Patrick McQuown on Innovation and Exiting Your Business

Patrick McQuown joins to discuss exiting your business and innovation in Baltimore. Patrick is a 2x founder and the Executive Director of Entrepreneurship at Towson University, where he leads the StarTUp coworking space, accelerator, and incubator. Pat, Marcus, and Patrick discuss the importance of planning for a transaction in advance, how to execute that plan in a way that fits your goals, and most importantly, what to think about after the sale. They also discuss Patrick’s entrepreneurial journey of operating businesses, advising business owners, and mentoring entrepreneurial ventures. They highlight how the StarTUp is driving innovation in Maryland.

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00:00 Intro to Guest Patrick McQuown¹ – 2x founder and now running Towson U’s StarTUp Incubator and Accelerator

02:04 Unlike Any Building in the World² – how the StarTUp is breaking the mold to support innovation in the Maryland way

04:21 Get Your Finances Tight and Right – the importance of getting your house to make sure you don’t end up like FanDuel’s founders who got none of their $450M sale

07:00 Exiting to an Institutional Investor – every word of a 90-page sale document is a right you had and right you lost

08:48 Builder vs. Seller Mentality – don’t take it personally but can this thing print money Now, without You?

11:37 Different Types of Buyers – strategic, private, venture, time wasters, and internal: what do they want?

15:32 Get Your House in Order – look like a dream acquisition, not a fixer upper AND still prepare for buyer shenanigans

19:18 Building a Support Team for Exits – why one of Patrick’s best decisions was to bring an adult into the room who never counted his money, just what’s best for the business

22:24 Understanding Deal Structures – you tell me the price and I’ll tell you the terms

28:07 Telling Your Team – avoid the extremes: you aren’t the town crier, but this isn’t also witness protection

32:11 Managing the Wealth from Your Exit – prepare for the surprise tax bill and Patrick’s wish he 179’d his way to a private jet

36:27 Finding Purpose After an Exit – advice to find a way to stay in the game and Patrick’s evolution to academia to support entrepreneurs at Towson U

40:19 Joint Venture Venture Studio – Towson StarTUps partnership with MedStar to bring Medical Technology inventions to market

42:44 Innovative Ventures Done the Maryland Way – Jbrds children’s shows, Miva bottle + foam roller, Zenjoy relaxation drink, and sleep apnea

45:43 Money is a Bit Like Manure – When you pile it up, it smells, but when you spread it around, it tends to grow things

49:27 Learn more about StarTUp³ – sign up for the newsletter, join events, and use the free space.

 

Sources

¹ Patrick McQuown’s bio - https://www.towson.edu/campus/partnerships-research/patrick-mcquown.html

² Poets and Quants article on Towson StarTUp - https://poetsandquants.com/2024/10/11/unlike-anything-anywhere-in-the-world-inside-towsons-open-to-all-startup-accelerator/

³ Towson University The StarTUp - https://www.towson.edu/startup/

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