exposure to the world of exits, a world occupied by a small few, but accessible to many. To listen to the podcast or get daily listing updates, click on flippa.com/the-exit-podcast/

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, and welcome to the exit presented by Flipup, the number one platform to buy and sell online businesses.
0:06.0	Flipup manages over a billion in deal value annually and combines expert buy and sell side advisory with its market leading valuation tool,
0:14.0	deal room, off market offering, market insights and an AI base deal by deal matching engine. Now for the exit.
0:22.0	The exit is a 30 minute podcast featuring awesome entrepreneurs who have been there and they have done it.
0:27.0	The exit talks to operators who have bought and sold businesses of all different sizes. You learn how they did it.
0:32.0	Why they did it and get exposure to the world of exits. It's a world occupied by a small few but accessible to many on this episode of the exit.
0:41.0	I sit down with Eric Marcullier. He's an awesome entrepreneur who started IGN, which eventually was sold for $600 million.
0:51.0	Not only that, but he started another company that got acquired by Yahoo from multiple millions of dollars and it's a fantastic story.
1:01.0	He has five successful exits. We really dig deep into the going public company of IGN and also the Yahoo acquisition and just the crazy story that happened afterwards.
1:12.0	He digs into why he doesn't like urn outs and just how a person that was his advocate in the company that acquired him.
1:21.0	Yahoo basically showed a presentation. There was two slides and it was a beautiful example of simplifying how big a mission could be.
1:31.0	He does a great job of unpacking each one of these acquisitions that were very large public acquisitions.
1:38.0	It's a really great example of someone who has learned a lot of lessons and Eric walks through some of the things that he may or may not regret about his journey, things that he said, things that he did.
1:51.0	But now he's a startup coach and he's helping awesome entrepreneurs everywhere.
1:56.0	Do things that just make themselves better as entrepreneurs and it's a fantastic deep conversation, wide ranging.
2:03.0	So without further ado, sit back, relax here on the exit as I sit down and talk to Eric Marcullier.
2:22.0	All right, I am here with Eric Marcullier and he is a startup coach and exit expert from what I can tell on his background.
2:32.0	So I'm really excited to sit down and talk to you how you doing Eric.
2:36.0	I'm doing great, Steve. It's wonderful to be here today.
2:39.0	Yeah, there's a lot to unpack here. We got quite a few successes, a lot of lessons to go through.
2:46.0	But before we get into your multiple exits, let's talk about how you got started.
2:52.0	What's your background and what got you into business?
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